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.
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