OK, I wish I could say I didn't know what I was getting myself into with this 5K held by the Montgomery County Road Runners on May 4. Unfortunately, with a race name that includes the words "The Hills", its hard to say that you didn't realize it was going to be a difficult course. I had also run the race a couple of times before so I certainly had no excuse.
The race stats out easy enough. We begin in a parking lot and then take a few turns on a paved pathway. For the real racers in the group, this is where you want to jockey for position because once you are on the trails passing is tight. I held my position near the back of the pack for about 3/4 of a mile. Then we encountered a short but steep billy goat section of the trail complete with exposed roots and rocks. I had an 8 year old boy nipping at my heels at this point so I pulled over and walked down the hill rather gingerly. The last thing I needed to do was rebreak my foot. The kid blew by me on the hill and the remaining trail runners passed me during the next 1/4 mile.
When I have fallen into last place in the past I have always tried to stay in contact with the runner in front of me so I could try to pass them with a kick at the end. That was not to be on this day. The last time I saw the next to last runner was about 1 1/2 miles in and she was several hundred yards in front of me. Then the trail cut back into the woods and I never saw her again until the refreshment stand after the race.
As I came out of the woods and starting making my way to the finish line I told a volunteer that I was last and that his work was done (I always try to do that if I know I'm last). He asked if I was OK. I must have looked like Hell. I struggled through that last 1/4 mile and suffered the indignity of having the race announcer welcome me over the loud speaker as the last runner in the race. :) A time of 44:46 qualified the race as my worst 5K ever. I came in 145th out of ...hm, 145.
Notable finishers in this race were:
Chad Young 17:34 (male winner)
Amy Ferro 22:14 (female winner-only 15 years old!)
Kirk Gordon 24:08 (he's suffering from a groin injury)
Peter Blank 26:06
Dee Nelson 27:49
Shirley Sameshima 28:59
Christina Caravoulias 37:10
Tristan Duelge 38:01 (The 8 year old that passed me. Way to go kid!)
Kate Sugarman 39:22 (The next to last place finisher).
In looking at the results, I'm truly ashamed that I finished in last by more than 5 minutes. I clearly quit out there. A time of 37 or 38 minutes would have been acceptable but not 44 and change. Argh!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Spring 5K
Only two days after the Run for Julia 5K, I was back out ready to take on another 5K. Heck, I had to improve - right? This race was the Spring 5K and encircled Haines Point. As any DC running (or biking) enthusiast knows, courses don't get any flatter than Haines Point unless you are on a track.
Today's race was special as I had 2 co-workers that were also running the race. Michael (Femi) Adeniji was running his first 5K. Nonetheless, I was expecting great things from him since he is an avid biker. He has the lean body of a runner and at 42, is not yet over the hill like a certain blogger I know. :)
Also running from Resources (my company) was Rob Neale. He's 33 and I've seen his times in the Army Ten Miler and Cherry Blossum race so I knew he was fast. I knew I would be pulling up the rear for my company today.
Rob made a strategic error before the race even started. Being a DC resident, he decided he might as well just run to the race. Well, he ended up running about 5 1/4 miles before the race even started and arrived just moments before the start. No PR's for Rob today!
I wished them both well before the start of the race and told Femi to be sure to not start out too fast (always a rookie mistake). I then assumed my usual starting position at the back of the pack.
One of the frustrating things about being a slow runner is that occassionally the water stops are out of water by the time I arrive. Such was the case this day. It's particularly disappointing when you are struggling and you tell yourself "Just make it to the water stop" only to find no water.
The "lack of water stop" was at about the halfway mark. One of my little internal challenges in a 5K race is to pass more runners than runners that pass me during the second half of the race. If I do this it probably means I have run about as good a race as possible.Well, I passed a guy (I think he was Paul Millner) with about a mile to go. We were even with each other for awhile but I passed him for good with about 3/4 of a mile left.
At about the same I passed Millner I also passed a young couple that was also using the run/walk method. With about 300 yards to the finish, they passed me as I was finishing my last walk break. She looked over at me and saw my number, and then they started speeding up their pace as they realized that I was also in the race. Well, I couldn't have that so I put the hammer down and charged to the finish line. I finished in a time of 36:04...nearly 2 minutes faster than my time of just 2 days earlier (hey, you have to take the moral victories where you can get them). The young couple finished together at 36:15. I'm surprised that they were that far back given where I passed them. I must have been moving faster than I thought.
In the end, I finished 56 out of 59 men and 102 out of 111 total finishers. Nothing to write home about but I'll take any improvement at this point.
Notable finishers in this race were:
Kevin McHale (No, not the guy from the NBA) 16:35 (male winner)
Ted Poulos 17:25 (male runner up) The original 50+ guy.
Femi Adeniji 23:04 in his 5K debut - GREAT JOB!!! 22nd among Males
Jon Palks 23:34 A 50+ friend
Rob Neale 27:27 (the run from home took its toll)
Christy Sporidis 19:59 (female winner) Good job breaking 20:00!
Dee Nelson 25:31 (64 and still going strong!)
Today's race was special as I had 2 co-workers that were also running the race. Michael (Femi) Adeniji was running his first 5K. Nonetheless, I was expecting great things from him since he is an avid biker. He has the lean body of a runner and at 42, is not yet over the hill like a certain blogger I know. :)
Also running from Resources (my company) was Rob Neale. He's 33 and I've seen his times in the Army Ten Miler and Cherry Blossum race so I knew he was fast. I knew I would be pulling up the rear for my company today.
Rob made a strategic error before the race even started. Being a DC resident, he decided he might as well just run to the race. Well, he ended up running about 5 1/4 miles before the race even started and arrived just moments before the start. No PR's for Rob today!
I wished them both well before the start of the race and told Femi to be sure to not start out too fast (always a rookie mistake). I then assumed my usual starting position at the back of the pack.
One of the frustrating things about being a slow runner is that occassionally the water stops are out of water by the time I arrive. Such was the case this day. It's particularly disappointing when you are struggling and you tell yourself "Just make it to the water stop" only to find no water.
The "lack of water stop" was at about the halfway mark. One of my little internal challenges in a 5K race is to pass more runners than runners that pass me during the second half of the race. If I do this it probably means I have run about as good a race as possible.Well, I passed a guy (I think he was Paul Millner) with about a mile to go. We were even with each other for awhile but I passed him for good with about 3/4 of a mile left.
At about the same I passed Millner I also passed a young couple that was also using the run/walk method. With about 300 yards to the finish, they passed me as I was finishing my last walk break. She looked over at me and saw my number, and then they started speeding up their pace as they realized that I was also in the race. Well, I couldn't have that so I put the hammer down and charged to the finish line. I finished in a time of 36:04...nearly 2 minutes faster than my time of just 2 days earlier (hey, you have to take the moral victories where you can get them). The young couple finished together at 36:15. I'm surprised that they were that far back given where I passed them. I must have been moving faster than I thought.
In the end, I finished 56 out of 59 men and 102 out of 111 total finishers. Nothing to write home about but I'll take any improvement at this point.
Notable finishers in this race were:
Kevin McHale (No, not the guy from the NBA) 16:35 (male winner)
Ted Poulos 17:25 (male runner up) The original 50+ guy.
Femi Adeniji 23:04 in his 5K debut - GREAT JOB!!! 22nd among Males
Jon Palks 23:34 A 50+ friend
Rob Neale 27:27 (the run from home took its toll)
Christy Sporidis 19:59 (female winner) Good job breaking 20:00!
Dee Nelson 25:31 (64 and still going strong!)
Run for Julia 5K
I'm obviously way behind in my posting as this race took place on April 24. It was my first race after a 7 week layoff due to both my shoulder surgery and a nagging case of bronchitis. I believe I ran 2 or 3 times before the race. Boy, did my lack of training show. But more on that in a moment.
The race was held on a Thursday evening starting in Bluemont Park. I have run on this path several times so I can't complain about any lack of course knowledge. The course is nearly flat and the weather was close to perfect. However, the course is in Arlington and I was driving there from Tysons Corner so I had to deal with quite a bit of traffic getting there. I arrived 2 minutes before the posted start time. I ran to the starting line to sign up only to find that registration was 1/4 mile away! Off I jogged, hoping I dudnt wear myself out just trying to sign up.
It was an expensive race...$30 for late registration but they fortunately had a "no shirt" option for $20. I got through registration quickly and jogged back to the starting line. I didn't need to rush as a friend of "Julia" was speaking about her life as a runner and as a Peace Corp volunteer. She was murdered while serving in the Peace Corp in the Phillipines. Apparently, she was the victim of a robbery gone bad. It sounded like she was a special person.
I've run nearly 350 races over the past few years. While I used to get nervous before the start of every race, for the last few years I haven't felt that nervousness except for races that were 10 miles or longer. Not today though. My stomach was jumping up and down as I knew I wasn't really ready to run a race.
I took off with the slower runners and kept pace with them for the first 3/4 of a mile or so. I had to stop for my first walk break just short of the 1 mile mark. I had a pretty bad stitch in my right side. I walked for 90 seconds and then started running again. Ooops....not yet said my body. I now also had a stitch on my left side. I was forced to walk probably about half of the rest of the race. I would run for about 2 minutes and then walk for 2 minutes. With about 1/2 mile left some spectators yelled out that I was first among the walkers. I had to tell them the truth that I had run some. Oops there went my props. As always, I ran pretty hard for the last quarter mile as I tried to catch S. Jean Stewart, a 65 year old woman that had passed me shortly before the half way point. I started my kick far too late though and she beat me by 14 seconds. My time was a pitiful 37:58. I came in 138th out of 171. At least I set a number that I should be able to beat next time out.
Other runners of note in this race included
Adam Wytko 16:43 (winner)
Diana Tong 21:48 (female winner)
Bill Stahr 20:08
Jim Scarborough 22:40
Bob Platt 22:59
Shirley Sameshima 25:01
Bob Gurtler 31:49 (so much for my winning streak over Bob!)
The race was held on a Thursday evening starting in Bluemont Park. I have run on this path several times so I can't complain about any lack of course knowledge. The course is nearly flat and the weather was close to perfect. However, the course is in Arlington and I was driving there from Tysons Corner so I had to deal with quite a bit of traffic getting there. I arrived 2 minutes before the posted start time. I ran to the starting line to sign up only to find that registration was 1/4 mile away! Off I jogged, hoping I dudnt wear myself out just trying to sign up.
It was an expensive race...$30 for late registration but they fortunately had a "no shirt" option for $20. I got through registration quickly and jogged back to the starting line. I didn't need to rush as a friend of "Julia" was speaking about her life as a runner and as a Peace Corp volunteer. She was murdered while serving in the Peace Corp in the Phillipines. Apparently, she was the victim of a robbery gone bad. It sounded like she was a special person.
I've run nearly 350 races over the past few years. While I used to get nervous before the start of every race, for the last few years I haven't felt that nervousness except for races that were 10 miles or longer. Not today though. My stomach was jumping up and down as I knew I wasn't really ready to run a race.
I took off with the slower runners and kept pace with them for the first 3/4 of a mile or so. I had to stop for my first walk break just short of the 1 mile mark. I had a pretty bad stitch in my right side. I walked for 90 seconds and then started running again. Ooops....not yet said my body. I now also had a stitch on my left side. I was forced to walk probably about half of the rest of the race. I would run for about 2 minutes and then walk for 2 minutes. With about 1/2 mile left some spectators yelled out that I was first among the walkers. I had to tell them the truth that I had run some. Oops there went my props. As always, I ran pretty hard for the last quarter mile as I tried to catch S. Jean Stewart, a 65 year old woman that had passed me shortly before the half way point. I started my kick far too late though and she beat me by 14 seconds. My time was a pitiful 37:58. I came in 138th out of 171. At least I set a number that I should be able to beat next time out.
Other runners of note in this race included
Adam Wytko 16:43 (winner)
Diana Tong 21:48 (female winner)
Bill Stahr 20:08
Jim Scarborough 22:40
Bob Platt 22:59
Shirley Sameshima 25:01
Bob Gurtler 31:49 (so much for my winning streak over Bob!)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I'm back!!! Again!
While at the DCRRC 1 Hour track run last night, I was reminded by one of the areas most prolific runners, Shirley Sameshima, that I hadn't updated this blog for awhile. I didn't know anyone was actually reading this thing!! Given that news, I need to get focused and catch up. I have run 5 races since my last post. I'll break up the race reports into a few separate blogs but first I want to mention some of the things I have been dealing with during these past few months. I may want to fall back on these as excuses for my terrible times in my subsequent races.
This has truly been a pretty miserable 8 months or so. I had gone for an initial assessment of my stiff right shoulder back in early October 2007. I found myself right back in his office less than a week later with a broken right foot. I fell during the DCRRC predicted time 5 miler. I slipped on some wet leaves about 1.5 miles in. I hobbled my way around the rest of the course since I was on my quest for 100 races for the year. The break was unfortunate in a few ways. First, it came at a time when I was just starting to see a glimpse of the runner I was in 2006. I was finally starting to be able to put in 10 minute miles over longer distances. That was shot when I took a month off of running to rest the foot. Second, the foot never has really healed. I now have a fairly bad case of plantar fasciitis. I also think I have some issues within that ankle. I doesn't bother me much when I run but I can barely walk for a couple of dats after a race. We're going to have to look into that.
Next up was my shoulder. The first diagnosis was a small tear of my rotator cuff. However, after a month of physical therapy that diagnosis was changed to frozen shoulder. I went to physical therapy 3X a week for 4 months but saw little to no improvement. So...it was time for surgery. I went in for surgery on April 10. They knocked me out and then twisted my arm all around so that the adhesions would break. I understand it was pretty loud in the operating room as they tore apart.
I kept the shoulder on ice for most of the next 3 weeks and went to physical therapy every day for 3 weeks. I started seeing improvement immediately. I'm no longer going to physical therapy but I need to continue to stretch that shoulder on my own. I would say I currently have about 90% of my former range of motion back. I'm hoping to get back 100%.
With all of that, I think the thing that has really hurt my running is the case of bronchitis I came down with in March. After antibiotics, cough medicine, vitamins, and nose drops, I'm still not better. My sinuses are a mess (the pollen isn't helping) and I'm having trouble breathing. When I cough it sounds like a mix between a barking dog and a quacking duck. I clearly still have gunk in my lungs. Until I get over this, I don't expect to get close to a 31:00 minute 5K.
Helping out my parents and volunteering for the City of Alexandria's Sister City Committee has also taken time from running. And, of course, work and a 1 hour commute each way doesn't help either.
Anyway, because of all of this my goals for the year are evolving. I'm still planning on running in over 50 races but I don't think I'll be able to average 2 miles of running every day (I'm averaging just less than 1 mile per day as of today). That means I'll need to average about 3 miles per day, or 21 miles per week for the second half of the year. That might not sound like much to people training for a marathon but thats a lot for this old body. We mighr be changing the goal to something more like 500 miles for the year. We'll see how my lungs and foot feel in a few weeks and set a new goal then.
OK, thats it for this report. Subsequent blogs will cover The Hills of Cabin John 5K, The Battle of the Boulevards 10K, the Annandale Atoms 5K, the aforementioned 1 hour track run, and the May 2008 edition of the Tidal Basin 3K. Stay tuned. Oh...and go David Cook!!
This has truly been a pretty miserable 8 months or so. I had gone for an initial assessment of my stiff right shoulder back in early October 2007. I found myself right back in his office less than a week later with a broken right foot. I fell during the DCRRC predicted time 5 miler. I slipped on some wet leaves about 1.5 miles in. I hobbled my way around the rest of the course since I was on my quest for 100 races for the year. The break was unfortunate in a few ways. First, it came at a time when I was just starting to see a glimpse of the runner I was in 2006. I was finally starting to be able to put in 10 minute miles over longer distances. That was shot when I took a month off of running to rest the foot. Second, the foot never has really healed. I now have a fairly bad case of plantar fasciitis. I also think I have some issues within that ankle. I doesn't bother me much when I run but I can barely walk for a couple of dats after a race. We're going to have to look into that.
Next up was my shoulder. The first diagnosis was a small tear of my rotator cuff. However, after a month of physical therapy that diagnosis was changed to frozen shoulder. I went to physical therapy 3X a week for 4 months but saw little to no improvement. So...it was time for surgery. I went in for surgery on April 10. They knocked me out and then twisted my arm all around so that the adhesions would break. I understand it was pretty loud in the operating room as they tore apart.
I kept the shoulder on ice for most of the next 3 weeks and went to physical therapy every day for 3 weeks. I started seeing improvement immediately. I'm no longer going to physical therapy but I need to continue to stretch that shoulder on my own. I would say I currently have about 90% of my former range of motion back. I'm hoping to get back 100%.
With all of that, I think the thing that has really hurt my running is the case of bronchitis I came down with in March. After antibiotics, cough medicine, vitamins, and nose drops, I'm still not better. My sinuses are a mess (the pollen isn't helping) and I'm having trouble breathing. When I cough it sounds like a mix between a barking dog and a quacking duck. I clearly still have gunk in my lungs. Until I get over this, I don't expect to get close to a 31:00 minute 5K.
Helping out my parents and volunteering for the City of Alexandria's Sister City Committee has also taken time from running. And, of course, work and a 1 hour commute each way doesn't help either.
Anyway, because of all of this my goals for the year are evolving. I'm still planning on running in over 50 races but I don't think I'll be able to average 2 miles of running every day (I'm averaging just less than 1 mile per day as of today). That means I'll need to average about 3 miles per day, or 21 miles per week for the second half of the year. That might not sound like much to people training for a marathon but thats a lot for this old body. We mighr be changing the goal to something more like 500 miles for the year. We'll see how my lungs and foot feel in a few weeks and set a new goal then.
OK, thats it for this report. Subsequent blogs will cover The Hills of Cabin John 5K, The Battle of the Boulevards 10K, the Annandale Atoms 5K, the aforementioned 1 hour track run, and the May 2008 edition of the Tidal Basin 3K. Stay tuned. Oh...and go David Cook!!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Victory by any means
Yesterday I ran the DC Roadrunners annual Burke Lake 12K. This was the 5th time I have run this race and I definitely have a love/hate relationship with it....mostly hate! The course is a trail around a large lake and has many small turns and dips. Usually, the course is quite muddy or even icy at this time of year. I must say, the condition of the course yesterday was almost perfect. It was about 40 degrees when we ran so the ground had thawed some making it just a little soft. But thankfully there was very little mud.
Last year I ran the race basically by myself and without any competion to push me I ran a pathetic time of 1:43:44, finishing dead last. I looked at my times from previous years and I thought a decent time for me at this stage would be anything under 1:30:00.
I took off with the pack at the start and found myself winded within 3 minutes. I took a quick walk break on an uphill and was passed by just about everyone. I took a quick look behind me and saw a group of women gaining on me so I started off again.
At around the 1 mile mark, the 4 women passed me. I was able to stay close the last of the women though and actually passed her about 2 1/2 miles into the race. At 3 miles I was surprised to be passed by Sharyn Gordon. She must have really started out slow (or did I start way too fast as usual?) Sharyn and I almost always run similar times. While I am faster than her, she has more endurance and is a slow and steady runner who never takes walk breaks. I knew if I could stay close to her I could have a decent chance of breaking 1:30:00.
As we approached an earther dam about 1/4 mile from the turnaround I saw Bob Gurtler about 300 yards ahead. I call Bob (not to his face) Old Red because he is in his 70's and he usually runs wearing a red singlet. One of my goals coming into this year was to beat Bob in a race. Bob is a very prolific runner as he runs over 100 races a year. I have probably raced against him close to 100 times and I have nver beaten him. Well, I had never been so close to him this far into a race before. That definitely inspired me to pick up the pace.
By the turnaround I was about 30 seconds behind Bob and about 15 seconds behind Sharyn. After retracing oursteps over the earthen dam I had cut those times down to about 20 and 10 seconds respectively. Then Sharyn unexpectedly pulled over once we entered the woods to get some stones out of her shoes. I fully expected her to pass me again as I was really starting to feel the effect of pushing to catch Bob but I never saw her again until the finish line when she finished about 2 minutes behind me.
I felt like I was tracking an animal in the woods as I chased after Bob. I would lose him in the trees and the many turns in the trail and then I would spot his yellow singlet (where was his red shirt today?) As I pulled closer I could see him periodically grabbing at the back of his left leg. Ah hah, that explained it. He was battling a hamstring cramp.That's the only way I could get this close to him 5 miles into a race. I briefly thought about slowing down since beating him today would be tarnished. Thay didn't last long, as I decided I have to take opportunities like this when I can.
I surged past him with about 2 1/2 miles left. I put about 100 yards between us before pulling up for a walk break. I was beat. But I couldn't rest long as he was like a Terminator that just wouldn't quit until completing its mission. After only a few short seconds I could hear his heavy breathing, as well as his footsteps coming up from behind me. That was my sign to start running again. I would run for a few minutes and then be forced to walk when would repeat the process. This continued for about 2 miles.
Finally, I broke out of the trees and began the last 1/2 mile on a road that cuts through Burke Lake. This last half mile is quite hilly...2 big uphills followed by 2 big downhills. I knew I couldn't run the uphills so I needed to 1)have a decent lead over Bob as began the first uphill and 2)push myself hard on the flats and downhills. I looked over my shoulder as I began the walk up the first uphill and saw Bob coming out of the woods about 30 seconds behind me. That was a decent lead but I wasn't sure it would be enough. I couldn't see him behind me as I crested the hill so I stuck with the plan and pushed myself hard on the downhill. I felt like I was going to be sick but I pushed on until the last uphill. As I trudged up I looked back and saw that I had gained a little ground on Bob. I now knew that as long as my wheels didn't fall off I would finally beat Bob.
I began running again as I crested this last hill. I could see the finish line. I checked my watch and saw that I was going to break my goal time. Now it was just a matter of making it official. As the timer cheered me on, I ran through the finiah in a time of 1 hour, 27 minutes and 40 seconds. No world record for me but this nearly as satisfying. Bob finished about 1 minute later. Sharyn finished perhaps 90 seconds after that and the woman who I trailed early was about 1 minute behind her.
The bananas were gone by the time I made it to the post race refeshment area so I grabbed a bagel which I learned was rock hard after 1 bite. The only beverages that I saw was powdered gatorade. I had a sip and thought it was pretty bad so I went to my car where I had a cold bottle waiting for me. I then returned home and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast made by my supporting wife Dori (who ran on the treadmill downstairs while I ran the race). Then it was time for a nice nap on the couch.
Last year I ran the race basically by myself and without any competion to push me I ran a pathetic time of 1:43:44, finishing dead last. I looked at my times from previous years and I thought a decent time for me at this stage would be anything under 1:30:00.
I took off with the pack at the start and found myself winded within 3 minutes. I took a quick walk break on an uphill and was passed by just about everyone. I took a quick look behind me and saw a group of women gaining on me so I started off again.
At around the 1 mile mark, the 4 women passed me. I was able to stay close the last of the women though and actually passed her about 2 1/2 miles into the race. At 3 miles I was surprised to be passed by Sharyn Gordon. She must have really started out slow (or did I start way too fast as usual?) Sharyn and I almost always run similar times. While I am faster than her, she has more endurance and is a slow and steady runner who never takes walk breaks. I knew if I could stay close to her I could have a decent chance of breaking 1:30:00.
As we approached an earther dam about 1/4 mile from the turnaround I saw Bob Gurtler about 300 yards ahead. I call Bob (not to his face) Old Red because he is in his 70's and he usually runs wearing a red singlet. One of my goals coming into this year was to beat Bob in a race. Bob is a very prolific runner as he runs over 100 races a year. I have probably raced against him close to 100 times and I have nver beaten him. Well, I had never been so close to him this far into a race before. That definitely inspired me to pick up the pace.
By the turnaround I was about 30 seconds behind Bob and about 15 seconds behind Sharyn. After retracing oursteps over the earthen dam I had cut those times down to about 20 and 10 seconds respectively. Then Sharyn unexpectedly pulled over once we entered the woods to get some stones out of her shoes. I fully expected her to pass me again as I was really starting to feel the effect of pushing to catch Bob but I never saw her again until the finish line when she finished about 2 minutes behind me.
I felt like I was tracking an animal in the woods as I chased after Bob. I would lose him in the trees and the many turns in the trail and then I would spot his yellow singlet (where was his red shirt today?) As I pulled closer I could see him periodically grabbing at the back of his left leg. Ah hah, that explained it. He was battling a hamstring cramp.That's the only way I could get this close to him 5 miles into a race. I briefly thought about slowing down since beating him today would be tarnished. Thay didn't last long, as I decided I have to take opportunities like this when I can.
I surged past him with about 2 1/2 miles left. I put about 100 yards between us before pulling up for a walk break. I was beat. But I couldn't rest long as he was like a Terminator that just wouldn't quit until completing its mission. After only a few short seconds I could hear his heavy breathing, as well as his footsteps coming up from behind me. That was my sign to start running again. I would run for a few minutes and then be forced to walk when would repeat the process. This continued for about 2 miles.
Finally, I broke out of the trees and began the last 1/2 mile on a road that cuts through Burke Lake. This last half mile is quite hilly...2 big uphills followed by 2 big downhills. I knew I couldn't run the uphills so I needed to 1)have a decent lead over Bob as began the first uphill and 2)push myself hard on the flats and downhills. I looked over my shoulder as I began the walk up the first uphill and saw Bob coming out of the woods about 30 seconds behind me. That was a decent lead but I wasn't sure it would be enough. I couldn't see him behind me as I crested the hill so I stuck with the plan and pushed myself hard on the downhill. I felt like I was going to be sick but I pushed on until the last uphill. As I trudged up I looked back and saw that I had gained a little ground on Bob. I now knew that as long as my wheels didn't fall off I would finally beat Bob.
I began running again as I crested this last hill. I could see the finish line. I checked my watch and saw that I was going to break my goal time. Now it was just a matter of making it official. As the timer cheered me on, I ran through the finiah in a time of 1 hour, 27 minutes and 40 seconds. No world record for me but this nearly as satisfying. Bob finished about 1 minute later. Sharyn finished perhaps 90 seconds after that and the woman who I trailed early was about 1 minute behind her.
The bananas were gone by the time I made it to the post race refeshment area so I grabbed a bagel which I learned was rock hard after 1 bite. The only beverages that I saw was powdered gatorade. I had a sip and thought it was pretty bad so I went to my car where I had a cold bottle waiting for me. I then returned home and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast made by my supporting wife Dori (who ran on the treadmill downstairs while I ran the race). Then it was time for a nice nap on the couch.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Leaping Lizards
I just returned from the quad-annual(?) DCRRC Leap Year Tidal Basin 3K. I continued my very slow but steady recent improvement with a time of 18:32. Doesn't sound like much but when you consider I was somewhat pleased with a time of 18:59 just last week, I'll take it. I was speaking with Charlie Mercer before the race and he asked me what my goal for the day was. I told him 10 minute per mile pace, or about 18:36. He challenged me to break 18 minutes. I knew I couldn't do that today but his challenge did get me focused on breaking that 10 minute per mile barrier. So Charlie, if you are out there, thanks for the inspiration.
As always, I started the race too quickly. I find it difficult not too start too quickly in these small races (we had about 25 today) where just about everyone is at least good. I was running not far behind both Shirley Sameshima and Dee Nelson at about the 1/4 mile mark. They both usually run the 3K in the high 14's or low 15's so to be close to them given my current fitness level probably means I'm going out too fast. Sure enough, I was suffering as I ran across the first bridge and stopped for a quick walk break after getting across it.
I knew I had 1 runner behind me and if you know me you know I hate being in last place. So I started running again until just before the 2nd bridge. I walked for about a minute this time as I was having a tough time getting my breath. The trailing runner appeared right behind me so I was off and running again. I looked back for him about 2 minutes later and there was no sign of him so he must have stopped for a walk break himself.
I took my last walk break at the third and final bridge (are you detecting a theme?). It was a short break as I knew I was running very close to my goal pace and thus had no time to waste. That left about .36 miles to the finish. Fortunately, a decent wind was behind us at this point. I tried to maintain a steady pace coming in and then I increased my pace with about 80 yards to go. They called out 18:31 when I crossed the finish line but my watch actually showed 18:32 so I'm going with that.
I spoke to one of my favorite runners after the race, Peter Blank. After running in 163 races in 2007, he told me he was going to cut back in 2008. I had seen he had over 20 races completed for the year and I questioned his "cut back" plan. He said he had actually run 27 races but he was slowing down. I told him that didn't sound like someone cutting back but he explained that if he runs 3 races in a track meet on a Saturday, he is not running on Sunday. So I told him he was still crazy but at least it was a sensible crazy.
Next race is the Burke Lake 12K on Sunday. I have a love/hate relationship with that course...mostly hate. More on that next time.
As always, I started the race too quickly. I find it difficult not too start too quickly in these small races (we had about 25 today) where just about everyone is at least good. I was running not far behind both Shirley Sameshima and Dee Nelson at about the 1/4 mile mark. They both usually run the 3K in the high 14's or low 15's so to be close to them given my current fitness level probably means I'm going out too fast. Sure enough, I was suffering as I ran across the first bridge and stopped for a quick walk break after getting across it.
I knew I had 1 runner behind me and if you know me you know I hate being in last place. So I started running again until just before the 2nd bridge. I walked for about a minute this time as I was having a tough time getting my breath. The trailing runner appeared right behind me so I was off and running again. I looked back for him about 2 minutes later and there was no sign of him so he must have stopped for a walk break himself.
I took my last walk break at the third and final bridge (are you detecting a theme?). It was a short break as I knew I was running very close to my goal pace and thus had no time to waste. That left about .36 miles to the finish. Fortunately, a decent wind was behind us at this point. I tried to maintain a steady pace coming in and then I increased my pace with about 80 yards to go. They called out 18:31 when I crossed the finish line but my watch actually showed 18:32 so I'm going with that.
I spoke to one of my favorite runners after the race, Peter Blank. After running in 163 races in 2007, he told me he was going to cut back in 2008. I had seen he had over 20 races completed for the year and I questioned his "cut back" plan. He said he had actually run 27 races but he was slowing down. I told him that didn't sound like someone cutting back but he explained that if he runs 3 races in a track meet on a Saturday, he is not running on Sunday. So I told him he was still crazy but at least it was a sensible crazy.
Next race is the Burke Lake 12K on Sunday. I have a love/hate relationship with that course...mostly hate. More on that next time.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
I'm Back
No, I'm not quite dead. I just disappeared for awhile. seriously, I had no idea it had been so long since my last entry.
Here's where we stand as far as the running goals are concerned. Yesterday was the 58th day of the year and so far I have run about 76 1/2 miles. That's an average of about 1.32 miles per day...a far cry from my goal of 2 miles a day for the whole year. I am on pace for 50+ races for the year as I have completed 7 races so far and I have races planned for tomorrow and Friday.
I saw my orthopedics Dr. two weeks ago about the foot I broke back in October. It was still giving me trouble into February so I was concerned that it either wasn't healing correctly or perhaps there was more than just a break that resulted from my fall. After an examination he believes that I have the early stages of plantar fachitis. I am now wearing silicone heals in my shoes when I run to absorb some of the impact when I run. So far so good as I have run 4 straight days without pain. However, I took a lot of days off in January and February in attempt to let my foot heal so I have some ground to make up if I am to reach my initial goals.
On January 20th I ran the Tidal Basin 3K in 18:59, While significantly slower than where I believe I should be, it was my fastest 3K in several months. I am hopeful that I have turned the corner and that I'll start to see slow and steady improvement in my running going forwards. On a related note, I have also seen my weight drop about 8 pounds from it peak in mid January to about 202 pounds. Again, I have a long way to go here as well as I would like to get to about 185 pounds but it is a start. I have the DC Half Marathon in 4 weeks so I would like to be down to about 195 pounds when I run that. I think anything more than that will be very difficult to get around the course for 13.1 miles.
Finally, I am giving a great deal of thought to entering a sprint duathalon. There are several nearby that will be held in late April. I need to get on my bike and see if I have what it takes. More info on this to come later.
Until next time...
Here's where we stand as far as the running goals are concerned. Yesterday was the 58th day of the year and so far I have run about 76 1/2 miles. That's an average of about 1.32 miles per day...a far cry from my goal of 2 miles a day for the whole year. I am on pace for 50+ races for the year as I have completed 7 races so far and I have races planned for tomorrow and Friday.
I saw my orthopedics Dr. two weeks ago about the foot I broke back in October. It was still giving me trouble into February so I was concerned that it either wasn't healing correctly or perhaps there was more than just a break that resulted from my fall. After an examination he believes that I have the early stages of plantar fachitis. I am now wearing silicone heals in my shoes when I run to absorb some of the impact when I run. So far so good as I have run 4 straight days without pain. However, I took a lot of days off in January and February in attempt to let my foot heal so I have some ground to make up if I am to reach my initial goals.
On January 20th I ran the Tidal Basin 3K in 18:59, While significantly slower than where I believe I should be, it was my fastest 3K in several months. I am hopeful that I have turned the corner and that I'll start to see slow and steady improvement in my running going forwards. On a related note, I have also seen my weight drop about 8 pounds from it peak in mid January to about 202 pounds. Again, I have a long way to go here as well as I would like to get to about 185 pounds but it is a start. I have the DC Half Marathon in 4 weeks so I would like to be down to about 195 pounds when I run that. I think anything more than that will be very difficult to get around the course for 13.1 miles.
Finally, I am giving a great deal of thought to entering a sprint duathalon. There are several nearby that will be held in late April. I need to get on my bike and see if I have what it takes. More info on this to come later.
Until next time...
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