On August 12th, I decided to stop in Wilmington,DE for a 5K on my way to meet friends at Sea Isle City, NJ later that evening. I have fond memories of running DE, as I had some of my best races there. I also looked forward to this particular course as it started and ended at Rockford Park. Rockford Park is a nice, large park about 1 1/2 miles from where I used to live in DE. More importantly, it's where I used to take my dog Bailey when she came to visit me. She loved that park. There are no fences and there are always other dogs there to play with. There are so many dogs there in the morning and in the evening that my realtor friend Scott used to call it Doggy Happy Hour.
Anyway, I hadn't run this exact course before (this was actually easier than the old Rockford Park course) but I had run most of this course before. It was pretty flat...in fact probably the flattest course I had run this year other than track races. A storm had just passed thru and had brought the temperatures all the way down to the low 70's. A light rain fell through most of the race, which was fine by me as it had a cooling effect. Other than having to be careful on slippery painted lines in the road, it was all good.
I saw a few guys I used to run with regularly. John Schultz was there in his red shorts (and nothing else) as was Ralph McKinney. John is 71 and still going strong. He pulled away from me early and never looked back, finishing in a time of 31:32. Ralph, who is 64, was suffering an injury (again) and finished behind me with a time of 40:12. The older woman who used to run most races was not there.
I took a lot of walk breaks in this race ( 8 to be precise) but I ran hard when I was running with my heart rate running in the 150's. For the 2nd half of the race I ran beside a father and his 5 year old daughter. I really didnt want her to beat me. They slipped ahead of me with about 1/3 of a mile to go while I took my last walk break. My intention was to get rested enough to have a strong kick over the last 1/4 mile. Unfortunately, a cop working the race foiled my plan. As I started to run again and try to catch up the father and daughter, the officer stepped out in the road and asked me to hold up a minute while he let a couple of cars pass thru the intersection. I had nevre had this happen before. We were in the middle of a race and he asked me to stop for the cars instead of the other way around?! I let out an audible ARGH and ran in place until the 2nd car passed. Then I was off but the damage was done. The girl was a good 100 yards in front of me by that point...too much to make up so late in the race.
As I turned into the park for the last few hundred yards of the race I had another car encounter. This time, a guy drove past the girl working as a marshall and drove on the course AND the wrong way on a one way street. I was running right behind him as he had to drive slowly with runners right in front of him. I yelled out several times "wrong way" bu he just kept driving. Finally, about 100 yards from the finish he realized what was going on and pulled over and then backed up. I lost several seconds because of that knucklehead.
I pushed myself really hard over that 100 yards but I couldnt catch the runners in front of me. It was really starting to rain hard at this point. A couple of steps after I finished I started to wretch but fortunately nothing came up. I went over to the woods for a few minutes just in case I did get sick but everything was fine. I jogged back to the car in my wet clothes and immediately headed off for the beach, where I would get sick the next day while deep sea fishing. But thats another story.
My stats for the race
Time: 36:42
Avg heart rate 143
Max heart rate 159
Calories burned 337
Races completed this year 40
Place in this race 77 out of 89
Monday, August 17, 2009
Damn you, Peter Blank!
So it's the evening of July 29 and I'm just minding my own business. I came out on a storm threatened evening to run in the DCRRC 1 mile championship. I had several nice conversations with different runners and was having a very good time. I even ran my best 1 mile race of the year. Then Peter Blank tackles me and forced me to run in the 3K race. But I'm getting ahead of myself....
I arrived at the track about 15 minutes before the start of the race. I was a little worried that I may be late as I dropped Dori off at the airport a mere 30 minutes before the scheduled start to my race but I made great time and arrived with more time than usual to stretch. Ed Grant was the race director and he warned us that we may have to cancel if we saw lightning. We heard 1 thunderclap before the race but that was it so the race was on.
I ran in the first 1 mile heat, which was for novices and youth. Peter had just finished an impressive 1 mile race walk and jumped right back on the track for this heat. Looking around I figured my main competition would come from Blair Jones, who I beat a couple of weeks earlier at the Rockville evening mile. When just about everyone bolted at the start I decided to use the same technique I used in Rockville and just drafted off of Blair.
Blair is a good slow runner, as opposed to me who is a bad slow runner. She maintains her same pace throughout a race and doesn't need walk breaks. Running behind someone like her is very good for me as it teaches me to pace myself. Each lap was being completed in about 2:25. Just before the end of the third lap I moved to the second lane and passed Blair fairly easily. Now I just needed to keep it together!
I picked up the pace over the last lap as a light rain fell. I heard Kirk Gordon shout encouragement as I ran down the home stretch. My heart was pumping fast as I crossed the line in 9:37.2. Blair finished in 10:06 so it was good that I decided to pass her. I was pleased with my time but I would have been bummed if I ran over 10 minutes.
Shortly after we finished the skies opened up. The next heat went on in the rain. Meanwhile, I caught my breathe and debated running in the 3K.
I usually don't like to run in 3K's on a track because I get passed so much and because the organizers usually have to wait a while for me to finish. This race would be even more challenging as another heat was scheduled to be run after ours. That would mean the fast runners would be waiting for that slow Ramsey guy to finish...hoping he would get in before it got dark.
I spoke to Blair and she told me she was planning on running the 3K. OK, that meant someone else would be running that was relatively close to my pace. I knew Blair was stronger than me in longer distances so I thought she may beat me but I figured she wouldn't beat me by more than a minute or so at most. So I was thinking about it.
Then Peter came over to talk to me after he finished his 3rd race of the day. He cajoled, he persuaded, he arm twisted and finally I caved in and told him I would run the 3K. That said, I was still considering pulling out as we lined up at the start. But my decision was finalized when Ed told us that there would be only 1 heat for the 3K. That meant I didnt have to worry about runners waiting for me to finish. It also meant more runners passing me during the race but I could handle that.
So I lined up in the second row and then off we went. I hung behind Blair for about 1/3 of a mile but then I let her go. But I stayed pretty close to her until I had to take the first of 2 walk breaks about 1 1/3 miles into the race. My heart rate had been hovering at around 150 throughout the race and after 14 minutes of that I had to take a little break. Blair pulled away first by 100 yards, then 200 and ultimately by about 350 yards. She finished in 18:58...a very good race for her! I followed a bit later in 20:10. Not great but not totally embarassing either.
The stats for the 2 races were
1 mile
avg heart rate 138
max heart rate 161
calories burned 114
3k
avg heart rate 144
max heart rate 157
calories burned 208
I arrived at the track about 15 minutes before the start of the race. I was a little worried that I may be late as I dropped Dori off at the airport a mere 30 minutes before the scheduled start to my race but I made great time and arrived with more time than usual to stretch. Ed Grant was the race director and he warned us that we may have to cancel if we saw lightning. We heard 1 thunderclap before the race but that was it so the race was on.
I ran in the first 1 mile heat, which was for novices and youth. Peter had just finished an impressive 1 mile race walk and jumped right back on the track for this heat. Looking around I figured my main competition would come from Blair Jones, who I beat a couple of weeks earlier at the Rockville evening mile. When just about everyone bolted at the start I decided to use the same technique I used in Rockville and just drafted off of Blair.
Blair is a good slow runner, as opposed to me who is a bad slow runner. She maintains her same pace throughout a race and doesn't need walk breaks. Running behind someone like her is very good for me as it teaches me to pace myself. Each lap was being completed in about 2:25. Just before the end of the third lap I moved to the second lane and passed Blair fairly easily. Now I just needed to keep it together!
I picked up the pace over the last lap as a light rain fell. I heard Kirk Gordon shout encouragement as I ran down the home stretch. My heart was pumping fast as I crossed the line in 9:37.2. Blair finished in 10:06 so it was good that I decided to pass her. I was pleased with my time but I would have been bummed if I ran over 10 minutes.
Shortly after we finished the skies opened up. The next heat went on in the rain. Meanwhile, I caught my breathe and debated running in the 3K.
I usually don't like to run in 3K's on a track because I get passed so much and because the organizers usually have to wait a while for me to finish. This race would be even more challenging as another heat was scheduled to be run after ours. That would mean the fast runners would be waiting for that slow Ramsey guy to finish...hoping he would get in before it got dark.
I spoke to Blair and she told me she was planning on running the 3K. OK, that meant someone else would be running that was relatively close to my pace. I knew Blair was stronger than me in longer distances so I thought she may beat me but I figured she wouldn't beat me by more than a minute or so at most. So I was thinking about it.
Then Peter came over to talk to me after he finished his 3rd race of the day. He cajoled, he persuaded, he arm twisted and finally I caved in and told him I would run the 3K. That said, I was still considering pulling out as we lined up at the start. But my decision was finalized when Ed told us that there would be only 1 heat for the 3K. That meant I didnt have to worry about runners waiting for me to finish. It also meant more runners passing me during the race but I could handle that.
So I lined up in the second row and then off we went. I hung behind Blair for about 1/3 of a mile but then I let her go. But I stayed pretty close to her until I had to take the first of 2 walk breaks about 1 1/3 miles into the race. My heart rate had been hovering at around 150 throughout the race and after 14 minutes of that I had to take a little break. Blair pulled away first by 100 yards, then 200 and ultimately by about 350 yards. She finished in 18:58...a very good race for her! I followed a bit later in 20:10. Not great but not totally embarassing either.
The stats for the 2 races were
1 mile
avg heart rate 138
max heart rate 161
calories burned 114
3k
avg heart rate 144
max heart rate 157
calories burned 208
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Vampires scared by lightning-postpone event
July 25, 2009
Tonight marked the second running of the Crystal City Twilight 5K, sponsored by Pacers. I thought it was well run last year so I looked forward to participating again. It did have a high entry fee ($40) but that included a very nice technical t-shirt that I would certainly spend $20 on so I figured it was worth it. Plus, they had beer at the finish!
A pretty heavy rain began to fall about 20 minutes before the start of the race. I was already a little worried about my gimpy right ankle and the thought of slipping on wet roads made me more uncomfortable. So I went off in search of a drug store to buy an ace bandage. Unfortunately, Crystal City largely shuts down on weekends and the one store I was able to reach was closed. So I hustled back to the start line with wrapping my ankle and arrived just before the start. That meant not getting my Garmin up and running for the first couple of minutes of the race. Such is life.
Even though it was still hot and muggy, the falling rain kept me realtively cool. I have noted before that I have fairly well in rainy conditions so I was hopeful. There were some pretty large puddles in the road so I tried my best to avoid them and keep the insides of my shoes dry. I also made a point of avoiding running on or near the stripes on the road as they become very slippery when wet, as recently seen during the Tour de France.
I took my first walk break about 12 minutes into the race at the first water stop. My heart rate was 150 but I still felt pretty good. I did lose too much time here though as I walked for over 90 seconds as I gulped down some water. My heart rate dropped down to 135 during this time. But then I got going again and I was slowly passing other runners as we approached the turn around point. My heart rate reached 152 during this stretch. But I still felt good. I was running at about 11 minute pace, excluding the walk break. But then it was time for another water stop and another walk. This was another 90 second walk and again my heart rate sank to the mid 130's.
Now it was time for a long mild uphill stretch. I tend to not notice low grades when they are downhill but I sure do notice them when I have to run up them. Other than the walk breaks, this is where I probably lost some time. At this point, the sky was full of lighning. I have been recently reading about the increase in number of people being hit by lighning and that kept me moving. I didnt want to be a statistic. I made a final push during the final 1/4 mile, getting my heart rate up to 156. I crossed the line with a time of 37:17. That's 47 seconds slower than my by 5K of the year and 2 seconds slower than my time in this race last year but I could live with it given the wet conditions. Most importantly, I felt really good when I finished. That was really important after feeling so poorly after my race just a few days before.
As I cooled down the race director came over the loud speaker and said a large thunderstorm was about 10 minutes away and suggested we head for our cars. That meant the movie showing of "Twilight" was cancelled. Bummer. I was kinda looking forward to sipping a beer and watching some of the movie (Dori was in Pittsburgh). But with the movie cancelled and the extremely long lines for beer, I decided I would just head home to my frightened dog Riley and comfort him during the storm. I goy thome just as the main storm hit and held my shiverring dog in my lap for almost half an hour while the storm passed.
Race stats.
Avg heart rate 145bpm
Max heart rate 156 bpm
calories burned 332
max speed 10.5mph (about the 3 mile mark)
This race marked my 37th race of the year and 414th in my career.
Tonight marked the second running of the Crystal City Twilight 5K, sponsored by Pacers. I thought it was well run last year so I looked forward to participating again. It did have a high entry fee ($40) but that included a very nice technical t-shirt that I would certainly spend $20 on so I figured it was worth it. Plus, they had beer at the finish!
A pretty heavy rain began to fall about 20 minutes before the start of the race. I was already a little worried about my gimpy right ankle and the thought of slipping on wet roads made me more uncomfortable. So I went off in search of a drug store to buy an ace bandage. Unfortunately, Crystal City largely shuts down on weekends and the one store I was able to reach was closed. So I hustled back to the start line with wrapping my ankle and arrived just before the start. That meant not getting my Garmin up and running for the first couple of minutes of the race. Such is life.
Even though it was still hot and muggy, the falling rain kept me realtively cool. I have noted before that I have fairly well in rainy conditions so I was hopeful. There were some pretty large puddles in the road so I tried my best to avoid them and keep the insides of my shoes dry. I also made a point of avoiding running on or near the stripes on the road as they become very slippery when wet, as recently seen during the Tour de France.
I took my first walk break about 12 minutes into the race at the first water stop. My heart rate was 150 but I still felt pretty good. I did lose too much time here though as I walked for over 90 seconds as I gulped down some water. My heart rate dropped down to 135 during this time. But then I got going again and I was slowly passing other runners as we approached the turn around point. My heart rate reached 152 during this stretch. But I still felt good. I was running at about 11 minute pace, excluding the walk break. But then it was time for another water stop and another walk. This was another 90 second walk and again my heart rate sank to the mid 130's.
Now it was time for a long mild uphill stretch. I tend to not notice low grades when they are downhill but I sure do notice them when I have to run up them. Other than the walk breaks, this is where I probably lost some time. At this point, the sky was full of lighning. I have been recently reading about the increase in number of people being hit by lighning and that kept me moving. I didnt want to be a statistic. I made a final push during the final 1/4 mile, getting my heart rate up to 156. I crossed the line with a time of 37:17. That's 47 seconds slower than my by 5K of the year and 2 seconds slower than my time in this race last year but I could live with it given the wet conditions. Most importantly, I felt really good when I finished. That was really important after feeling so poorly after my race just a few days before.
As I cooled down the race director came over the loud speaker and said a large thunderstorm was about 10 minutes away and suggested we head for our cars. That meant the movie showing of "Twilight" was cancelled. Bummer. I was kinda looking forward to sipping a beer and watching some of the movie (Dori was in Pittsburgh). But with the movie cancelled and the extremely long lines for beer, I decided I would just head home to my frightened dog Riley and comfort him during the storm. I goy thome just as the main storm hit and held my shiverring dog in my lap for almost half an hour while the storm passed.
Race stats.
Avg heart rate 145bpm
Max heart rate 156 bpm
calories burned 332
max speed 10.5mph (about the 3 mile mark)
This race marked my 37th race of the year and 414th in my career.
Feel like I'm just going in circles
July 22, 2009
This evening saw the annual running of the DCRRC Steve Thompson Memorial 8K. This year it was run at Ft. Hunt Park. Ft. Hunt is just about 1 1/4 miles around so its well suited for an 8K or 5 mile race. However, it does make for a pretty boring race, particularly if you are running by yourself.
I got to the park a little early...unusual for me...which allowed me to sign in casually and also squeeze in a nature break. I even went back to the car and did some reading. It was a hot, humid evening and I wanted to stay as cool as I could for as long as I could.
The park rangers were once again out in force against the club...this time with 2 rangers watching our every move. From my vantage point though, there were no incidents this time.
When we took off I felt pretty good. I felt like I was running slow and comfortably but I still pulled away from Sharyn Gordon and I was nipping on the heels of Blair Jones. My heart rate monitor confirms this as my heart rate was only 138 after 10 minutes of running. But thats when I started to run into trouble. Even though my heart rate wa relatively low, I was tiring. I stopped for a walk break after about 1.1 miles and Sharyn went speeding by, putting me in last place. I tried to stay close to her but by shortly after the 2K water stop she was ahead by 100 yards and not to be seen again. I was already being passed by the leaders who were a lap ahead of me. A few would ultimately pass me twice.
I want to give a shout out here to Karsten Brown and Jay Wind. When we run on out and back courses I always try to cheer on the other runners I know as they pass me on their return leg. Few offer any response, which I understand as they are concentrating on their race and they are suffering at that point. But both Karsten and Jay gave ME encouragement today as they came up from behind me. That was particulalrly impressive for Karsten as he was in a race for the lead. I thank them both. There were also a couple of other runners that shouted there encouragement to me as they passed and even a couple that asked if I was OK. I must have looked pretty bad!
Over the next few laps I really began to struggle. I knew my heart was OK (it didn't break 150 until the finish line) but I felt like crap. I had to walk...A LOT. It looks like I took 13 walk breaks over the course of the race. As I completed the 3rd lap I was so worried about my time I was afraid that I meet be lapped by Sharyn and Blair!
I also had something else to be concerned about...the club had to shut down the race by 8:10. The race started at about 7:03 so I had 57 minutes to get in while the clock was still on. I was on pace to come in ahead of that time throughout the race by I had didnt have a lot of room for error. If I really struggled during that last lap I was going to be in trouble.
Fortunately, things didnt get any worse during that last lap. They also didnt get any better but I felt just good enough to run pretty hard the last 1/3 of a mile. One of the blessings of being so slow is when you finish you run by the other finishers that are waiting for the awards ceremony. Most cheer you on as you finish. Its a little embarassing but its nice too. In this race I even had the race director come out and run the last couple hundred yards with me, which was very nice of him. I finished with a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 14 seconds. I was last but I finished in time. And surprisingly, it was actually 24 seconds faster than my best 8K time of the year...the Georgetown 8K held exactly 1 month earlier.
Joe Racine won the race with a time of 27:35. Karsten wasnt far behind with a time of 27:54. Ted poulos finished 5th with a time of 30:10. Maggie Infeld was the top woman (and 4th overall!) with a time of 28:55. She gave the top guys a run for the money.
Other notable finishers were
Jay Wind 34:12
Kirk Gordon 37:26
Jon Palks 41:03
Bob Gurtler 50:28
Sharyn Gordon 56:50
Blair Jones 57:21
Shonda Hightower 61:50
So I wasn't too far behind the runner in front of me, which makes me a feel a little better, even though I finished 77th out of 77 runners. There was a nice spread at the awards ceremony and I helped myself to some cookies, pretzels, and water.
My Garmin stats were
Avg heart rate 135bpm
Max heart rate 151 bpm
calories burned 508
max speed 7.3 mph (end of race)
This was my 36th race of the year and 413th career race.
This evening saw the annual running of the DCRRC Steve Thompson Memorial 8K. This year it was run at Ft. Hunt Park. Ft. Hunt is just about 1 1/4 miles around so its well suited for an 8K or 5 mile race. However, it does make for a pretty boring race, particularly if you are running by yourself.
I got to the park a little early...unusual for me...which allowed me to sign in casually and also squeeze in a nature break. I even went back to the car and did some reading. It was a hot, humid evening and I wanted to stay as cool as I could for as long as I could.
The park rangers were once again out in force against the club...this time with 2 rangers watching our every move. From my vantage point though, there were no incidents this time.
When we took off I felt pretty good. I felt like I was running slow and comfortably but I still pulled away from Sharyn Gordon and I was nipping on the heels of Blair Jones. My heart rate monitor confirms this as my heart rate was only 138 after 10 minutes of running. But thats when I started to run into trouble. Even though my heart rate wa relatively low, I was tiring. I stopped for a walk break after about 1.1 miles and Sharyn went speeding by, putting me in last place. I tried to stay close to her but by shortly after the 2K water stop she was ahead by 100 yards and not to be seen again. I was already being passed by the leaders who were a lap ahead of me. A few would ultimately pass me twice.
I want to give a shout out here to Karsten Brown and Jay Wind. When we run on out and back courses I always try to cheer on the other runners I know as they pass me on their return leg. Few offer any response, which I understand as they are concentrating on their race and they are suffering at that point. But both Karsten and Jay gave ME encouragement today as they came up from behind me. That was particulalrly impressive for Karsten as he was in a race for the lead. I thank them both. There were also a couple of other runners that shouted there encouragement to me as they passed and even a couple that asked if I was OK. I must have looked pretty bad!
Over the next few laps I really began to struggle. I knew my heart was OK (it didn't break 150 until the finish line) but I felt like crap. I had to walk...A LOT. It looks like I took 13 walk breaks over the course of the race. As I completed the 3rd lap I was so worried about my time I was afraid that I meet be lapped by Sharyn and Blair!
I also had something else to be concerned about...the club had to shut down the race by 8:10. The race started at about 7:03 so I had 57 minutes to get in while the clock was still on. I was on pace to come in ahead of that time throughout the race by I had didnt have a lot of room for error. If I really struggled during that last lap I was going to be in trouble.
Fortunately, things didnt get any worse during that last lap. They also didnt get any better but I felt just good enough to run pretty hard the last 1/3 of a mile. One of the blessings of being so slow is when you finish you run by the other finishers that are waiting for the awards ceremony. Most cheer you on as you finish. Its a little embarassing but its nice too. In this race I even had the race director come out and run the last couple hundred yards with me, which was very nice of him. I finished with a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 14 seconds. I was last but I finished in time. And surprisingly, it was actually 24 seconds faster than my best 8K time of the year...the Georgetown 8K held exactly 1 month earlier.
Joe Racine won the race with a time of 27:35. Karsten wasnt far behind with a time of 27:54. Ted poulos finished 5th with a time of 30:10. Maggie Infeld was the top woman (and 4th overall!) with a time of 28:55. She gave the top guys a run for the money.
Other notable finishers were
Jay Wind 34:12
Kirk Gordon 37:26
Jon Palks 41:03
Bob Gurtler 50:28
Sharyn Gordon 56:50
Blair Jones 57:21
Shonda Hightower 61:50
So I wasn't too far behind the runner in front of me, which makes me a feel a little better, even though I finished 77th out of 77 runners. There was a nice spread at the awards ceremony and I helped myself to some cookies, pretzels, and water.
My Garmin stats were
Avg heart rate 135bpm
Max heart rate 151 bpm
calories burned 508
max speed 7.3 mph (end of race)
This was my 36th race of the year and 413th career race.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
TB3K
Just 16 hours or so after finishing the 4 miler, I lined up to run this months edition of the Tidal Basin 3K. I have been running 3K's every night around my neighborhood for the last couple of weeks (training, what a concept) so I had some hope of a respectable time. Unfortunately, the race the evening before took the starch out of my legs and I just didn't have it this day.
My heart rate was already 150 when I crossed the first bridge, only 1/2 mile into the race. I was running about 10 minute pace. I must have been thinking I was running that 1 mile race from the week before. :) But no, this was a 3K so I had to slow down if I wanted to finish. I took my first of 4 walk breaks after 1K. To my credit (I guess), I didn't start any of my walk breaks with a heart rate of 151 or less. So I really did need the breaks when I took them. I generally started running again when my heart rate got down to the mid 130's. I probably could have run a little sooner but so be it.
I had no one around me during the 2nd half of the race so I was competing solely with the clock. The clock won. I finished in 21:52...about 30 seconds slower than my last 2 3K's on this course. My average heart rate was 144...nearly the same as the 1 mile race the previous week. My max heart rate was 157 at the finish.
My heart rate was already 150 when I crossed the first bridge, only 1/2 mile into the race. I was running about 10 minute pace. I must have been thinking I was running that 1 mile race from the week before. :) But no, this was a 3K so I had to slow down if I wanted to finish. I took my first of 4 walk breaks after 1K. To my credit (I guess), I didn't start any of my walk breaks with a heart rate of 151 or less. So I really did need the breaks when I took them. I generally started running again when my heart rate got down to the mid 130's. I probably could have run a little sooner but so be it.
I had no one around me during the 2nd half of the race so I was competing solely with the clock. The clock won. I finished in 21:52...about 30 seconds slower than my last 2 3K's on this course. My average heart rate was 144...nearly the same as the 1 mile race the previous week. My max heart rate was 157 at the finish.
More whine please
I have a love/hate relationship with the Bastille Day 4 Miler, this year held on July 14. I like the theme, the distance is approachable even for someone slow like me, and the surface is pretty good for running (Crescent Trail). But is is run in the evening during July in Dc so it's always warm. It wasn't unbearable this evening but it was still hot.
The race is very popular and there were 98 finishers. The path is only wide enough for 2 people side by side so you can imagine how croded it is at the start of the race. The race Director did a good job of not having us line up until just before the start of the race but it was still enough time to clog the path and cause a biker to get irate. Just chill dude! Anyway, I hung back even more than usual given the crowd. It helped that it was a chip race so I knew the clock wouldnt really start until I crossed over the mats.
I passed Ric Franke after about 5 minutes. Walt Washburn was behind me at the start. The first mile has a pretty significant uphill climb towards Bethesda. I completed the first mile in 10:51 but I did need 2 brief walk breaks to get there. I obviously spent a little too much time walking around the top of the hill because even with a long run down the hill I finished the second mile in 24:25. I was slowing down badly. My heart rate peaked at 149 coming DOWN the hill. It was going to be a long 2 miles. I did pass another runner during the downhill though, a gentleman by the name of Daniel Klimow. I managed to keep him behind me for the rest of the race.
As I approached the start finish line at 2.4 miles, many finishers were already cooling down. The DC Roadrunners are just starting to use this new chip system and runners have to get used to staying away from the mats after they finish their run. Unfortunately, some of thenm got in front of me as I approached the mats. Ed Grant yelled at us to stay away from the mats. But I was just following the runners in front of me. I understand he probably didnt realize that I was only a little more than halfway through but geez, I wish he would take a chill pill. He's such an angry guy.
My anger at Ed got me through the next mile or so as I really don't remember much about it. What I do remember is that there were 2 women (Nicole Gulatz and Maureen McKenna) about a minute in front of me for most of that last mile. I repeatedly tried to make up ground on them during that last mile but I couldn't sustain the push and would have to walk. I finished just over a minute behind both of them with a time of 48:54. I had been hoping for something closer to 44 minutes so I missed that by a lot but I did soundly beat my time from the 4 miler held just 10 days before this race so I was pleased about that. My heart stats were
Average 139bpm
Max heart rate 152bpm
The race is very popular and there were 98 finishers. The path is only wide enough for 2 people side by side so you can imagine how croded it is at the start of the race. The race Director did a good job of not having us line up until just before the start of the race but it was still enough time to clog the path and cause a biker to get irate. Just chill dude! Anyway, I hung back even more than usual given the crowd. It helped that it was a chip race so I knew the clock wouldnt really start until I crossed over the mats.
I passed Ric Franke after about 5 minutes. Walt Washburn was behind me at the start. The first mile has a pretty significant uphill climb towards Bethesda. I completed the first mile in 10:51 but I did need 2 brief walk breaks to get there. I obviously spent a little too much time walking around the top of the hill because even with a long run down the hill I finished the second mile in 24:25. I was slowing down badly. My heart rate peaked at 149 coming DOWN the hill. It was going to be a long 2 miles. I did pass another runner during the downhill though, a gentleman by the name of Daniel Klimow. I managed to keep him behind me for the rest of the race.
As I approached the start finish line at 2.4 miles, many finishers were already cooling down. The DC Roadrunners are just starting to use this new chip system and runners have to get used to staying away from the mats after they finish their run. Unfortunately, some of thenm got in front of me as I approached the mats. Ed Grant yelled at us to stay away from the mats. But I was just following the runners in front of me. I understand he probably didnt realize that I was only a little more than halfway through but geez, I wish he would take a chill pill. He's such an angry guy.
My anger at Ed got me through the next mile or so as I really don't remember much about it. What I do remember is that there were 2 women (Nicole Gulatz and Maureen McKenna) about a minute in front of me for most of that last mile. I repeatedly tried to make up ground on them during that last mile but I couldn't sustain the push and would have to walk. I finished just over a minute behind both of them with a time of 48:54. I had been hoping for something closer to 44 minutes so I missed that by a lot but I did soundly beat my time from the 4 miler held just 10 days before this race so I was pleased about that. My heart stats were
Average 139bpm
Max heart rate 152bpm
It's just a mile
July 10 brought the MCRRC Rockville evening mile and my 33rd race of the year. It was a nice evening...perhaps just a bit too sunny but not really anything to complain about. I saw Blair Jones when I arrived and I immediately decided that she would be my target for the day. She has been running faster than me at the longer distances but I thought I might be able to outrun her in a shorter race. I also saw Christiana C. before the race. She was not looking forward to the race as she had spme aches and pains from a previous workout to contend with. I told her she would beat me, given how she trounced me at the Triple Crown Races. She wasn't so sure.
I signed up for the first and slowest heat. This heat was for runners with expected finishing times of 8:30 or more. I was just hoping to 1)not have to walk at any time, 2)break 10 minutes, and 3 beat Blair.
I started on the far outside at the start so that I could have the same watch time as the official clock. It was a very large heat...perhaps 30 runners...so it took about 200 yards before I could work my way to the inside lane. By that point, Blair was about 20 yards in front of me and Christiana was about 30 yards in front of me. There were a few other runners scattered between all of us as well. I concentrated on keeping a slow and maintainable pace, which I figured to be about 10 minutes. I was almost right on the money after 1 lap, completing it in 2:26. My heart rate was 142 after the first lap.
I paced myself behind Blair for the rest of the race. I never let het get more than 30 yards in front of me. Christiana increased her lead to about 50 yards by the end of the 2nd lap. I finished the 2nd lap in 4:54. The heart rate was 151. I was clearly pushing it. My pace was great but could I keep it up?
Lap 3 is supposedly the critical lap in a 1 mile race. You need to exert enough energy to have a good lap time and still be able to kick during the 4th lap. I finished the 3rd lap in 7:22! I was running very consistent lap times. Of course, I had Blair to thank as I was just hanging out behind her. The trouble was my heart rate was now 158. I was hurting. I briefly considered taking a quick walk break but I kept telling myself "just 1 more lap, just 1 more lap". I started closing on Blair and some other runners as we neared the end of the back straightaway. I must have sounded a like a freight train coming up behind people. I was huffing and puffing. I pulled even with Blair on turn 4 and passed her pretty easily as we reached the straight away. I actually felt pretty good! That Christiana was the only runner in front of me with 50 yards left (others had already finished). I pushed mightily and came oh so close but I couldn't quite get there. If the race was 10 yards longer I think I had her. She finished with a time of 9:28:47 and I finished in 9:30:59. I think it was actually a little closer than the time indicates as I had to brake just a little as we finished since we finished in a tight little chute and I didn't want to run over her. All in all, I'm pretty happy with that time. I met my goals and I felt pretty good afterwards. It also gave me room for improvement during the rest of the year.
I signed up for the first and slowest heat. This heat was for runners with expected finishing times of 8:30 or more. I was just hoping to 1)not have to walk at any time, 2)break 10 minutes, and 3 beat Blair.
I started on the far outside at the start so that I could have the same watch time as the official clock. It was a very large heat...perhaps 30 runners...so it took about 200 yards before I could work my way to the inside lane. By that point, Blair was about 20 yards in front of me and Christiana was about 30 yards in front of me. There were a few other runners scattered between all of us as well. I concentrated on keeping a slow and maintainable pace, which I figured to be about 10 minutes. I was almost right on the money after 1 lap, completing it in 2:26. My heart rate was 142 after the first lap.
I paced myself behind Blair for the rest of the race. I never let het get more than 30 yards in front of me. Christiana increased her lead to about 50 yards by the end of the 2nd lap. I finished the 2nd lap in 4:54. The heart rate was 151. I was clearly pushing it. My pace was great but could I keep it up?
Lap 3 is supposedly the critical lap in a 1 mile race. You need to exert enough energy to have a good lap time and still be able to kick during the 4th lap. I finished the 3rd lap in 7:22! I was running very consistent lap times. Of course, I had Blair to thank as I was just hanging out behind her. The trouble was my heart rate was now 158. I was hurting. I briefly considered taking a quick walk break but I kept telling myself "just 1 more lap, just 1 more lap". I started closing on Blair and some other runners as we neared the end of the back straightaway. I must have sounded a like a freight train coming up behind people. I was huffing and puffing. I pulled even with Blair on turn 4 and passed her pretty easily as we reached the straight away. I actually felt pretty good! That Christiana was the only runner in front of me with 50 yards left (others had already finished). I pushed mightily and came oh so close but I couldn't quite get there. If the race was 10 yards longer I think I had her. She finished with a time of 9:28:47 and I finished in 9:30:59. I think it was actually a little closer than the time indicates as I had to brake just a little as we finished since we finished in a tight little chute and I didn't want to run over her. All in all, I'm pretty happy with that time. I met my goals and I felt pretty good afterwards. It also gave me room for improvement during the rest of the year.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Hmm...what do I say about this race?
July 4, 2009
I look forward to July 4 every year. Not just because of the foreworks but also because of the annual DCRRC Age handicapped 4 Miler. It's a neat little gimmick race starting and finishing in Carderock. Old men and women get to start first. Then younger men and women start later based pre established times based on their age and sex. Theoretically, if everyone was at exactly the same level of fitness we would all finish at the same time. While the format almost assures me that I will finish at the back of the pack, its OK as I enjoy being ahead of the young punks early :) It also allows me to tag different people that leave before me as targets that I can strive to catch.
I thought I could probably catch Ric based on times the day before at the Tidal Basin, even though he was leaving 2 minutes before me. Sharyn Gordon, Cristina Caravoulias, Joe Broderick and Walt Washburn were also possible but unlikely.
Even though I arrived more than 40 minutes before my start time, I failed to have my watch ready when I started. As a result, I missed the first minute or so of the race on my heart monitor.By the time it came on, my heart rate was already 118. This lapse was important as the race volunteers had already shut down the clock when I came in, so we had to estimate my finish time. Based on the information I did have from my watch I estimated that it took me about 56:15 to complete the course. I managed to catch Ric with about 1/2 mile to go and held him off.
So why so slow? In a clear case of poor planning, I had intestinal issues almost immediately after the race started. I really struggled with cramps and I couldnt wait to finish. I had to walk a great deal but not because I was tired. My average heart rate was only 125....a clear sign that something was wrong. My max heart rate was only 140. I can only wait until next year to try to do better.
I look forward to July 4 every year. Not just because of the foreworks but also because of the annual DCRRC Age handicapped 4 Miler. It's a neat little gimmick race starting and finishing in Carderock. Old men and women get to start first. Then younger men and women start later based pre established times based on their age and sex. Theoretically, if everyone was at exactly the same level of fitness we would all finish at the same time. While the format almost assures me that I will finish at the back of the pack, its OK as I enjoy being ahead of the young punks early :) It also allows me to tag different people that leave before me as targets that I can strive to catch.
I thought I could probably catch Ric based on times the day before at the Tidal Basin, even though he was leaving 2 minutes before me. Sharyn Gordon, Cristina Caravoulias, Joe Broderick and Walt Washburn were also possible but unlikely.
Even though I arrived more than 40 minutes before my start time, I failed to have my watch ready when I started. As a result, I missed the first minute or so of the race on my heart monitor.By the time it came on, my heart rate was already 118. This lapse was important as the race volunteers had already shut down the clock when I came in, so we had to estimate my finish time. Based on the information I did have from my watch I estimated that it took me about 56:15 to complete the course. I managed to catch Ric with about 1/2 mile to go and held him off.
So why so slow? In a clear case of poor planning, I had intestinal issues almost immediately after the race started. I really struggled with cramps and I couldnt wait to finish. I had to walk a great deal but not because I was tired. My average heart rate was only 125....a clear sign that something was wrong. My max heart rate was only 140. I can only wait until next year to try to do better.
Presidential Fitness Runs
The new Tidal Basin Run group decided to hold a trio of races around the Tidal Basin on the morning of July 3rd. With virtually everyone off that day, we had the sidewalks largely to ourselves. The race provided the group with an opportunity to raise the money needed to pay dues to the RRCA and it also gave a few prolofic area runners to make a rare visit to the Tidal Basin.
Three different races were held...the Thomas Jefferson 3K, the John Quicy Adams 6K, and the John Tyler 10K. The races were tabbed as the Presidential Fitness Runs. We had 7 finishers in the first 2 races and 6 in the 10K. All of the races started at the same time and finished at the same finish line. Runners for the 3K and 10K started at the same start line but took off in opposite directions. (That was interesting). The 10kers ran about 300 yards before turning around and running in the same direction as the rest of us.
I opted to run the 3K. I thought about running the 6K to give myself a race at an "other" distance and to also stretch out my distance a little but I thought I should get in quickly and help Jay with timing and any other needs. Peter Lamberton ended up halping Jay with the timing so I wasn't really needed but I enjoyed being there to cheer on the other runner sas they made there way around the loop course.
The first 2 runners in the 3K took off quickly. Ric Franke got a few steps ahead of me at the start as I wrestled with my watches but then I passed him before hitting the sidewalk. I REALLY wanted to beat him today. I had failed in meeting most of my running goals recently and I really wanted to beat someone I thought I should beat.
The temperature was about 71 degrees and it was a clear, sunny day. It was a perfect day for almost everyone but a little warm for runners. That is my only explanation for a somewhat disappointing race. I ran for 6 1/2 minutes before feeling the need for a walk. My heart rate was 143 when I stopped for the walk. I know I can do better than this! More disturbing...I walked for nearly 2 minutes! In all, I took 5 walk breaks. Thats just not acceptable. The walks brought my average heart rate for the race down to 134 and my max heart race was only 145. As a result, I finished in 21:22...which was 4 seconds SLOWER than my disappointing TB 3K just 2 weeks earlier. On the bright side, I did manage to beat Ric, as well as another runner, Ketty Smith. My 3rd place finish actually made into The Washington Post on July 4th, which was pretty cool.
After the race, we celebrated Jon Palks 60th birthday with a very good birthday cake. Ric and I also had a nice chat. Karsten Brown set the course record for the 10K course with a time of 36:06 ( I succeeded in only allowing him to pass me once!) Suzanna Sullivan ran a blistering 6K to win the inaugural event in a time of 24:15. Jon and Peter Blank trailed her by 4 and 5 minutes respectively. So she was moving!
All in all, it was a great way to start the holiday weekend. We decided to do it all again for Columbus Day.
Three different races were held...the Thomas Jefferson 3K, the John Quicy Adams 6K, and the John Tyler 10K. The races were tabbed as the Presidential Fitness Runs. We had 7 finishers in the first 2 races and 6 in the 10K. All of the races started at the same time and finished at the same finish line. Runners for the 3K and 10K started at the same start line but took off in opposite directions. (That was interesting). The 10kers ran about 300 yards before turning around and running in the same direction as the rest of us.
I opted to run the 3K. I thought about running the 6K to give myself a race at an "other" distance and to also stretch out my distance a little but I thought I should get in quickly and help Jay with timing and any other needs. Peter Lamberton ended up halping Jay with the timing so I wasn't really needed but I enjoyed being there to cheer on the other runner sas they made there way around the loop course.
The first 2 runners in the 3K took off quickly. Ric Franke got a few steps ahead of me at the start as I wrestled with my watches but then I passed him before hitting the sidewalk. I REALLY wanted to beat him today. I had failed in meeting most of my running goals recently and I really wanted to beat someone I thought I should beat.
The temperature was about 71 degrees and it was a clear, sunny day. It was a perfect day for almost everyone but a little warm for runners. That is my only explanation for a somewhat disappointing race. I ran for 6 1/2 minutes before feeling the need for a walk. My heart rate was 143 when I stopped for the walk. I know I can do better than this! More disturbing...I walked for nearly 2 minutes! In all, I took 5 walk breaks. Thats just not acceptable. The walks brought my average heart rate for the race down to 134 and my max heart race was only 145. As a result, I finished in 21:22...which was 4 seconds SLOWER than my disappointing TB 3K just 2 weeks earlier. On the bright side, I did manage to beat Ric, as well as another runner, Ketty Smith. My 3rd place finish actually made into The Washington Post on July 4th, which was pretty cool.
After the race, we celebrated Jon Palks 60th birthday with a very good birthday cake. Ric and I also had a nice chat. Karsten Brown set the course record for the 10K course with a time of 36:06 ( I succeeded in only allowing him to pass me once!) Suzanna Sullivan ran a blistering 6K to win the inaugural event in a time of 24:15. Jon and Peter Blank trailed her by 4 and 5 minutes respectively. So she was moving!
All in all, it was a great way to start the holiday weekend. We decided to do it all again for Columbus Day.
The tow path revisited
On June 21, I ran the Georgetown 8K. The race starts under the Key bridge, runs up the tow path to just past Fletchers Boathouse and then back the way we came. I just ran much of this same course the previous evening during the Hugh Jascourt 4 miler. It was cooler than the night before so I hoped for a better run tonight.
This was hailed as a Father's Day race and there were several fathers in attendance. The race also included triathalon standout Desiree Ficker, who easily won the womens race by more than 6 minutes (29:02). Unfortunately for me, none of my slower friends made it to the race so I hoped I had some new company out there.
I intentionally went out slow this evening. No one else did though so fell to the back of the pack pretty quickly. I ran for over 8 minutes before taking a rather lengthy walk break. My goal became a simple one...beat last years slow time of 63:06 in this same race on a miserable muggy evening. At the turnaround I was just about on pace but I faded during the next mile and a half. I picked it up a bit from there to the finish as I tried to catch the runner in front of me (James Sullivan). I was making up ground on him when I ran but he was running faster than I walked so I couldn't close the gap entirely. He finished 58 seconds in front of me. I finished 53rd (sounds better than last) with a time of 64:38 (chip time). So I failed in my efforts to beat last years time. However, on a positive note, my pace per mile was about 9 seconds faster than the previous evenings race, which was a mile shorter. This was my longest race sincre late December so I was relatively pleased with my performance. Hey, at least I finished.
This was hailed as a Father's Day race and there were several fathers in attendance. The race also included triathalon standout Desiree Ficker, who easily won the womens race by more than 6 minutes (29:02). Unfortunately for me, none of my slower friends made it to the race so I hoped I had some new company out there.
I intentionally went out slow this evening. No one else did though so fell to the back of the pack pretty quickly. I ran for over 8 minutes before taking a rather lengthy walk break. My goal became a simple one...beat last years slow time of 63:06 in this same race on a miserable muggy evening. At the turnaround I was just about on pace but I faded during the next mile and a half. I picked it up a bit from there to the finish as I tried to catch the runner in front of me (James Sullivan). I was making up ground on him when I ran but he was running faster than I walked so I couldn't close the gap entirely. He finished 58 seconds in front of me. I finished 53rd (sounds better than last) with a time of 64:38 (chip time). So I failed in my efforts to beat last years time. However, on a positive note, my pace per mile was about 9 seconds faster than the previous evenings race, which was a mile shorter. This was my longest race sincre late December so I was relatively pleased with my performance. Hey, at least I finished.
2nd one today
After a disasterous race earlier in the day, I was excited to run the DCRRC Hugh Jascourt 4 Miler that evening. Unfortunately, it was a hot evening and I just didn't have any energy for the race. I had hoped to keep up with Sharyn Gordon but she passed me after about 1 1/2 miles and I couldn't keep up with her. She finished more than 5 minutes in front of me so I clearly struggled over the 2nd half of the course. I did manage to beat a couple of guys in, including Walt Washburn, but it was certainly a disappointing race. I finished the 4 miles in 52:42, good for 67th place. I last ran the race on 2007 and had a time of 43:07 so I clearly fallen apart over the last 2 years. The heart monitor once again tells the story as I had to take 11 walk breaks during the race. Unlike some, I'm OK with walk breaks but I would like to see no more than 1 per mile. The walking lowered my average heart rate to 136, which isn't too bad. My max heart rate though only got to 148 so it appears as though I opted to walk pretty quickly when I started to feel tired.
What a waste
June 20, 2009
I decided to run the Losing to Live 5K today. I had several races to choose from but decided on this one as I enjoyed it when I ran before and it was the most economical of the day's races. Rain was forecasted and the weathermen got it right this time. It started raining pretty hard as we lined up for the start and really started to come down hard only about 1/4 mile into the race.
Here's why the race was a waste....the course was not clearly marked. Nor were there enough marshals on the course to keep people on the correct course. As a result, the leaders took a wrong turn and were back at the finish in about 2 1/2 miles. Slower runners, like myself, ended up taking an even shorter route home. My watch tells me that I completed about 1.55 miles. I felt great for the first 1/2 mile but then I had some stomach issues and had to walk most of the rest of the race. As a result, my average heart rate was only 130; though I did manage a max of 159. And I did burn about 200 calories so I guess it wasn't all bad. Plus, I have a race later today so I guess this helped me save some strength for that race.
I decided to run the Losing to Live 5K today. I had several races to choose from but decided on this one as I enjoyed it when I ran before and it was the most economical of the day's races. Rain was forecasted and the weathermen got it right this time. It started raining pretty hard as we lined up for the start and really started to come down hard only about 1/4 mile into the race.
Here's why the race was a waste....the course was not clearly marked. Nor were there enough marshals on the course to keep people on the correct course. As a result, the leaders took a wrong turn and were back at the finish in about 2 1/2 miles. Slower runners, like myself, ended up taking an even shorter route home. My watch tells me that I completed about 1.55 miles. I felt great for the first 1/2 mile but then I had some stomach issues and had to walk most of the rest of the race. As a result, my average heart rate was only 130; though I did manage a max of 159. And I did burn about 200 calories so I guess it wasn't all bad. Plus, I have a race later today so I guess this helped me save some strength for that race.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A whole new Tidal Basin 3K
The first edition of the Tidal Basin 3K not sponsored by the DC Road Runners was held on June 17. Before the race, a new club was formed, by laws were approved, and officers were elected. Jay Wind will serve as President, Peter Blank will be Vice President, Ric Franke will be Treasurer and I was elected Secretary.
The race also marked the annual celebration of Juneteenth.
I really, really tried to go out slow and I intentionally fell behind all but one person right away. But the heart monitor doesnt lie. I ran the first 1K in under 10 minute per mile pace and my heart rate was already at 148. That was a mistake. But what I did next was even worse. I walked for 2 1/2 minutes while my heart rate dropped all the way down to 120! I'm an idiot! I know I was struggling with some reflux but I should have fought through that a little better. I was still ahead of my pursuer at that point but I allowed him to close the distance between us considerably. I took another walk after 2K and he caught up to me then. I struggled to keep up with him until I had to take a final walk break after crossing the last bridge. I was closing on him slowly during that last long straight away but I couldn't catch up to him. Miguel Gomez-Verdun beat me by 18 seconds as I crossed the line in 21:18. Very disappointing after my 20:10 a month earlier.
The final stats were
Average heart rate 136
Max heart rate 150
Calories burned 265
Max speed 7.8 mph
Avg speed 5.3 mph (11:19 per mile)
I can do better.
The race also marked the annual celebration of Juneteenth.
I really, really tried to go out slow and I intentionally fell behind all but one person right away. But the heart monitor doesnt lie. I ran the first 1K in under 10 minute per mile pace and my heart rate was already at 148. That was a mistake. But what I did next was even worse. I walked for 2 1/2 minutes while my heart rate dropped all the way down to 120! I'm an idiot! I know I was struggling with some reflux but I should have fought through that a little better. I was still ahead of my pursuer at that point but I allowed him to close the distance between us considerably. I took another walk after 2K and he caught up to me then. I struggled to keep up with him until I had to take a final walk break after crossing the last bridge. I was closing on him slowly during that last long straight away but I couldn't catch up to him. Miguel Gomez-Verdun beat me by 18 seconds as I crossed the line in 21:18. Very disappointing after my 20:10 a month earlier.
The final stats were
Average heart rate 136
Max heart rate 150
Calories burned 265
Max speed 7.8 mph
Avg speed 5.3 mph (11:19 per mile)
I can do better.
Wish I lived here
June 14th brought the HCS Burleigh Manor 5K. I wasn't all that excited about running a 5K after my poor showing in the cross country race a couple of days earlier but it was really the only race on the schedule that worked for me this weekend.
As always it seems with Columbia races, I arrived just moments before the start of the race. In fact, I wasn't able to get my watch/heart monitor working until I was about 100 meters into the race. It was a nice day for non-runners but it was too hot and sunny for me. I was soaked from sweat within just a couple of minutes as we had to climb a bit of a hill before heading out onto the streets of Columbia.
My lack of a warm-up showed as I had to walk only 3 minutes into the race. I topped out at 160beats per minute only 6 minutes into the race. But I was working hard not just because I'm not in great shape...I was also pushing a pretty good pace. There were 2 young kids in front of me that I was trying to keep close. as a result, when I ran I was running about a 9 minute per mile pace. In fact, I ran at 7 minute per mile pace for 3 short sections of the course. Running that fast obviously wears me out so I had to take quite a few recovery walks. But I kept all of them under a minute in length so they didn't destroy my overall time.
I was traling Sarah Moreau and Bruce Breon throughout the 2nd half of the race. I would run hard to catch up to them only to have to slow to a walk when I finally caught them. I hoped to be able to pass them in the final 1/4 mile as I did to the kid the previous week but the course had a long and steep uphill section just before that last 1/4 mile and that sapped the strength from my legs and prevented and sort of reasonable kick. as a result, Sarah beat me by 46 seconds and Bruce beat me by 28 seconds. I finished with a time of 36:37...not a 5K PR for the year but one of my better efforts. My avaerage heart rate was 138 and my max heart rate was 162. My heart rate at the finish was 149, which is a little slow for me...meaning I could have kicked a little further out and maybe shaved off the 7 seconds I needed for a 2009 PR. Such is life.
I saw 3 50+ racers out there. Shout outs to Noah Wood who came in 5th with a time of 18:23; John Way who finished 10th with a time of 19:43; and Kirk Gordon who finished 23rd with a time of 22:17. Good runs for all of them!
As always it seems with Columbia races, I arrived just moments before the start of the race. In fact, I wasn't able to get my watch/heart monitor working until I was about 100 meters into the race. It was a nice day for non-runners but it was too hot and sunny for me. I was soaked from sweat within just a couple of minutes as we had to climb a bit of a hill before heading out onto the streets of Columbia.
My lack of a warm-up showed as I had to walk only 3 minutes into the race. I topped out at 160beats per minute only 6 minutes into the race. But I was working hard not just because I'm not in great shape...I was also pushing a pretty good pace. There were 2 young kids in front of me that I was trying to keep close. as a result, when I ran I was running about a 9 minute per mile pace. In fact, I ran at 7 minute per mile pace for 3 short sections of the course. Running that fast obviously wears me out so I had to take quite a few recovery walks. But I kept all of them under a minute in length so they didn't destroy my overall time.
I was traling Sarah Moreau and Bruce Breon throughout the 2nd half of the race. I would run hard to catch up to them only to have to slow to a walk when I finally caught them. I hoped to be able to pass them in the final 1/4 mile as I did to the kid the previous week but the course had a long and steep uphill section just before that last 1/4 mile and that sapped the strength from my legs and prevented and sort of reasonable kick. as a result, Sarah beat me by 46 seconds and Bruce beat me by 28 seconds. I finished with a time of 36:37...not a 5K PR for the year but one of my better efforts. My avaerage heart rate was 138 and my max heart rate was 162. My heart rate at the finish was 149, which is a little slow for me...meaning I could have kicked a little further out and maybe shaved off the 7 seconds I needed for a 2009 PR. Such is life.
I saw 3 50+ racers out there. Shout outs to Noah Wood who came in 5th with a time of 18:23; John Way who finished 10th with a time of 19:43; and Kirk Gordon who finished 23rd with a time of 22:17. Good runs for all of them!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
How much do I hate XC...let me count the ways
1) Always have a lot of hills
2) Tall grass clings to my shoes, forcing me to work harder
3) Grass hides ruts in the ground
4) Uneven running surface requires constantly changing running line to avoid roots and holes.
I could go on but you get the point.
June 12 - MCRRC Gaithersburg XC 5K
This was my first MCRRC race for this year so I got there early so I could renew my membership. I'm glad I did as they didn't have any member ship forms there and they were a little befuddled on what to do with me. Fortunately, Christina was there and she sorted things out for me.
The race was run at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood. It was an evening race so it was pretty warm, though not unbearable. The course was run on tall grass or uneven trails. The race started and ended on uphills. Thanks for that!
I tried to go slow at the beginning but I still found myself pretty well in front of Christina after just a couple of minutes. But she caught me quickly when I stopped to walk after just 8 minutes. I felt beat, even though the heart rate data shows a max of only 141 beats per minute at this point. I had a late lunch that day and struggled with indegestation throughout the race but I think the main thing is I have a mental issue with cross country races.
Anyway, I followed Christina for a while and was just about to yell out to her that we had just passed 1 mile when she stumbled and fell. She sat on the path for a few seconds and looked a little dazed as I approached but she said she was OK and she started to run again. I ran with her for awhile jsut to make sure she was OK but I had to stop and walk when we reached a steep hill. I encouraged her to catch the 2 young women in front of her and she was off. She did catch them about 5 minutes later but I see in the results that they ended up beating her by about 35 seconds at the end. Oh well...she lost about that much time due to the fall so I call it a dead heat.
A few minutes later, a Mom and her 2 young kids passed me about 2 miles into the race. I learned later it was the Duelge family. They ended beating me by about 2 1/2 minutes as I struggled to complete that last 1.1 miles. I ultimately finished in 43:57...a painfully slow time. I'm actually shocked that I beat anyone but I did actually beat 2 men and 5 women. I think that helps show how tough a course it was. Jeanette Novak was my closest pursuer as she finished in 46:27.
Christina and I walked back together to the refreshment area and shared our mutual disappointment in our times and our frustration with cross country courses. I was in no mood to chit chat with others so I grabbed a few cookies and headed home quickly. I hope I don't have any more XC races anytime soon.
2) Tall grass clings to my shoes, forcing me to work harder
3) Grass hides ruts in the ground
4) Uneven running surface requires constantly changing running line to avoid roots and holes.
I could go on but you get the point.
June 12 - MCRRC Gaithersburg XC 5K
This was my first MCRRC race for this year so I got there early so I could renew my membership. I'm glad I did as they didn't have any member ship forms there and they were a little befuddled on what to do with me. Fortunately, Christina was there and she sorted things out for me.
The race was run at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood. It was an evening race so it was pretty warm, though not unbearable. The course was run on tall grass or uneven trails. The race started and ended on uphills. Thanks for that!
I tried to go slow at the beginning but I still found myself pretty well in front of Christina after just a couple of minutes. But she caught me quickly when I stopped to walk after just 8 minutes. I felt beat, even though the heart rate data shows a max of only 141 beats per minute at this point. I had a late lunch that day and struggled with indegestation throughout the race but I think the main thing is I have a mental issue with cross country races.
Anyway, I followed Christina for a while and was just about to yell out to her that we had just passed 1 mile when she stumbled and fell. She sat on the path for a few seconds and looked a little dazed as I approached but she said she was OK and she started to run again. I ran with her for awhile jsut to make sure she was OK but I had to stop and walk when we reached a steep hill. I encouraged her to catch the 2 young women in front of her and she was off. She did catch them about 5 minutes later but I see in the results that they ended up beating her by about 35 seconds at the end. Oh well...she lost about that much time due to the fall so I call it a dead heat.
A few minutes later, a Mom and her 2 young kids passed me about 2 miles into the race. I learned later it was the Duelge family. They ended beating me by about 2 1/2 minutes as I struggled to complete that last 1.1 miles. I ultimately finished in 43:57...a painfully slow time. I'm actually shocked that I beat anyone but I did actually beat 2 men and 5 women. I think that helps show how tough a course it was. Jeanette Novak was my closest pursuer as she finished in 46:27.
Christina and I walked back together to the refreshment area and shared our mutual disappointment in our times and our frustration with cross country courses. I was in no mood to chit chat with others so I grabbed a few cookies and headed home quickly. I hope I don't have any more XC races anytime soon.
It's the little things.
June 7 - HCS Oakland Hills 2 Miler
I was still hurting abit from the 3 races the day before but I decided to make the trek up to Columbia and get in what I hoped to be an uneventful 2 miler. It actually proved to be anything but.
I almost didn't get there in time. The 14th street bridge was again backed up to Crystal City. I did a little strategic speeding and arrived with about 3 minutes to spare. No stretching for me. I saw Joe Broderick at the start line and he said I might pay him back for yesterday as he was feeling pretty tight. I told him I just arrived so I was pretty tight too. But knowing that he wasn't feeling great helped me a little. My goal at the start line was to beat Joe.
I fell in right behind Joe for the first 1/4 mile. Then we hit a little uphill and also a little congestion. (We were running on a sidewalk). I felt the pace slow so I decided to make an early surge. I put about 20 yards between Joe and I pretty quickly. He never got any closer during the race.
I paid a price for the surge though. My heart rate was 167 after 5 and a half minutes of running. I walked for 1 minute but had to get going again sooner than I would have liked because Joe was gaining on me. I ran hard for another 2 minutes with my heart rate getting up to 163 before having to take another walk break. Then, for the next 3/4 of a mile I tried to run a slower pace that would allow me to keep my heart rate down. I succeeded for the most part, as my heart rate stayed between 140 and 156 during this segment of the race.
It was at this point that Adam McNeil passed me. With about 1/2 mile to go, Adam got in front of me and decided that the only thing that mattered that day was to finish in front of me. He was constantly turning around and checking on where I was. If I took a walk break, he took a walk break. From this I knew that he was tired too. That was all the edge that I needed. I controlled the rest of the race from behind Adam. I wanted to stay within 40 yards of him while resting just enough so that I could give my max effort over the last 250 yards. I figured that I could out kick him given his fatigue. Thats exactly what I did. I took a 10 second walk break with 300 yards to the finish line just to allow my heart to drop from 160 to 154 and then I took off. he didn't see me start to run again until I had already closed half of his lead. He weved back and forth on the path making it difficult to pass but the final 75 yards was on a driveway and I had room to get by him. He gave it a valiant try but he wobbled a little bit with about 20 yards left and I blew by him. The official time showed me crossing in 22:31.4 while Adam finished in 22:31.9. I came in 32nd out of 45 finishers and I was more than 10 minutes behind the 1st place finisher but I felt like a winner. Joe finished in 38th with a time of 23:08.
Oh, did I mention that Adam is about 10 years old? Dori said I really shouldn't mention that but I promised to be truthful in this blog. Yes, I'm excited about barely beating a 10 year old. So what... a win is a win I say. :)
I was still hurting abit from the 3 races the day before but I decided to make the trek up to Columbia and get in what I hoped to be an uneventful 2 miler. It actually proved to be anything but.
I almost didn't get there in time. The 14th street bridge was again backed up to Crystal City. I did a little strategic speeding and arrived with about 3 minutes to spare. No stretching for me. I saw Joe Broderick at the start line and he said I might pay him back for yesterday as he was feeling pretty tight. I told him I just arrived so I was pretty tight too. But knowing that he wasn't feeling great helped me a little. My goal at the start line was to beat Joe.
I fell in right behind Joe for the first 1/4 mile. Then we hit a little uphill and also a little congestion. (We were running on a sidewalk). I felt the pace slow so I decided to make an early surge. I put about 20 yards between Joe and I pretty quickly. He never got any closer during the race.
I paid a price for the surge though. My heart rate was 167 after 5 and a half minutes of running. I walked for 1 minute but had to get going again sooner than I would have liked because Joe was gaining on me. I ran hard for another 2 minutes with my heart rate getting up to 163 before having to take another walk break. Then, for the next 3/4 of a mile I tried to run a slower pace that would allow me to keep my heart rate down. I succeeded for the most part, as my heart rate stayed between 140 and 156 during this segment of the race.
It was at this point that Adam McNeil passed me. With about 1/2 mile to go, Adam got in front of me and decided that the only thing that mattered that day was to finish in front of me. He was constantly turning around and checking on where I was. If I took a walk break, he took a walk break. From this I knew that he was tired too. That was all the edge that I needed. I controlled the rest of the race from behind Adam. I wanted to stay within 40 yards of him while resting just enough so that I could give my max effort over the last 250 yards. I figured that I could out kick him given his fatigue. Thats exactly what I did. I took a 10 second walk break with 300 yards to the finish line just to allow my heart to drop from 160 to 154 and then I took off. he didn't see me start to run again until I had already closed half of his lead. He weved back and forth on the path making it difficult to pass but the final 75 yards was on a driveway and I had room to get by him. He gave it a valiant try but he wobbled a little bit with about 20 yards left and I blew by him. The official time showed me crossing in 22:31.4 while Adam finished in 22:31.9. I came in 32nd out of 45 finishers and I was more than 10 minutes behind the 1st place finisher but I felt like a winner. Joe finished in 38th with a time of 23:08.
Oh, did I mention that Adam is about 10 years old? Dori said I really shouldn't mention that but I promised to be truthful in this blog. Yes, I'm excited about barely beating a 10 year old. So what... a win is a win I say. :)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Racehorse - no; donkey - maybe
June 6 brought the annual running of the DCRRC Triple Crown Races. Its a series of 3 races run right after one another and the distances are the same distances the horses run in their triple crown races. James Scarborough is the Race Director every year and I have volunteered the past 2 years. Its a very low key race with no more than 25 racers. The race is held at Ft. Hunt where 1 loop around the park is about 1 1/4 miles.
We almost didn't run this day as a Park Ranger showed up just before the start of the race and started hassling us about a lot of little things. He was taking pictures and telling us we had to do all stand and run on one side of the road. When he told us we had to run with traffic instead of against traffic we had a problem though. First, thats not safe. Second, the course was measured to go clockwise around the park. It would have taken too long to remeasure the course for a counter clockwise run. Eventually though, calmier minds prevailed and we ran on the usual course.
Kentucky Derby 1 1/4 miles
Joe Broderick and Christina Caravoulias were both running today. We talked before the race and we knew we would be at the back of the pack. Now in years past, I have beaten both of them more than they have beaten me. However, this year is different. I'm struggling to run 11 minutes miles and I'm a good 4-5 minutes slower in my 5K's than I was just a year ago. Perhaps its the diabetes. Perhaps its the after effects of my broken foot. Whatever it is, I'm SLOW. So I knew this would be a challenge.
Christina said that she was hurting a bit as she did some speed work the day before. I figured that meant I needed to target Joe. So, when us horses were released I pulled in behind Joe and ran with him for the first 1/2 of the race. But then I walked for 45 seconds. This is where Christina passed me. In looking at the heart monitor data, it looks like I wimped out. My heart rate never got above 146 and it only averaged 135. Joe ended up beating Christina to the line by 10 seconds. I finished 30 seconds later with a time of 13:31. At least it was better than 11 minutes per mile pace. But I was beat! And I still had 2 more races t run!
Preakness 1 3/16 miles
The faster runners get a nice chance to cool down after their run as they have to wait for the last runner to finish (me) before we can start the next race. I, however, only have a couple of minutes to get it together. Thats not enough for me after a hard run. And it showed. We started out in the same order but Christina passed me quickly this time. She encouraged me to run with her but I was shot. I needed to walk. I watched her chase down Joe and they went back and forth for about .2 miles before she passed him for good. Obviously, the Derby took a lot out of him as well. Christina finished in 12:27 with Joe following at 13:30. I just couldn't muster up the energy to catch a clearly fading Joe and I finished in 14:33.
Belmont 1 1/2 miles
You don't appreciate how much longer the Belmont is until you actually run it like we did. It seems like we walk forever to get to the starting line for this race. Christina again tried to encourage me but PR's were not on my mind for this race...I just wanted to live to finish! I felt lousy but the heart monitor doesn't show it...my average heart rate for the race was 126 and my max was only 141. I finished in 20:08... my worse time for this race by far. But on the plus side, I did get a free t-shirt when I finished and I was able to enjoy a doughnut with my gatorade as Jim gave out the prizes. And I think these races will help me with future races as I push myself to more miles.
We almost didn't run this day as a Park Ranger showed up just before the start of the race and started hassling us about a lot of little things. He was taking pictures and telling us we had to do all stand and run on one side of the road. When he told us we had to run with traffic instead of against traffic we had a problem though. First, thats not safe. Second, the course was measured to go clockwise around the park. It would have taken too long to remeasure the course for a counter clockwise run. Eventually though, calmier minds prevailed and we ran on the usual course.
Kentucky Derby 1 1/4 miles
Joe Broderick and Christina Caravoulias were both running today. We talked before the race and we knew we would be at the back of the pack. Now in years past, I have beaten both of them more than they have beaten me. However, this year is different. I'm struggling to run 11 minutes miles and I'm a good 4-5 minutes slower in my 5K's than I was just a year ago. Perhaps its the diabetes. Perhaps its the after effects of my broken foot. Whatever it is, I'm SLOW. So I knew this would be a challenge.
Christina said that she was hurting a bit as she did some speed work the day before. I figured that meant I needed to target Joe. So, when us horses were released I pulled in behind Joe and ran with him for the first 1/2 of the race. But then I walked for 45 seconds. This is where Christina passed me. In looking at the heart monitor data, it looks like I wimped out. My heart rate never got above 146 and it only averaged 135. Joe ended up beating Christina to the line by 10 seconds. I finished 30 seconds later with a time of 13:31. At least it was better than 11 minutes per mile pace. But I was beat! And I still had 2 more races t run!
Preakness 1 3/16 miles
The faster runners get a nice chance to cool down after their run as they have to wait for the last runner to finish (me) before we can start the next race. I, however, only have a couple of minutes to get it together. Thats not enough for me after a hard run. And it showed. We started out in the same order but Christina passed me quickly this time. She encouraged me to run with her but I was shot. I needed to walk. I watched her chase down Joe and they went back and forth for about .2 miles before she passed him for good. Obviously, the Derby took a lot out of him as well. Christina finished in 12:27 with Joe following at 13:30. I just couldn't muster up the energy to catch a clearly fading Joe and I finished in 14:33.
Belmont 1 1/2 miles
You don't appreciate how much longer the Belmont is until you actually run it like we did. It seems like we walk forever to get to the starting line for this race. Christina again tried to encourage me but PR's were not on my mind for this race...I just wanted to live to finish! I felt lousy but the heart monitor doesn't show it...my average heart rate for the race was 126 and my max was only 141. I finished in 20:08... my worse time for this race by far. But on the plus side, I did get a free t-shirt when I finished and I was able to enjoy a doughnut with my gatorade as Jim gave out the prizes. And I think these races will help me with future races as I push myself to more miles.
Tears of Tim
OK, stay with me on this. The title was a bit of a stretch. Tears of Tim is a take-off on Tears of Jupiter. Tears of Jupiter was sung by Train. A train has a caboose. Which leads me to the Clifton Caboose 5K, held on May 30.
I have run this race a few times before. In fact, one year I ran the 1 mile race that preceeds the 5K, as well as the 5K itself. I'm no where near in good enough shape to try for the double (as you'll see in my next post!) so I opted for just the 5K this year.
This is an evening race and like most evening races this time of year it was rather warm. But it was bearable. It's an out and back course with a pretty decent uphill leading to the turnaround. I tried to save myself for the hill and then I hoped I could could kind of roll downhill for the return.
This is a pretty big local race held on a 2 lane road, meaning the beginning of the race is pretty crowded and with children. I was able to clear most of them within a minute or two and I focused on keeping a slow even pace. Unfortunately, my watch died 5 minutes into the race so I didn't have any data to help me get through the race other than just how I felt.
I was doing OK for the first 1 1/4 miles but really struggled going up the hill I mentioned earlier. As always, it was bigger than I remembered. As I was climbing the hill someone who had made the turn and was heading down the hill shouted over in my direction something to the effect of " Way to go, Mom to be". Now I know I have a belly. I even know I have a small pair of man boobs. But I really don't think I look like a preganant woman so I looked around. Sure enough, passing me on my left was a couple and the woman was about 5 months pregnant.
Now I know she could have been in great shape before the pregnancy and I know that this is about my adventures as a slow runner but I was not going to be beaten by a woman carrying a child in their belly! I'm sorry. It just wasn't going to happen! So once I got to the water stop immediately after the turnaround I picked up the pace. I passed her pretty quickly but that wasn't enough. I knew that I tire late in races so I needed a cushion and this hill was the place to build it. I ran at a pretty good clip for about 1/2 mile before having to stop to walk. I was starting to get a side stitch but I pushed through it for the most part. I passed a gentleman around here and I decided I wouldn't let anyone pass me for the rest of the race. So, for the rest of the race I kept an ear out behind me for footsteps. If anyone got close I would push the pace forward. It worked as I ran a pretty big negative split (19:30/18:25) for a 37:55. I finished 18th out of 20 in my 10 year age group. I wish I had the heart monitor working for this race as I think it would probably show some big numbers.
After the race I went to the festival and enjoyed a free beer and a few pretzels. The ground was damp though so I didnt want to sit on the grass. So I only stayed long enough to drink my beer before heading home for a nice shower.
I have run this race a few times before. In fact, one year I ran the 1 mile race that preceeds the 5K, as well as the 5K itself. I'm no where near in good enough shape to try for the double (as you'll see in my next post!) so I opted for just the 5K this year.
This is an evening race and like most evening races this time of year it was rather warm. But it was bearable. It's an out and back course with a pretty decent uphill leading to the turnaround. I tried to save myself for the hill and then I hoped I could could kind of roll downhill for the return.
This is a pretty big local race held on a 2 lane road, meaning the beginning of the race is pretty crowded and with children. I was able to clear most of them within a minute or two and I focused on keeping a slow even pace. Unfortunately, my watch died 5 minutes into the race so I didn't have any data to help me get through the race other than just how I felt.
I was doing OK for the first 1 1/4 miles but really struggled going up the hill I mentioned earlier. As always, it was bigger than I remembered. As I was climbing the hill someone who had made the turn and was heading down the hill shouted over in my direction something to the effect of " Way to go, Mom to be". Now I know I have a belly. I even know I have a small pair of man boobs. But I really don't think I look like a preganant woman so I looked around. Sure enough, passing me on my left was a couple and the woman was about 5 months pregnant.
Now I know she could have been in great shape before the pregnancy and I know that this is about my adventures as a slow runner but I was not going to be beaten by a woman carrying a child in their belly! I'm sorry. It just wasn't going to happen! So once I got to the water stop immediately after the turnaround I picked up the pace. I passed her pretty quickly but that wasn't enough. I knew that I tire late in races so I needed a cushion and this hill was the place to build it. I ran at a pretty good clip for about 1/2 mile before having to stop to walk. I was starting to get a side stitch but I pushed through it for the most part. I passed a gentleman around here and I decided I wouldn't let anyone pass me for the rest of the race. So, for the rest of the race I kept an ear out behind me for footsteps. If anyone got close I would push the pace forward. It worked as I ran a pretty big negative split (19:30/18:25) for a 37:55. I finished 18th out of 20 in my 10 year age group. I wish I had the heart monitor working for this race as I think it would probably show some big numbers.
After the race I went to the festival and enjoyed a free beer and a few pretzels. The ground was damp though so I didnt want to sit on the grass. So I only stayed long enough to drink my beer before heading home for a nice shower.
Friday, June 19, 2009
A shameless shout-out and a 2009 PR!
May 20 - DCRRC Tidal Basin 3K
May 20th brought the end to a DC institution, of sorts. This race marked the last time that the DCRRC would be associated with the monthly Tidal Basin 3K. Challenges with the US Park Service forced the DC Road Runners to reconsider their involvement in the race and potentially put other races in jeopardy. While a bit angry with the club at first for "cutting us loose", after taking some time to get the history behind the decision, I now understand and support the move.
Before the race, Shirley Sameshima gently admonished me for being so behind on my posts. I need commenst like that to remind me that a couple of people do actually read this and its not just a diary of my running antics. I need to make sure I keep this clean!! Anyway, Shirley also asked if I could give her a big shout out when I wrote about this race. So here it is Shirley. Shirley Sameshima! Shirley Sameshima! Shirley Sameshima! Shirley finished this race with a time of 15:32. Shirley has also cut back on her races this year, running about 1 per week compared to the 3 per week she ran the last couple of years. My guess is the quality of her races will begin to improve with less wear and tear.
Now back to the race. It was a so-so turnout with 40 runners finishing the race. As usual, I pushed myself way too hard at the beginning of the race. I had to take a walk break after only 5 minutes (just after crossing the bridge) as my heart rate was already at 150. I walked for over 90 seconds, which allowed my heart rate to drop to 132. I probably should have only walked for 60 seconds. Then I ran again until my heart rate reached 146. This walk break was a little shorter and I began running again when I again reached 132 bpm. I did this process 2 more times...with very similar numbers. I stopped running when my heart rate got to 146 and 150. I felt comfortable running again when my heart rate dropped to 131 and 135. Good information to know.
As we came off of the last bridge an older gentleman(60) I now know was Miguel Gomez-Verdun had the audacity to pass me :) We stayed close and I pushed hard to the finish but he just had more than me at the end. He finished 20 seconds in front of me and I crossed the line in 20:10 (20:13 officially). Sad to say but thats my best 3K since August of last year. But its an improvement over what I've been doing so I'm pretty happy with it.
May 20th brought the end to a DC institution, of sorts. This race marked the last time that the DCRRC would be associated with the monthly Tidal Basin 3K. Challenges with the US Park Service forced the DC Road Runners to reconsider their involvement in the race and potentially put other races in jeopardy. While a bit angry with the club at first for "cutting us loose", after taking some time to get the history behind the decision, I now understand and support the move.
Before the race, Shirley Sameshima gently admonished me for being so behind on my posts. I need commenst like that to remind me that a couple of people do actually read this and its not just a diary of my running antics. I need to make sure I keep this clean!! Anyway, Shirley also asked if I could give her a big shout out when I wrote about this race. So here it is Shirley. Shirley Sameshima! Shirley Sameshima! Shirley Sameshima! Shirley finished this race with a time of 15:32. Shirley has also cut back on her races this year, running about 1 per week compared to the 3 per week she ran the last couple of years. My guess is the quality of her races will begin to improve with less wear and tear.
Now back to the race. It was a so-so turnout with 40 runners finishing the race. As usual, I pushed myself way too hard at the beginning of the race. I had to take a walk break after only 5 minutes (just after crossing the bridge) as my heart rate was already at 150. I walked for over 90 seconds, which allowed my heart rate to drop to 132. I probably should have only walked for 60 seconds. Then I ran again until my heart rate reached 146. This walk break was a little shorter and I began running again when I again reached 132 bpm. I did this process 2 more times...with very similar numbers. I stopped running when my heart rate got to 146 and 150. I felt comfortable running again when my heart rate dropped to 131 and 135. Good information to know.
As we came off of the last bridge an older gentleman(60) I now know was Miguel Gomez-Verdun had the audacity to pass me :) We stayed close and I pushed hard to the finish but he just had more than me at the end. He finished 20 seconds in front of me and I crossed the line in 20:10 (20:13 officially). Sad to say but thats my best 3K since August of last year. But its an improvement over what I've been doing so I'm pretty happy with it.
Runnin late amd runnin slow
May 17 - HCS Longfellow 2 Mile
The drive from Alexandria to Columbia should take about 55 minutes. That means if I leave the hose at 12:45 I SHOULD make it for the 2PM start fairly easily. Registration takes all of 30 seconds (sign my name and drop 50 cents in a jar). Unfortunately, today I failed to consider the impact of construction on the 14th street bridge would have on my commute. The bridge was backed up to Crystal City and crept along for 45 minutes. The GPS in the car said I would be about 15 minutes late at that point. Nonetheless, I decided to step on it and hope that the start of the race was delayed.
I made it close. By speeding a bit in uncongested areas I was able to make up some time. I pulled up to Longfellow just in time to see the last place runner leaving the parking lot with a pack of runners in front of her. I jumped out of the car, tried to get my heart monitor working , and ran over to the start line. I verified that the runners I had seen were the 2 milers and I was off.
I was obviously out of my normal race mode of being in front of a few people. I had no one behind me and my closest competitor was probably 1/4 mile or so ahead of me when I began. There was no way on Earth I was going to start slow today.
My GPS couldn't figure out where I was since I kept moving. As a result I can't tell exactly what my pace was. But my heart monitor kicked in about 3 minutes into the race. I was already at 132 beats per minute and the last place runner was in sight. I ran hard until I passed her and then took a walk break to recover. I'm surprised to see that my heart rate was only 139 at that point. I felt a lot worse than a 139!
The rest of the race saw similar burst of energy, followed by 1 minute walk breaks. I REALLY wanted to catch up with some of the other runners. I finally caught up to the next to last racer (Karen Denmark) as we took the left hand turn back towards the school. I kept the hammer down all the way to the finish line, resulting in a heart rate at the end of 156. My average for period that was timed was 139 beats per minute. I finished 26th out of 28 finishers and was recorded with a time of 25:24. I estimate my "real" time on the course was about 23:10...maybe a tad faster. The lack of accurate information is frustrating and I now wear a regular watch as a backup in case I can't get my GPS to work properly.
The drive from Alexandria to Columbia should take about 55 minutes. That means if I leave the hose at 12:45 I SHOULD make it for the 2PM start fairly easily. Registration takes all of 30 seconds (sign my name and drop 50 cents in a jar). Unfortunately, today I failed to consider the impact of construction on the 14th street bridge would have on my commute. The bridge was backed up to Crystal City and crept along for 45 minutes. The GPS in the car said I would be about 15 minutes late at that point. Nonetheless, I decided to step on it and hope that the start of the race was delayed.
I made it close. By speeding a bit in uncongested areas I was able to make up some time. I pulled up to Longfellow just in time to see the last place runner leaving the parking lot with a pack of runners in front of her. I jumped out of the car, tried to get my heart monitor working , and ran over to the start line. I verified that the runners I had seen were the 2 milers and I was off.
I was obviously out of my normal race mode of being in front of a few people. I had no one behind me and my closest competitor was probably 1/4 mile or so ahead of me when I began. There was no way on Earth I was going to start slow today.
My GPS couldn't figure out where I was since I kept moving. As a result I can't tell exactly what my pace was. But my heart monitor kicked in about 3 minutes into the race. I was already at 132 beats per minute and the last place runner was in sight. I ran hard until I passed her and then took a walk break to recover. I'm surprised to see that my heart rate was only 139 at that point. I felt a lot worse than a 139!
The rest of the race saw similar burst of energy, followed by 1 minute walk breaks. I REALLY wanted to catch up with some of the other runners. I finally caught up to the next to last racer (Karen Denmark) as we took the left hand turn back towards the school. I kept the hammer down all the way to the finish line, resulting in a heart rate at the end of 156. My average for period that was timed was 139 beats per minute. I finished 26th out of 28 finishers and was recorded with a time of 25:24. I estimate my "real" time on the course was about 23:10...maybe a tad faster. The lack of accurate information is frustrating and I now wear a regular watch as a backup in case I can't get my GPS to work properly.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
8 races at once
OK...I admit it. I'm badly behind on my blogging. (Better than being behind on my flogging!) And I actually feel stressed about it. So...to remedy both situations I'm going to use this one blog to make a significant impact on my race reports. Quality will be less than normal but at this point I honestly don't remember a lot about each of these races anyway so short is the way to go.
April 10 - Crystal City 5K
This is my 10th race of the year. I learned the course the previous week so I wanted to give this one my best effort. And I did just that! With an average heart rate of 146 I pushed myself to a time of 36:30. Pathetic I know but it still stands as a 2009 PR for the 5K distance. It earned me 395 place out of 431 finishers. Robert Wade won the overall with a time of 15:28. Briana Whaley was the top woman with a time of 17:38.
April 15 - DCRRC Tidal Basin 3K
Nasty weather reduced the turnout for this monthly race to only 31. Small races can be good or bad for me. They can be good if its largely female and also men outside of my age group. The bad thing is the slower runners generally don't come out on really miserable days. As a result, I came in dead last. But I came in 2nd in my 5 year age group :). Heart rate analysis shows I pushed myself early, getting my heart rate up to 150 in just 4 minutes and 15 seconds. With no one running near me I took several walk breaks to recover and averaged a heart rate of only 139. It really should be in the low 140's at least. I finished with a time of 21:18. Disappointing, even by my low standards.
April 17 - Crystal City 5K
I like this race series! Its not a particularly difficult course, its close to home, I used to walk these very streets years ago when I worked for USAir, and best of all, the 2 for 1 dinners at Noodles and Company after the race! As for the race itself...weak effort. I really struggled with a time of 37:52...nearly 90 seconds slower than the previous week. My heart rate average was 143...3bpm slower than the previous week. I went out slower this week and tried to manage my pace. As a result, I didnt top 150 bpm until 11 1/2 minutes into the race. But my recovery walks were a bit too long, allowing my heart rate to repeatedly drop to the low 130's. I should probably be resuming my running when it drops to about 135. I'm doing this all be feel as its difficult to read the watch while running but this is givving me good feedback on how I'm feeling. Anyway, I came in 451st out of 491 finishers. This race series is clearly a success!
April 18 - University Park Azalea Classic 5K
I laced up the shoes early the following morning and headed out to the Azalea Classic. I ran this race a couple of years ago and had a good time. I spoke to Jon Palks for a few minutes before the race. I enjoy chatting with him...good guy. Anyway, while this is a pretty race and its always fun to run through neighborhoods, it does have a few difficult hills. The other downside is it has quite a few inexperienced racers. This means slower people that start up front and runners who weave and stop unexpectedly. This makes for difficult starts to the race since I start at the back but tend to run well early.
Given these challenges and my time from the previous evening on a less challenging course, I was mildly pleased to finish with a time of 37:12. This put me in 210th position out of 263 finishers. I don't know them but Lea Diamond and Lisa Devlin helped pushed me to the finish line as I was able to nip each of them by a few seconds. Regarding my performance in this same race 2 years earlier when I had a time of 36:30...well I am 2 years older!
April 24 - Crystal City 5K
This was a special race as it was the first time I have ever run a race with my wife Dori. It did require a lot of arm twisting but her running partner Katie also wanted to run it so it was a date.
Now I know this seems impossible but Dori is even slower than I am. I knew that going in since I do some training runs with her. But I admire her for being able to keep a steady pace and not take walk breaks. I was interested in seeing what the lack of walk breaks would do to my time and how I would feel at the end. Well, the data is in and here are the results. I finished with a time of 45:53...about 9 minutes slower than my "average" on this course. But I felt GREAT afterwards. I was sweaty but I recovered very quickly and had no aches at all! This is clearly the sort of pace I should be using when I train instead of my usual race day speed. Its not that I don't try...I just have a lot of trouble slowing myself down. Dori forced me to slow my pace, which was great. My average heart rate was a mere 117 and my max heart rate only got to 126. That tells me that I can probably run even a teeny bit faster and still not feel whipped at the end. But how will I do that without my pacesetter?
Speaking of Dori, I am very proud of her. She finished a second in front of me. This was her 2nd 5K ever. While the pace was easy for me, she was a little tired at the end but she did it! There's no quit in my wife. Afterwards, we had a nice dinner with Katie over at Noodles & Company.
April 26 - Vienna Elementary PTA 5K
This was a last minute decision and it almost didnt happen. I arrived at the race about 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start. They had already packed up all of the registration materials. That surprised me a bit as it was a charity race and I thought they would want all of the money they could get. Fortunately, I found one woman working the race that felt that way and she got me a number just in time for the start of the race.
It was a simple out and back course with few turns but some mild rolling hills. It set up pretty well for me though as the start of the race was uphill meaning the finish (when I'm usually struggling) was downhill.
A little stitch in my side troubled me during the middle parts of this race which coincided with the steepest of the hills. At one point I let my heart rate drop all the way down to 121 while I was trying to push the air out of my stomach. I pushed myself pretty hard during the last mile though and just missed setting a 2009 PR for myself, settling with a time of 36:40. Interestingly, the tale of the tape tells me that I really didnt push myself as had as I thought at the end. My max heart rate was only 151 and my average for the race was only 133. Based on that I should have been able to suck it up and shave off at least 11 seconds. I admit it, I'm a wimp!
April 26 - HCS Jeffers Hill 2 Mile
Not quite satisfied with my performance that morning, I drove up to Columbia to run a 2 miler that afternoon. I had only run this course once before, back in 2007. Thanks to my records I can see that I ran it in 21:48. So that was my target time. Oops, I guess I can go hunting with Cheney because I missed my target too. I finished in 22:51. Showing just how old I've gotten, I don't remeber the race even though the results show that I was nipped at the wire by Jessica Stern by only 4/10th of a second! With that I finished 35th out of 49 finishers.
May 10 - HCS Elkhorn 2 Mile
After a week in Vegas and 2 roadtrips to see a couple of Springsteen shows, it was time to get back to racing!
Now the last time I ran this course was back in December when I was scrambling to try to reach 50 races for the year and it was my 3rd race of the day. I finished with a poor time of 25:56. I was sure I could do better today.
And better I did. I finished with a time of 23:34. That doesn't look like much but the GPS data says I did fairly well considering. My heart rate never got below 137 and I maxed at 156. I averaged 140 which is right about where I think I need to be. So I'm not displeased by this effort, even though I only beat 3 people and finished 37th.
April 10 - Crystal City 5K
This is my 10th race of the year. I learned the course the previous week so I wanted to give this one my best effort. And I did just that! With an average heart rate of 146 I pushed myself to a time of 36:30. Pathetic I know but it still stands as a 2009 PR for the 5K distance. It earned me 395 place out of 431 finishers. Robert Wade won the overall with a time of 15:28. Briana Whaley was the top woman with a time of 17:38.
April 15 - DCRRC Tidal Basin 3K
Nasty weather reduced the turnout for this monthly race to only 31. Small races can be good or bad for me. They can be good if its largely female and also men outside of my age group. The bad thing is the slower runners generally don't come out on really miserable days. As a result, I came in dead last. But I came in 2nd in my 5 year age group :). Heart rate analysis shows I pushed myself early, getting my heart rate up to 150 in just 4 minutes and 15 seconds. With no one running near me I took several walk breaks to recover and averaged a heart rate of only 139. It really should be in the low 140's at least. I finished with a time of 21:18. Disappointing, even by my low standards.
April 17 - Crystal City 5K
I like this race series! Its not a particularly difficult course, its close to home, I used to walk these very streets years ago when I worked for USAir, and best of all, the 2 for 1 dinners at Noodles and Company after the race! As for the race itself...weak effort. I really struggled with a time of 37:52...nearly 90 seconds slower than the previous week. My heart rate average was 143...3bpm slower than the previous week. I went out slower this week and tried to manage my pace. As a result, I didnt top 150 bpm until 11 1/2 minutes into the race. But my recovery walks were a bit too long, allowing my heart rate to repeatedly drop to the low 130's. I should probably be resuming my running when it drops to about 135. I'm doing this all be feel as its difficult to read the watch while running but this is givving me good feedback on how I'm feeling. Anyway, I came in 451st out of 491 finishers. This race series is clearly a success!
April 18 - University Park Azalea Classic 5K
I laced up the shoes early the following morning and headed out to the Azalea Classic. I ran this race a couple of years ago and had a good time. I spoke to Jon Palks for a few minutes before the race. I enjoy chatting with him...good guy. Anyway, while this is a pretty race and its always fun to run through neighborhoods, it does have a few difficult hills. The other downside is it has quite a few inexperienced racers. This means slower people that start up front and runners who weave and stop unexpectedly. This makes for difficult starts to the race since I start at the back but tend to run well early.
Given these challenges and my time from the previous evening on a less challenging course, I was mildly pleased to finish with a time of 37:12. This put me in 210th position out of 263 finishers. I don't know them but Lea Diamond and Lisa Devlin helped pushed me to the finish line as I was able to nip each of them by a few seconds. Regarding my performance in this same race 2 years earlier when I had a time of 36:30...well I am 2 years older!
April 24 - Crystal City 5K
This was a special race as it was the first time I have ever run a race with my wife Dori. It did require a lot of arm twisting but her running partner Katie also wanted to run it so it was a date.
Now I know this seems impossible but Dori is even slower than I am. I knew that going in since I do some training runs with her. But I admire her for being able to keep a steady pace and not take walk breaks. I was interested in seeing what the lack of walk breaks would do to my time and how I would feel at the end. Well, the data is in and here are the results. I finished with a time of 45:53...about 9 minutes slower than my "average" on this course. But I felt GREAT afterwards. I was sweaty but I recovered very quickly and had no aches at all! This is clearly the sort of pace I should be using when I train instead of my usual race day speed. Its not that I don't try...I just have a lot of trouble slowing myself down. Dori forced me to slow my pace, which was great. My average heart rate was a mere 117 and my max heart rate only got to 126. That tells me that I can probably run even a teeny bit faster and still not feel whipped at the end. But how will I do that without my pacesetter?
Speaking of Dori, I am very proud of her. She finished a second in front of me. This was her 2nd 5K ever. While the pace was easy for me, she was a little tired at the end but she did it! There's no quit in my wife. Afterwards, we had a nice dinner with Katie over at Noodles & Company.
April 26 - Vienna Elementary PTA 5K
This was a last minute decision and it almost didnt happen. I arrived at the race about 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start. They had already packed up all of the registration materials. That surprised me a bit as it was a charity race and I thought they would want all of the money they could get. Fortunately, I found one woman working the race that felt that way and she got me a number just in time for the start of the race.
It was a simple out and back course with few turns but some mild rolling hills. It set up pretty well for me though as the start of the race was uphill meaning the finish (when I'm usually struggling) was downhill.
A little stitch in my side troubled me during the middle parts of this race which coincided with the steepest of the hills. At one point I let my heart rate drop all the way down to 121 while I was trying to push the air out of my stomach. I pushed myself pretty hard during the last mile though and just missed setting a 2009 PR for myself, settling with a time of 36:40. Interestingly, the tale of the tape tells me that I really didnt push myself as had as I thought at the end. My max heart rate was only 151 and my average for the race was only 133. Based on that I should have been able to suck it up and shave off at least 11 seconds. I admit it, I'm a wimp!
April 26 - HCS Jeffers Hill 2 Mile
Not quite satisfied with my performance that morning, I drove up to Columbia to run a 2 miler that afternoon. I had only run this course once before, back in 2007. Thanks to my records I can see that I ran it in 21:48. So that was my target time. Oops, I guess I can go hunting with Cheney because I missed my target too. I finished in 22:51. Showing just how old I've gotten, I don't remeber the race even though the results show that I was nipped at the wire by Jessica Stern by only 4/10th of a second! With that I finished 35th out of 49 finishers.
May 10 - HCS Elkhorn 2 Mile
After a week in Vegas and 2 roadtrips to see a couple of Springsteen shows, it was time to get back to racing!
Now the last time I ran this course was back in December when I was scrambling to try to reach 50 races for the year and it was my 3rd race of the day. I finished with a poor time of 25:56. I was sure I could do better today.
And better I did. I finished with a time of 23:34. That doesn't look like much but the GPS data says I did fairly well considering. My heart rate never got below 137 and I maxed at 156. I averaged 140 which is right about where I think I need to be. So I'm not displeased by this effort, even though I only beat 3 people and finished 37th.
Friday, June 12, 2009
The first Crystal City run
This Spring Pacer's held a weekly 5K series in Crystal City. The first race was on April 3. It was overcast and the sky was threatening but the rain held off and we were able to get in a dry race.
This was a race where I felt pretty good at the start but I bonked about half way thru the race. I ran the first mile in 10:15, which is too fast for me right now. I needed a 2 minute walk to recover and bring my heart rate down from 150. Then I ran again to the 1/2 way point. I reached that in 16:45. I had visions of setting my 5K record for the year but I knew it was going to be a struggle as I just couldn't keep my heart rate under 150. 7 times it crossed over 150 and 7 times I took a walk to recover. I was pretty good about keeping the walk breaks short as my heart rate never got lower than 132 and most of my restarts began with a heart rate of about 138 or so. My average heart rate for the race was 142 and I maxed out at 154 at the finish.
I finished with a time of 36:34, good for 3rd in my age group (yes, there were only 3 in my age group if you had to know!). Overall, I came in 301st out of 338 finishers. After the race, Noodle and Company were giving 2 for 1 dinners to runners so I picked up a Friday night dinner for Dori and I. All in all a very good time.
This was a race where I felt pretty good at the start but I bonked about half way thru the race. I ran the first mile in 10:15, which is too fast for me right now. I needed a 2 minute walk to recover and bring my heart rate down from 150. Then I ran again to the 1/2 way point. I reached that in 16:45. I had visions of setting my 5K record for the year but I knew it was going to be a struggle as I just couldn't keep my heart rate under 150. 7 times it crossed over 150 and 7 times I took a walk to recover. I was pretty good about keeping the walk breaks short as my heart rate never got lower than 132 and most of my restarts began with a heart rate of about 138 or so. My average heart rate for the race was 142 and I maxed out at 154 at the finish.
I finished with a time of 36:34, good for 3rd in my age group (yes, there were only 3 in my age group if you had to know!). Overall, I came in 301st out of 338 finishers. After the race, Noodle and Company were giving 2 for 1 dinners to runners so I picked up a Friday night dinner for Dori and I. All in all a very good time.
Honestly, I'm just going to move to Columbia
I ran in my 3rd straight race in Columbia on March 22. This was the 2 Mile race run from Longfellow. I must be honest...the race was so long ago I don't really remember it. However, from my Garmin data I can tell that I went out a little fast and struggled with the hills. No news there! It looks like I took 5 walk breaks....pretty scary for a mere 2 mile race. It just seems like I didn't push myself very hard until we got close to the finish. I took my first walk break after only 5 minutes and my heart rate was only 140. More striking is that I waited to start running until my heart rate dropped to 119. My preference is to slow to a walk when I get a heart rate of about 147 and return to running when it drops to about 132. So, in other words, I was a wimp this day.
I must have realized that I had been slacking late in the race as I then started to push myself. My heart rate maxed at 157 as I hit the finish line in 22:24. That was good enough for 38th place out of 47 runners. Surprisingly, that is also my best 2 mile time this year.
Notable finishers were Dave Berardi, the winner with a time of 11:37; Nina McFadden, who beat me by 11 seconds; and Julia Clearman, who I beat by 3 seconds (ah ha, now we now why I pushed myself at the end!).
I must have realized that I had been slacking late in the race as I then started to push myself. My heart rate maxed at 157 as I hit the finish line in 22:24. That was good enough for 38th place out of 47 runners. Surprisingly, that is also my best 2 mile time this year.
Notable finishers were Dave Berardi, the winner with a time of 11:37; Nina McFadden, who beat me by 11 seconds; and Julia Clearman, who I beat by 3 seconds (ah ha, now we now why I pushed myself at the end!).
Monday, March 16, 2009
I should just move to Columbia
The Howard County Striders run some wondeful low key racing series around Columbia throughout the year. For a buck or less, you can get in a quality race nearly every Sunday. Most of the courses are challenging as Columbia is suprisingly hilly. Also, they usually give runners an option of racing different distances. There is usually a shorter race of 1 to 2 miles as well as a longer race of 5k, 10K, or even 15K.
On Sunday March 8 my options were a 10K or a 2 Miler. With my still gimpy (though much improved) left knee I opted for the 2 Miler. The race started and ended at Thunder Hill School and the name is well deserved. Over the 2 mile course their is a total elevation change of about 900 feet.
It was an absolutely beautiful day which brought out a lot of runners. 47 runners finished the 10K, with Frank Hemmingway leading the way with a time of 38:16. Ashlyn Sinclair led the women in with a time off 44:10. The last finisher came in with a time of 1:18:52. I probably would have been slower than that so I'm glad I opted for the 2 mile...I hate to force people to wait for me to finish.
63 runners competed in the 2 mile race....by far the largest Sunday Strider race that I remember running in. I fell back to about 3/4 of the way back in the field right away but I passed a few runners on the early steep downhill. I felt comfortable but that feeling quickly went away with the 2nd hill which stretches for about .4 miles. I took 2 walk breaks here. On the 2nd I was passed by Christina Caravoulias. Christina is a very consistent runner and is a pretty good measuring stick for me. When I'm running well I should beat her pretty easily at any distance. But if I haven't prepared myself properly she'll pass me by as she did this day. I kept her in sight the entire race but I just couldn't close the gap. I finished 52nd with a time of 22:57 and Christina finished in 51st with a time of 21:51.
Reviewing the Garmin data after the race I would say I walked a little too long on that hill where Christina passed me as my heart rate dropped to 129 before I began to run again. I think I should be able to start running again at about 135 so I took too long of a break there. Otherwise, I think I did as well as to be expected at this point. My average heart rate was 143 and my max heart rate was 161, which I think is close to a race high for me.
On March 15, I trekked up to Columbia for the Swansfield 1 Mile. Unlike the previous week, this was a pretty miserable day with temperatures around 41 degreees and a light, cold rain falling. I had been considering running the 5K but the conditions pushed me to the 1 mile as I really didnt want to spend an extra 25 minutes out in the rain. Plus, as I talked to Kirk Gordon before the race he helped me recall the devilish hill you have to run up about half way into the race. So I decided to give myself a little speed work to counter the last 2 days of slow runs on the treadmill.
There were 38 runners in the 1 mile race - a good turn out, particularly considering the conditions. There were quite a few parent/child combinations which I always like to see as long as they don't get right in front of me. Dee Nelson was running in this race. One of my goals for the year is to actually beat Dee in a race. I didn't think today would be the day but I did want to keep her in sight at the very least.
The race starts with a steep downhill. Why do all of these races start with a downhill? Why can't they end with a downhill which is when I really need it? Anyway, the course droped 75 feet in the first 1/10th of a mile. I ran that section of the course in 50 seconds and my heart rate was only 122. I was feeling good. However, I was begining to feel the effects of a wardrobe malfunction. I had forgotten to tie the drawstring to my shorts. I felt them slipping down my hips as I ran. I kept trying to pull them up and adjust them as I ran but they just kept slipping. I finally had to pull over to the side of the road after about 5 1/2 minutes to tie up the string. I lost about 30 seconds doing this. I may have had to take a break anyway as my heart rate was creeping up to 148 at this point but the problem was I had to come to a complete stop to fix my shorts. A normal break would have me walking a 1/10 of mile or so so this was just lost time. Anyway, once my shorts were tied I took again.
Now remeber that steep downhill at the start of the race? Well, as usual that became an uphill for the end of the race. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to power my way up the entire hill and I was even able to keep my 10 minute pace going. I passed a few struggling runners on the hill as well. I did take a very quick (10 second) walk break at the top of the hill as I thought I might be over doing it but the data shows my heart rate ws only 153 at this point. Anyway, a woman I had just passed encouraged me on and I raced the final 100 yards to the finish. I crossed the tape in 9:45, which I'm OK with given the problem with my shorts and the tough hill. I finished 24th out of 38 finishers. Dee Nelson finished in 7:28...I obviously have to improve a lot if I'm ever going to catch her.
For those keeping count, this was my 7th race of the year. That puts me on pace for about 60 races for the year, which I think is a good number.
On Sunday March 8 my options were a 10K or a 2 Miler. With my still gimpy (though much improved) left knee I opted for the 2 Miler. The race started and ended at Thunder Hill School and the name is well deserved. Over the 2 mile course their is a total elevation change of about 900 feet.
It was an absolutely beautiful day which brought out a lot of runners. 47 runners finished the 10K, with Frank Hemmingway leading the way with a time of 38:16. Ashlyn Sinclair led the women in with a time off 44:10. The last finisher came in with a time of 1:18:52. I probably would have been slower than that so I'm glad I opted for the 2 mile...I hate to force people to wait for me to finish.
63 runners competed in the 2 mile race....by far the largest Sunday Strider race that I remember running in. I fell back to about 3/4 of the way back in the field right away but I passed a few runners on the early steep downhill. I felt comfortable but that feeling quickly went away with the 2nd hill which stretches for about .4 miles. I took 2 walk breaks here. On the 2nd I was passed by Christina Caravoulias. Christina is a very consistent runner and is a pretty good measuring stick for me. When I'm running well I should beat her pretty easily at any distance. But if I haven't prepared myself properly she'll pass me by as she did this day. I kept her in sight the entire race but I just couldn't close the gap. I finished 52nd with a time of 22:57 and Christina finished in 51st with a time of 21:51.
Reviewing the Garmin data after the race I would say I walked a little too long on that hill where Christina passed me as my heart rate dropped to 129 before I began to run again. I think I should be able to start running again at about 135 so I took too long of a break there. Otherwise, I think I did as well as to be expected at this point. My average heart rate was 143 and my max heart rate was 161, which I think is close to a race high for me.
On March 15, I trekked up to Columbia for the Swansfield 1 Mile. Unlike the previous week, this was a pretty miserable day with temperatures around 41 degreees and a light, cold rain falling. I had been considering running the 5K but the conditions pushed me to the 1 mile as I really didnt want to spend an extra 25 minutes out in the rain. Plus, as I talked to Kirk Gordon before the race he helped me recall the devilish hill you have to run up about half way into the race. So I decided to give myself a little speed work to counter the last 2 days of slow runs on the treadmill.
There were 38 runners in the 1 mile race - a good turn out, particularly considering the conditions. There were quite a few parent/child combinations which I always like to see as long as they don't get right in front of me. Dee Nelson was running in this race. One of my goals for the year is to actually beat Dee in a race. I didn't think today would be the day but I did want to keep her in sight at the very least.
The race starts with a steep downhill. Why do all of these races start with a downhill? Why can't they end with a downhill which is when I really need it? Anyway, the course droped 75 feet in the first 1/10th of a mile. I ran that section of the course in 50 seconds and my heart rate was only 122. I was feeling good. However, I was begining to feel the effects of a wardrobe malfunction. I had forgotten to tie the drawstring to my shorts. I felt them slipping down my hips as I ran. I kept trying to pull them up and adjust them as I ran but they just kept slipping. I finally had to pull over to the side of the road after about 5 1/2 minutes to tie up the string. I lost about 30 seconds doing this. I may have had to take a break anyway as my heart rate was creeping up to 148 at this point but the problem was I had to come to a complete stop to fix my shorts. A normal break would have me walking a 1/10 of mile or so so this was just lost time. Anyway, once my shorts were tied I took again.
Now remeber that steep downhill at the start of the race? Well, as usual that became an uphill for the end of the race. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to power my way up the entire hill and I was even able to keep my 10 minute pace going. I passed a few struggling runners on the hill as well. I did take a very quick (10 second) walk break at the top of the hill as I thought I might be over doing it but the data shows my heart rate ws only 153 at this point. Anyway, a woman I had just passed encouraged me on and I raced the final 100 yards to the finish. I crossed the tape in 9:45, which I'm OK with given the problem with my shorts and the tough hill. I finished 24th out of 38 finishers. Dee Nelson finished in 7:28...I obviously have to improve a lot if I'm ever going to catch her.
For those keeping count, this was my 7th race of the year. That puts me on pace for about 60 races for the year, which I think is a good number.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Hail...another Tidal Basin 3K
February 18 confirmed that I truly am one of those insane runners who will run in anything. It was time once again for the monthly edition of the Tidal Basin 3K. This one was a little different than usual though. Instead of having to dodge tour buses we had to try to evade the sleet and freezing rain that was falling. It's one thing to run in the cold but its another thing entirely to have to also deal with stinging sleet bouncing off of your face.
There were only 23 competitors for thsi race and even that seemed high given the conditions. I spoke to Charlie Mercer before the race and he told me that conditions at last months race were bad as it was below 20 degrees but that this was certainly worse. I asked him how he was doing and he commented on Ted being there. I told him that Ted has been injured and is not running as fast as usual and he seemed to cheer up. I saw later that he won the race with a time of 10:55, beating Michael Collins by 4 seconds. I'm not certain but I think that may be Charlie's first Tidal Basin win...good for him!
All of the slower folks had the good sense to skip this race except for me. The only person there that I could stay even remotely close to was Tami Graf (who is 72 BTW). I stayed on her heels through about .9 miles but then I had to take a walk break when my heart rate hit 149. I started running again when it dropped to 125BPM, which was probably a bit too low. By that time, Tami was well out of reach and I was merlely running for my dignity and to allow Jay to pack up and get out of the sleet.
I didn't mention crossing the first Tidal Basin bridge. That was absolutely the worst part of the course. The sleet was coming in from across the Tidal Basin so we had no shelter at all. It was coming in nearly vertical and hitting us on our right side as we ran across the bridge. There was no where to hide. I probably ran across the bridge faster than I ever have before as I just wanted to stop being hit by that sleet!
Returning to the race, I took 2 more walk breaks...both times when my heart rate exceeded 150BPM. I should note that I don't stop based on my heart monitor as I actually can't read it when I'm runnning. I simply stop when I feel like I'm overdoing it. It's only after the race that I see that I typically feel that way when my heart rate gets to about 150.
I finished my last walk break at 1.5 miles and pushed myself as hard as I could towards the finish. My dog Riley cheered/barked me on as I passed him in my car as I neared the finish. I pushed myself hard to the finish and actually had a heart rate of 158 as I crossed the finish line in a time of 20:24. While that is obviously slows, that is the first time I have averaged under an 11 minute per mile pace for any distance since mid September of last year so I'm pretty happy about that. I guess we could say I perfom my best when conditions are the worst. Now we just have to test out that theory.
There were only 23 competitors for thsi race and even that seemed high given the conditions. I spoke to Charlie Mercer before the race and he told me that conditions at last months race were bad as it was below 20 degrees but that this was certainly worse. I asked him how he was doing and he commented on Ted being there. I told him that Ted has been injured and is not running as fast as usual and he seemed to cheer up. I saw later that he won the race with a time of 10:55, beating Michael Collins by 4 seconds. I'm not certain but I think that may be Charlie's first Tidal Basin win...good for him!
All of the slower folks had the good sense to skip this race except for me. The only person there that I could stay even remotely close to was Tami Graf (who is 72 BTW). I stayed on her heels through about .9 miles but then I had to take a walk break when my heart rate hit 149. I started running again when it dropped to 125BPM, which was probably a bit too low. By that time, Tami was well out of reach and I was merlely running for my dignity and to allow Jay to pack up and get out of the sleet.
I didn't mention crossing the first Tidal Basin bridge. That was absolutely the worst part of the course. The sleet was coming in from across the Tidal Basin so we had no shelter at all. It was coming in nearly vertical and hitting us on our right side as we ran across the bridge. There was no where to hide. I probably ran across the bridge faster than I ever have before as I just wanted to stop being hit by that sleet!
Returning to the race, I took 2 more walk breaks...both times when my heart rate exceeded 150BPM. I should note that I don't stop based on my heart monitor as I actually can't read it when I'm runnning. I simply stop when I feel like I'm overdoing it. It's only after the race that I see that I typically feel that way when my heart rate gets to about 150.
I finished my last walk break at 1.5 miles and pushed myself as hard as I could towards the finish. My dog Riley cheered/barked me on as I passed him in my car as I neared the finish. I pushed myself hard to the finish and actually had a heart rate of 158 as I crossed the finish line in a time of 20:24. While that is obviously slows, that is the first time I have averaged under an 11 minute per mile pace for any distance since mid September of last year so I'm pretty happy about that. I guess we could say I perfom my best when conditions are the worst. Now we just have to test out that theory.
By George, I'm slow
On February 14 I made my return to the annual By George 5K on Haines Point, sponsored by the Potomac Valley Track Club. Dori and I celebrated Valentine's Day the previous evening in Old Town so I had a hall pass this morning.
It was a cold morning and anyone that has run at Haines Point knows that the wind coming in off of the rivers makes a cold day feel pretty darn frigid. As always, the standing around at the beginning was the worse. But I was able to forget about the cold for a few moments while exchanging small talk with Jon Palks and Peter Blank.
This race is actually 2 races in one. A 10K is run simultaneously with the 5K. Haines Point is just a just a tiny bit longer than 5K around the point so the 10K runners start a little bit in front of the 5K runners and we all finish at the same place. My goal in these races is to not get passed by the 10K leaders as we all near the finish line. I've been able to do it before... I remember seeing Ted Poulos closing fast 1 year as I crossed the tape...but I'm older, fatter, and slower now.
Perhaps the best aspect of Haines Point is its flatness. You really can't ask for a flatter course. Given that I like flat courses and I actually prefer cold days (once I'm running) I hoped for a good day. My GPS wasn't charged though so I was going to have do this one without any help from technology.
I felt good at the start. I was probably running about an 11 minutes pace for the first mile or so. I had quite a few people around me and I was listening to their conversations to pass away the time. I never have understood people that talked during a race...I can barely squeeze out a "Go Shirley" when I'm in a race...but whatever it takes. As we passed the golf course entrance I had to take my first walk break. My lower legs were hurting pretty good and I know from experience that they actually feel better when I run so I started up again. Unfortunately, they still hurt. I ran on the grass where I could to ease the stress but it didnt help too much. But I perservered.
Being a back of the pack runner I have simple goals. One of my golden rules is to be a net passer over the last half of any race. This tells me that my pace is good and that I'm stronger at the finisg than those near my time. I accomplished that goal today. I had a few runners in front of me over the last 1.5 miles but I kept them close and I passed them over the last 200 yards. They probably wondered "What's up with that guy" but that's OK...I need that challenge.
However, I did fail at keeping the 10K leaders from passing me. I finished the 5K in 36:49, good for 163rd out of 182 finishers, while 3 10K's finished before me. The 10K winner, Matt Lowe, finished in an impressive 34:45. BTW, I estimate that my "chip" time would have been about 10 seconds faster than my official time so that means a 2009 5K PR for me at 36:39. Waa-hoo for me.
Other finishers in the 5K included Peter Blank, who won the race walk with a time of 30:35; Jon Palks with a time of 24:41, and Shirley Sameshima with a time of 28:42. Jay Wind had a nice 10K with a time of 43:56 which was good enough to win his age bracket.
It was a cold morning and anyone that has run at Haines Point knows that the wind coming in off of the rivers makes a cold day feel pretty darn frigid. As always, the standing around at the beginning was the worse. But I was able to forget about the cold for a few moments while exchanging small talk with Jon Palks and Peter Blank.
This race is actually 2 races in one. A 10K is run simultaneously with the 5K. Haines Point is just a just a tiny bit longer than 5K around the point so the 10K runners start a little bit in front of the 5K runners and we all finish at the same place. My goal in these races is to not get passed by the 10K leaders as we all near the finish line. I've been able to do it before... I remember seeing Ted Poulos closing fast 1 year as I crossed the tape...but I'm older, fatter, and slower now.
Perhaps the best aspect of Haines Point is its flatness. You really can't ask for a flatter course. Given that I like flat courses and I actually prefer cold days (once I'm running) I hoped for a good day. My GPS wasn't charged though so I was going to have do this one without any help from technology.
I felt good at the start. I was probably running about an 11 minutes pace for the first mile or so. I had quite a few people around me and I was listening to their conversations to pass away the time. I never have understood people that talked during a race...I can barely squeeze out a "Go Shirley" when I'm in a race...but whatever it takes. As we passed the golf course entrance I had to take my first walk break. My lower legs were hurting pretty good and I know from experience that they actually feel better when I run so I started up again. Unfortunately, they still hurt. I ran on the grass where I could to ease the stress but it didnt help too much. But I perservered.
Being a back of the pack runner I have simple goals. One of my golden rules is to be a net passer over the last half of any race. This tells me that my pace is good and that I'm stronger at the finisg than those near my time. I accomplished that goal today. I had a few runners in front of me over the last 1.5 miles but I kept them close and I passed them over the last 200 yards. They probably wondered "What's up with that guy" but that's OK...I need that challenge.
However, I did fail at keeping the 10K leaders from passing me. I finished the 5K in 36:49, good for 163rd out of 182 finishers, while 3 10K's finished before me. The 10K winner, Matt Lowe, finished in an impressive 34:45. BTW, I estimate that my "chip" time would have been about 10 seconds faster than my official time so that means a 2009 5K PR for me at 36:39. Waa-hoo for me.
Other finishers in the 5K included Peter Blank, who won the race walk with a time of 30:35; Jon Palks with a time of 24:41, and Shirley Sameshima with a time of 28:42. Jay Wind had a nice 10K with a time of 43:56 which was good enough to win his age bracket.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Moreland's race
Also known as the Wanut Hill Ribbon Run 5K, this is the race to help James Moreland defray some of his costs for managing the 50+ race club. I really apprecaite everything James does for us so I'm happy to run in this race.
This race is aptly named as a)we run a nasty little hill 2x and b)from the air the course looks like a ribbon. In fact we cross through 1 intersection 6 times. To make that intersection interesting, Jim has volunteers handing out playing cards to the runners as they pass through the intersection. Whoever has the best poker hand wins a free entry into a Capital Running Club race.
There were only 24 runners for the race. A number of the usual suspects, like Peter Blank and Karsten Brown were not there as I believe that they had other races to run. But John Way, Ted Poulos, Bob Platt, Dee Nelson, John Winkert, and Ric Franke were there. I started off near the back but quickly passed Ric and a woman later identified as Jeanette Novak. I also passed a couple running together on the first hill. They stayed close behind me the entire race and pushed me to the finish line so I'm grateful to them for that.
I finished in 20th position with a time of 37:03 (37:00 according to my watch). I was more than 2 1/2 minutes behind my closest competitor so I had no one pulling me along from the front side. My average heart rate was 141 (mission accomplished). My max heart rate was 155. What I'm most encouraged by is that I spent over 6 minutes in zone 4, which is a heart rate greater than 148. This resulted in a lot of walk breaks (looks like 11) but they were short and then I pushed myself again. This was actually a really good training run. More runs like this should improve my strength and endurance.
This race is aptly named as a)we run a nasty little hill 2x and b)from the air the course looks like a ribbon. In fact we cross through 1 intersection 6 times. To make that intersection interesting, Jim has volunteers handing out playing cards to the runners as they pass through the intersection. Whoever has the best poker hand wins a free entry into a Capital Running Club race.
There were only 24 runners for the race. A number of the usual suspects, like Peter Blank and Karsten Brown were not there as I believe that they had other races to run. But John Way, Ted Poulos, Bob Platt, Dee Nelson, John Winkert, and Ric Franke were there. I started off near the back but quickly passed Ric and a woman later identified as Jeanette Novak. I also passed a couple running together on the first hill. They stayed close behind me the entire race and pushed me to the finish line so I'm grateful to them for that.
I finished in 20th position with a time of 37:03 (37:00 according to my watch). I was more than 2 1/2 minutes behind my closest competitor so I had no one pulling me along from the front side. My average heart rate was 141 (mission accomplished). My max heart rate was 155. What I'm most encouraged by is that I spent over 6 minutes in zone 4, which is a heart rate greater than 148. This resulted in a lot of walk breaks (looks like 11) but they were short and then I pushed myself again. This was actually a really good training run. More runs like this should improve my strength and endurance.
I've been away too long
Oh so many races to catch up on so let's not waste time!
After the New Year's Day race in Rosslyn, I decided (with help from my Dr.) to take the rest of the month off to rest my left knee. It had been very painful to flex and stairs were a bear. However, I'm happy to report that with rest and a lot of Alive the knee is much better and I even feel comfortable running without the knee brace.
I returned to the roads and trails on February 1st for the DCRRC Capital Hospice 3K. Yes, that's right...the wimpy 3K. I didn't feel up to a difficult 12K while still recovering from an injury. Plus, it was icy in places that day so I wanted to minimize the risk of slipping. I saw a lot of the regulars there for the 12K...Karsten Brown(finished 3rd), Charlie Mercer(finished 4th and is running really well), Bill Stahr, John Way, James Moreland, Jay Wind, Kirk Gordon, Karen Young, Bob Platt, Jon Palks, Sharyn Gordon, and of course Shirley Sameshima. There were 219 finishers for the big race.
There were only 26 races in the smaller 3K, the most notable being Ted Poulos, Jim Scarborough (the race director), and Bob Gurtler. Thanks to my Garmin GPS watch I can tell you that I took 5 walk breaks (yes, sad I know for a mere 3K). I ran until just after going through the tunnel, where we encountered about 20 yards of ice. My heart rate was 141 when I took this first break so I certainly could have pushed further if not for the ice. Another ice patch a 1/4 mile later resulted in another short walk with my heart rate at about 134. Knowing I had taken it easy to this point, I pushed myself harder the second half of the race. I was ahead of a 6 year old boy that I really needed to beat (Kelvin Roesing) and I was trying to catch a woman that was within 100 yards of me for the entire race (Liz Santos) . Bob Gurtler is always a target for me but he finished well in front of me this day by about 4 minutes. I tried to pace myself so that I could give a really hard push at the end so I could pass Liz but the finish line came up too soon. Literally. According to my watch the course was only 1.73 miles. Anyway, Liz ended up finishing in 21 minutes even with me 9 seconds back. Little Kelvin finished in 21:23. Ted won the race in a pedestrian 12:39, as he is coming off some type of surgery.
All in all, I was pleased with my return to racing. I averaged around a 12 minutes pace and my max heart rate was 148. My average heart rate was 135. I hope to get that up to about 140-145 as my training continues.
Until next time.
After the New Year's Day race in Rosslyn, I decided (with help from my Dr.) to take the rest of the month off to rest my left knee. It had been very painful to flex and stairs were a bear. However, I'm happy to report that with rest and a lot of Alive the knee is much better and I even feel comfortable running without the knee brace.
I returned to the roads and trails on February 1st for the DCRRC Capital Hospice 3K. Yes, that's right...the wimpy 3K. I didn't feel up to a difficult 12K while still recovering from an injury. Plus, it was icy in places that day so I wanted to minimize the risk of slipping. I saw a lot of the regulars there for the 12K...Karsten Brown(finished 3rd), Charlie Mercer(finished 4th and is running really well), Bill Stahr, John Way, James Moreland, Jay Wind, Kirk Gordon, Karen Young, Bob Platt, Jon Palks, Sharyn Gordon, and of course Shirley Sameshima. There were 219 finishers for the big race.
There were only 26 races in the smaller 3K, the most notable being Ted Poulos, Jim Scarborough (the race director), and Bob Gurtler. Thanks to my Garmin GPS watch I can tell you that I took 5 walk breaks (yes, sad I know for a mere 3K). I ran until just after going through the tunnel, where we encountered about 20 yards of ice. My heart rate was 141 when I took this first break so I certainly could have pushed further if not for the ice. Another ice patch a 1/4 mile later resulted in another short walk with my heart rate at about 134. Knowing I had taken it easy to this point, I pushed myself harder the second half of the race. I was ahead of a 6 year old boy that I really needed to beat (Kelvin Roesing) and I was trying to catch a woman that was within 100 yards of me for the entire race (Liz Santos) . Bob Gurtler is always a target for me but he finished well in front of me this day by about 4 minutes. I tried to pace myself so that I could give a really hard push at the end so I could pass Liz but the finish line came up too soon. Literally. According to my watch the course was only 1.73 miles. Anyway, Liz ended up finishing in 21 minutes even with me 9 seconds back. Little Kelvin finished in 21:23. Ted won the race in a pedestrian 12:39, as he is coming off some type of surgery.
All in all, I was pleased with my return to racing. I averaged around a 12 minutes pace and my max heart rate was 148. My average heart rate was 135. I hope to get that up to about 140-145 as my training continues.
Until next time.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Happy New Year!
As I do most years, I got myself together in time on New Year's Day to get over to Rossyln and run in the DC Road Runners Predictions and Resolutions 5K. My best time in this race was 30:51 back in 2005. I couldn't break 34 minutes in any 5K last year so I knew that time wasn't in any danger.
Quite a few runners made it out for the race and the race was even covered by a Washington Post reporter and photographer. The start was crowded as it always is on a Mt. Vernon Trail race but it quickly thinned out as we ran by Roosevelt Island. I was running at just over a 10 minute pace for the first mile but had to stop to walk at about 1.1 miles. According to my Garmin, my heart rate was at 142 at this point. I really should be able to run at that rate but it seems like that is when I start to feel pretty bad and I always try to err on the side of discretion.
My heart rate got above 142 8 times during the race and I took walk breaks every time. My highest heart rate was 149 just before the finish.
I finished the race is 36:45, 10 seconds slower than the day before on a flat course. This course has a very challenging hill at the end of the race (a bridge over the GW parkway) so relative to that race I'm somewhat satisfied. But I obviously have a LONG way to go to catch up with my times from just a few years ago. My hope is with consistent training, which is now possible being between work assignments, I'll be able to not only get stronger but also lose the 8 pounds or so that keep me from being in the proper BMI level. I do all of that I think I should certainly expect myself to be able to sustain a 10 minute per mile pace for up to a 10K distance. Let's see how the year goes.
Quite a few runners made it out for the race and the race was even covered by a Washington Post reporter and photographer. The start was crowded as it always is on a Mt. Vernon Trail race but it quickly thinned out as we ran by Roosevelt Island. I was running at just over a 10 minute pace for the first mile but had to stop to walk at about 1.1 miles. According to my Garmin, my heart rate was at 142 at this point. I really should be able to run at that rate but it seems like that is when I start to feel pretty bad and I always try to err on the side of discretion.
My heart rate got above 142 8 times during the race and I took walk breaks every time. My highest heart rate was 149 just before the finish.
I finished the race is 36:45, 10 seconds slower than the day before on a flat course. This course has a very challenging hill at the end of the race (a bridge over the GW parkway) so relative to that race I'm somewhat satisfied. But I obviously have a LONG way to go to catch up with my times from just a few years ago. My hope is with consistent training, which is now possible being between work assignments, I'll be able to not only get stronger but also lose the 8 pounds or so that keep me from being in the proper BMI level. I do all of that I think I should certainly expect myself to be able to sustain a 10 minute per mile pace for up to a 10K distance. Let's see how the year goes.
Festival of Lights 5K
I dropped out of the King Street Mile due to its time restriction of 9 minutes or less and instead ran the Festival of Lights 5K on Christmas Eve. Man, was it ever cold and windy. Temperatures were in the mid to low 30's and winds were gusting to about 50MPH. Several trees were knocked down and in the road on the way to the race and a priest was killed in the area about the same time as the start of the race when a tree fell on him.
The race was run at Bull Run Park. I had always wanted to run there so this was my chance. Plus, with a 3PM start I could run and get back home in time to celebrate the New Year properly.
I wore my new Garmin Forerunner 305 that Dori gave me for Christmas for the first time in a race. I struggled with reading it while I ran but I think it will be a big help to my running once I figure out how to use it properly.
I ran the first 1.1 miles at a 10 minute/mile pace. That kept me in a pretty good sized pack of runners until I took a walk break at 1.1 miles. Though the course was pretty flat, the wind and cold took their toll on me. Plus, I was bundled up like the character from the Michelin tire commercials so it was a little tough moving around. Anyway, the most interesting aspect of the course was the shooting range just short of the turnaround. There were quite a few people out shooting. I guess that shouldn't surprise me. Nothing brings in a New Year like firing off a few rounds. :) Anyway, I flinched everytime they fired. It was loud! I wanted to get away from there as fast as I could but we actually spent a lot of time by them since that is where the turnaround was.
I took a number of walk breaks on the back half of the course, though I was only passed by one runner and I passed another runner during this half. I finished the 5K in 36:35. That's not very good but I'll take it given the conditions.
I hung around for the prizes afterwards, which I usually don't do, but I had a good feeling. So much for that feeling. I froze my tail off and I didn't win a darn thing. What a fitting end to a tough year. I finished with 51 races for the year, none of them particularly good. Bring on 2009.
The race was run at Bull Run Park. I had always wanted to run there so this was my chance. Plus, with a 3PM start I could run and get back home in time to celebrate the New Year properly.
I wore my new Garmin Forerunner 305 that Dori gave me for Christmas for the first time in a race. I struggled with reading it while I ran but I think it will be a big help to my running once I figure out how to use it properly.
I ran the first 1.1 miles at a 10 minute/mile pace. That kept me in a pretty good sized pack of runners until I took a walk break at 1.1 miles. Though the course was pretty flat, the wind and cold took their toll on me. Plus, I was bundled up like the character from the Michelin tire commercials so it was a little tough moving around. Anyway, the most interesting aspect of the course was the shooting range just short of the turnaround. There were quite a few people out shooting. I guess that shouldn't surprise me. Nothing brings in a New Year like firing off a few rounds. :) Anyway, I flinched everytime they fired. It was loud! I wanted to get away from there as fast as I could but we actually spent a lot of time by them since that is where the turnaround was.
I took a number of walk breaks on the back half of the course, though I was only passed by one runner and I passed another runner during this half. I finished the 5K in 36:35. That's not very good but I'll take it given the conditions.
I hung around for the prizes afterwards, which I usually don't do, but I had a good feeling. So much for that feeling. I froze my tail off and I didn't win a darn thing. What a fitting end to a tough year. I finished with 51 races for the year, none of them particularly good. Bring on 2009.
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