The August 2008 edition of the Tidal Basin was held on a sunny, clear and warm August 20. I spoke to a few people before the race. Jim Moreland complimented on my time in the downhill mile. He had noticed I had beaten Tami. We also talked about the previous nights race. Peter Blank said hello and Joe Broderick and I talked about how it was coller than last month but how it was still awfully warm.
With the help of my new shoes and with my ankle wrapped, I felt pretty good for the first few hundred yards. That doesn't sound like much but I've been tired after this portion of the race the last few months. I did tire shortly afterwards but I really wanted to get to the other side of the bridge before taking a walk break. I did so and took my break right at the 5 minute mark. I passed the 1K mark shortly after starting to run again. I looked at my watch and was surprised to see I was under 10 minute/mile pace by several seconds. Off I ran for another 5 minutes, crossing the 2nd bridge and passing the 1 mile mark in just under 10 minutes. OK, I thought to myself, can I keep the wheels on?
For the most part I did keep the wheels on the bus. I only ran 4 minutes before taking another walk break but I was bale to get rolling again after that. I stopped looking at my watch at that point as I focused on reaching that finish line. I took 1 more brief walk break along Ohio Drive and then plodded/scurried to the finish. I was shocked to see the clock under 19 minutes as I approached. I was only hoping to break 21 minutes today. If I had been paying attention perhaps I could have broken 19 minutes. Instead I settled for a time of 19:03...my best in several months. Given my larger goal of returning to sub 31 minute 5K's, I know I need to get my 3K's under 18 minutes but this was certainly a step in the right direction. If not for being so sweaty back at work it would have been a perfect lunch hour.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Springsteen 4.5 Miler
Well thats a misleading title if there ever was one. No, there is no such thing as a Springsteen 4.5 Miler. But I did attend a Springsteen concert on Monday and then ran a 4.5 mile race on Tuesday so I thought I would combine the two.
First, the concert. I worked half a day and drove down to Richmond Monday afternoon. When I got there I signed up for being allowed into the pit. For all the times I have seen The Boss I have never been in the pit. I was given number 740. 700 people were going to be allowed into the pit. A number would be selected at random and that number would become the new #1. That meant I needed the number pulled to be between 41 and 740. The number pulled was 7. So close but yet so far. Oh well. We thought this would mean that we would be allowed in next so we would be in the front row of the non pit people. Didnt work out that way though and after waiting an hour we were told we had to scramble over to another entrance. I ended up right at center court with a head on view of Bruce. He was probably 60 feet away. Not bad, all things considered.
Although the sound was poor, I thought the show was among the best I have ever seen. He slid across the floor, jumped into the audience, pulled kids up on stage with him 3 times, and did a solo on the piano of "For You". They took a request for "Crush on You" which he said they hadn't performed in over 20 years. Steven said we would understand why in a moment but it ended up being a good fun song. The encore lasted forever, meaning I didn't get home until after 1. But it was worth it.
The next day was the Paul Thurston 4.5 Miler at Burke Lake. I find the course to be moderately difficult but certainly not as bad as some of the recent cross country races I have run recently. I got off to a decent start and actually passed Tami Graf after a couple of minutes. But once we turned onto the trail and into the woods off she went, followed quickly by Sharyn Gordon. Sharyn mentioned that it was tough to breathe. She was right...the air was very heavy and stagnant.
Nonetheless, I felt relatively good for a guy that spent over 6 straight hours on his feet the night before and only got a few hours sleep. I had to stop for a walk break after 5 minutes but I kept the break to 1 minute. I followed the same routine up until I reached the water station after 40 minutes. I was pretty whipped at that point and alternated 2 minute runs with 2 minute walks for most of the rest of the race. I guess I would have been OK if it was a 3.5 mile race but it wasnt meant to be. I pushed myself along for the final 300 yards to the finish and settled for a time of 55:12(official was 55:23...not sure why there was such a big difference).
I was 53rd and last male and 78th out of 80 overall, beating a father and daughter by just under 2 minutes.
Notable finishers were:
Greg Grosicki 25:43 (winner)
Karsten Brown 26:42
Jim Moreland 30:53 (age group winner)
Jay Wind 31:35
Elaine Twigg 33:04 (female winner)
Kirk Gordon 33:11
Jon Palks 37:22
Tami Graf 48:06 (age group winner)
Sharyn Gordon 51:02
Kay Wallace 51:47 (person that finished in front of me)
Bryn Gaffen 57:13 (10 year girl that finished behind me)
First, the concert. I worked half a day and drove down to Richmond Monday afternoon. When I got there I signed up for being allowed into the pit. For all the times I have seen The Boss I have never been in the pit. I was given number 740. 700 people were going to be allowed into the pit. A number would be selected at random and that number would become the new #1. That meant I needed the number pulled to be between 41 and 740. The number pulled was 7. So close but yet so far. Oh well. We thought this would mean that we would be allowed in next so we would be in the front row of the non pit people. Didnt work out that way though and after waiting an hour we were told we had to scramble over to another entrance. I ended up right at center court with a head on view of Bruce. He was probably 60 feet away. Not bad, all things considered.
Although the sound was poor, I thought the show was among the best I have ever seen. He slid across the floor, jumped into the audience, pulled kids up on stage with him 3 times, and did a solo on the piano of "For You". They took a request for "Crush on You" which he said they hadn't performed in over 20 years. Steven said we would understand why in a moment but it ended up being a good fun song. The encore lasted forever, meaning I didn't get home until after 1. But it was worth it.
The next day was the Paul Thurston 4.5 Miler at Burke Lake. I find the course to be moderately difficult but certainly not as bad as some of the recent cross country races I have run recently. I got off to a decent start and actually passed Tami Graf after a couple of minutes. But once we turned onto the trail and into the woods off she went, followed quickly by Sharyn Gordon. Sharyn mentioned that it was tough to breathe. She was right...the air was very heavy and stagnant.
Nonetheless, I felt relatively good for a guy that spent over 6 straight hours on his feet the night before and only got a few hours sleep. I had to stop for a walk break after 5 minutes but I kept the break to 1 minute. I followed the same routine up until I reached the water station after 40 minutes. I was pretty whipped at that point and alternated 2 minute runs with 2 minute walks for most of the rest of the race. I guess I would have been OK if it was a 3.5 mile race but it wasnt meant to be. I pushed myself along for the final 300 yards to the finish and settled for a time of 55:12(official was 55:23...not sure why there was such a big difference).
I was 53rd and last male and 78th out of 80 overall, beating a father and daughter by just under 2 minutes.
Notable finishers were:
Greg Grosicki 25:43 (winner)
Karsten Brown 26:42
Jim Moreland 30:53 (age group winner)
Jay Wind 31:35
Elaine Twigg 33:04 (female winner)
Kirk Gordon 33:11
Jon Palks 37:22
Tami Graf 48:06 (age group winner)
Sharyn Gordon 51:02
Kay Wallace 51:47 (person that finished in front of me)
Bryn Gaffen 57:13 (10 year girl that finished behind me)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Hell, thy name is Comus!
OK, that's not exactly fair. Comus looked like a wonderful place to live. I would look into the possibility if not for already knowing that Dori would have absolutely no interest in being so far out of town and having so much land to take care of.
What I should really say is Hell, thy name is the Comus 5K. You know how I grumbled about last weekends cross country race at Landon? This was worse and not just by the additional .1 miles. This course had a ton of hills. Nearly all of it was run on either grass (which scares me-can't see the holes) or on trails in woods with lots of roots and things to trip you up. We crossed a couple of creeks and we had to jump over a fallen tree. Perhaps the toughest part of the course for me were the sidehill runs. That placed a lot of stress on my bad ankle.
Just getting their was difficult. My GPS in my car couldn't find Comus so I turned off of 270 where I thought the turn should be. That was a mistake that cost me about 6 minutes. I found an address on the website while stopped at a light and was able to plug that into the GPS. It showed I would arrive right at 5:30...the scheduled starting time. Oh boy. This is when its nice to have a psuedo sports car. I did 60 on the winding country roads leading to the farm that served as the base for the course. I signed up with 2 minutes to spare. No time to stretch. Oh well. The "G" word was said and were off.
We started by running around an excercise area for horses. Then we ran down a pretty big hill beside a fence holding back a couple of horses. One came over to the fence to see what we were doing. I gasped a hello. We then started climbing another hill and I took my first walk break. I looked at my watch and weren't even 2 minutes into the race! Not a good sign at all. The good news was I had a lot of people still behind me at this point.
I started running again but I was having trouble with my footing on the grassy surface. There were sections of the course that I could have run faster if on pavement but I had to slow down. Thus, the little cushion that I built up for when I walked the uphills just wasnt happening this day. To prove it. I was passed by a group of about 8 runners at about the 3/4 mile mark as I walked up a short steep hill. Included in this pack was Mark Zimmerman, who has to be about the happiest (and chattiest) runner I know.
We emerged from the trees and ran back by the horses we saw earlier. We were told at the start that this was about the 1 mile mark. OK, only 2.1 more Back by the start line I was able to grab a big cup of water. That helped quite abit but I decided to walk for a minute or two here. We ran through a pretty large field and I was able to see some of the runners behind me. A few passed me while still in the field but I was able to keep some women behind me as we entered another set of woods. We did a kind of sideways "M", racing through the woods in one direction before racing back towards where we came from on a parallel path. Then we did it again. Each leg of this "M" was on a higher elevation so I could see and hear some of the runners ahead of me, particularly Mark. I would guess he was about 3 minutes ahead of me at this point. I was also able to see 2 women behind me in the woods. My new and last goal for the day was to keep them behind me.
We exited the woods and ran beside a fence in a field for a few hundred yards before entering more woods. This was the toughest section of the course for me with the previously mentioned sidehills and some very steep sections. I was able to keep the woman in front of me in sight through these woods but I certainly didnt make up any ground.
When I exited from the woods I was whipped. We kind of ran a big U in large field. I had to walk a lot of this. I started running again when I saw the first woman behind me exit from the woods. Not far in fromt of me was the woman and now also a child runner. Unfortunately, we then hit a steep hill and I immediately lost touch with them.
My left calf started to cramp up on me at this point. Oh great, I thought, as if I wasn't having enough fun already. I hobbled by a volunteer who said I had about 1/4 mile left. Apon hearing this I immediately stepped in a hole hidden by the grass and wrenched my back. I mostly walked the rest of the way until I could see the clock. Then I picked up my pace until I crossed the finish line in an amazingly bad 42:25. I did beat 3 women but I came in last among the men(110th). 159 runners completed the course.
Perhaps (no, certainly) the best part of the race was the post race party. There were bottles of cold beer on ice (I had a Yeungling) and there was also a Good Humor truck that was giving everyone whatever they wanted (I had a snow cone. I didn't want ice cream with my beer).
This race marked my 33rd race of the year and according to my Franklin Planner, it took place during the 33rd week of the year. So...I am back on pace for 50+ races...assuming nothing crazy happens like falling down and breaking my foot and ankle. But that could never happen...right?
What I should really say is Hell, thy name is the Comus 5K. You know how I grumbled about last weekends cross country race at Landon? This was worse and not just by the additional .1 miles. This course had a ton of hills. Nearly all of it was run on either grass (which scares me-can't see the holes) or on trails in woods with lots of roots and things to trip you up. We crossed a couple of creeks and we had to jump over a fallen tree. Perhaps the toughest part of the course for me were the sidehill runs. That placed a lot of stress on my bad ankle.
Just getting their was difficult. My GPS in my car couldn't find Comus so I turned off of 270 where I thought the turn should be. That was a mistake that cost me about 6 minutes. I found an address on the website while stopped at a light and was able to plug that into the GPS. It showed I would arrive right at 5:30...the scheduled starting time. Oh boy. This is when its nice to have a psuedo sports car. I did 60 on the winding country roads leading to the farm that served as the base for the course. I signed up with 2 minutes to spare. No time to stretch. Oh well. The "G" word was said and were off.
We started by running around an excercise area for horses. Then we ran down a pretty big hill beside a fence holding back a couple of horses. One came over to the fence to see what we were doing. I gasped a hello. We then started climbing another hill and I took my first walk break. I looked at my watch and weren't even 2 minutes into the race! Not a good sign at all. The good news was I had a lot of people still behind me at this point.
I started running again but I was having trouble with my footing on the grassy surface. There were sections of the course that I could have run faster if on pavement but I had to slow down. Thus, the little cushion that I built up for when I walked the uphills just wasnt happening this day. To prove it. I was passed by a group of about 8 runners at about the 3/4 mile mark as I walked up a short steep hill. Included in this pack was Mark Zimmerman, who has to be about the happiest (and chattiest) runner I know.
We emerged from the trees and ran back by the horses we saw earlier. We were told at the start that this was about the 1 mile mark. OK, only 2.1 more Back by the start line I was able to grab a big cup of water. That helped quite abit but I decided to walk for a minute or two here. We ran through a pretty large field and I was able to see some of the runners behind me. A few passed me while still in the field but I was able to keep some women behind me as we entered another set of woods. We did a kind of sideways "M", racing through the woods in one direction before racing back towards where we came from on a parallel path. Then we did it again. Each leg of this "M" was on a higher elevation so I could see and hear some of the runners ahead of me, particularly Mark. I would guess he was about 3 minutes ahead of me at this point. I was also able to see 2 women behind me in the woods. My new and last goal for the day was to keep them behind me.
We exited the woods and ran beside a fence in a field for a few hundred yards before entering more woods. This was the toughest section of the course for me with the previously mentioned sidehills and some very steep sections. I was able to keep the woman in front of me in sight through these woods but I certainly didnt make up any ground.
When I exited from the woods I was whipped. We kind of ran a big U in large field. I had to walk a lot of this. I started running again when I saw the first woman behind me exit from the woods. Not far in fromt of me was the woman and now also a child runner. Unfortunately, we then hit a steep hill and I immediately lost touch with them.
My left calf started to cramp up on me at this point. Oh great, I thought, as if I wasn't having enough fun already. I hobbled by a volunteer who said I had about 1/4 mile left. Apon hearing this I immediately stepped in a hole hidden by the grass and wrenched my back. I mostly walked the rest of the way until I could see the clock. Then I picked up my pace until I crossed the finish line in an amazingly bad 42:25. I did beat 3 women but I came in last among the men(110th). 159 runners completed the course.
Perhaps (no, certainly) the best part of the race was the post race party. There were bottles of cold beer on ice (I had a Yeungling) and there was also a Good Humor truck that was giving everyone whatever they wanted (I had a snow cone. I didn't want ice cream with my beer).
This race marked my 33rd race of the year and according to my Franklin Planner, it took place during the 33rd week of the year. So...I am back on pace for 50+ races...assuming nothing crazy happens like falling down and breaking my foot and ankle. But that could never happen...right?
It's all downhill from here
My 32nd race of the year promised to also be my fastest race of the year. The Arlington Co-op Downhill Mile was held on August 12. I have run this race the last 2 years and learned that gravity really does make a difference. Its a point to point race and it drops about 250 feet over the course of the mile. It has a couple sharp turns at the top of the course, which is also the steepest part of the course but after that its a pretty straight shot.
Given my time of 9:02 just a couple of weeks before on a track I knew I wouldn't be setting any PR's (7:17) this day. I was hoping for something around 7:40. Anything greater than that would be a disappointment.
This race is usually a VERY low key event with only about 6-8 runners. It was a little bigger this year with 11 runners competing. Most significantly, ultra marathoner Michael Wardian showed up for the run. I saw Charlie Mercer warming up as I walked up the hill to the starting line and he was clearly nervous about running against Michael. Charlie held the course record 4:31 and was undefeated here so he saw his dynasty slipping away. I thought it would be a good race since Charlie was very familiar with the course but I knew Michael was a little faster than him. Sometimes I wish I wasnt so slow so I could actually see how some of these races finished.
Jim Scarborough, the race director, didnt run this year...I think because he didnt think he had enough volunteers. Jay Wind held his phone up at the start and Jim yelled go through the phone while he started the clock at the bottom of the hill. As readers by now know, I almost always start too fast and sometimes find myself still with the leaders after a couple of hundred yards today. Not today though. the other runners were anxious to get to the downhill portion of the course and raced hard over the first 100 yards to get to the steep descent.
As we got to the descent, I was running close to both Bob Weiner and Jay Wind. I know Jay doesn't like downhills and I held him off for more than half of the race last year. Not this year though. Both of them passed me just as we entered the steepest portion of the course and soon I lost track of them. I didn't realize it then but I did have one runner behind me...Tami Graf. I never saw her until the finish. She is certainly faster than me right now so she must have been being extra cautious on the hills. Can't blame her...at times its more falling than running.
I had to stop for quick walk breaks just like the track meet a couple of weeks ago. How frustrating. I knew that would cost me my chance to reach my goal time but I had no choice...I couldn't get any air while running.
I pushed really hard at the finish. I heard a lot of encouragement as I raced towards the finish line. I was gasping for breathe but I really wanted to finish as strong as possible with all of them watching. I crossed the tape in 8:05. I was disappointed but hey, at least it was a new PR as a 49 year old. (How's that for the glass being half full).
Jim did a nice job of awards. Michael ended up beating Charlie by 5 seconds and won Redskin tickets. Everybody won something. I won a book about not being ripped off by my 401k. We said our goodbyes and we were off.
Finishers are listed below:
Bib ## Name G Age City State Time M F Award
--- -- -------------------------- - --- ---------------- ------ - - --------
1 Michael Wardian M 34 Arlington VA 4:40 1 M
2 Charlie Mercer M 38 Arlington VA 4:45 2 M 2
3 Matthew Sushinsky M 17 Rockville MD 4:51 3 M 3
4 Vhan Bui M 22 Springfield VA 4:56 4 M20-29 1
5 Elizabeth Jones F 31 Falls Church VA 5:55 1 F 1
6 Bob Weiner M 61 Accokeek MD 6:12 5 M60-69
7 Jay Jacob Wind M 58 Arlington VA 6:27 6 M50-59 1
8 John Paul Anderson Jr M 47 Edgewater MD 6:42 7 M40-49 1
9 Regina Davids F 20 Centreville VA 7:20 2 F 2 29
10 Tim Ramsey M 49 Alexandria VA 8:05 8 M40-49 2
11 Tami Graf F 72 Lusby MD 8:39 3 F 3
So I was 10th out of 11 finishers and the 8th of 8 males. But Hey, I was 2nd in my age group!
Given my time of 9:02 just a couple of weeks before on a track I knew I wouldn't be setting any PR's (7:17) this day. I was hoping for something around 7:40. Anything greater than that would be a disappointment.
This race is usually a VERY low key event with only about 6-8 runners. It was a little bigger this year with 11 runners competing. Most significantly, ultra marathoner Michael Wardian showed up for the run. I saw Charlie Mercer warming up as I walked up the hill to the starting line and he was clearly nervous about running against Michael. Charlie held the course record 4:31 and was undefeated here so he saw his dynasty slipping away. I thought it would be a good race since Charlie was very familiar with the course but I knew Michael was a little faster than him. Sometimes I wish I wasnt so slow so I could actually see how some of these races finished.
Jim Scarborough, the race director, didnt run this year...I think because he didnt think he had enough volunteers. Jay Wind held his phone up at the start and Jim yelled go through the phone while he started the clock at the bottom of the hill. As readers by now know, I almost always start too fast and sometimes find myself still with the leaders after a couple of hundred yards today. Not today though. the other runners were anxious to get to the downhill portion of the course and raced hard over the first 100 yards to get to the steep descent.
As we got to the descent, I was running close to both Bob Weiner and Jay Wind. I know Jay doesn't like downhills and I held him off for more than half of the race last year. Not this year though. Both of them passed me just as we entered the steepest portion of the course and soon I lost track of them. I didn't realize it then but I did have one runner behind me...Tami Graf. I never saw her until the finish. She is certainly faster than me right now so she must have been being extra cautious on the hills. Can't blame her...at times its more falling than running.
I had to stop for quick walk breaks just like the track meet a couple of weeks ago. How frustrating. I knew that would cost me my chance to reach my goal time but I had no choice...I couldn't get any air while running.
I pushed really hard at the finish. I heard a lot of encouragement as I raced towards the finish line. I was gasping for breathe but I really wanted to finish as strong as possible with all of them watching. I crossed the tape in 8:05. I was disappointed but hey, at least it was a new PR as a 49 year old. (How's that for the glass being half full).
Jim did a nice job of awards. Michael ended up beating Charlie by 5 seconds and won Redskin tickets. Everybody won something. I won a book about not being ripped off by my 401k. We said our goodbyes and we were off.
Finishers are listed below:
Bib ## Name G Age City State Time M F Award
--- -- -------------------------- - --- ---------------- ------ - - --------
1 Michael Wardian M 34 Arlington VA 4:40 1 M
2 Charlie Mercer M 38 Arlington VA 4:45 2 M 2
3 Matthew Sushinsky M 17 Rockville MD 4:51 3 M 3
4 Vhan Bui M 22 Springfield VA 4:56 4 M20-29 1
5 Elizabeth Jones F 31 Falls Church VA 5:55 1 F 1
6 Bob Weiner M 61 Accokeek MD 6:12 5 M60-69
7 Jay Jacob Wind M 58 Arlington VA 6:27 6 M50-59 1
8 John Paul Anderson Jr M 47 Edgewater MD 6:42 7 M40-49 1
9 Regina Davids F 20 Centreville VA 7:20 2 F 2 29
10 Tim Ramsey M 49 Alexandria VA 8:05 8 M40-49 2
11 Tami Graf F 72 Lusby MD 8:39 3 F 3
So I was 10th out of 11 finishers and the 8th of 8 males. But Hey, I was 2nd in my age group!
Friday, August 15, 2008
This was no picnic
The DC Raod Runners held their annual Summer picnic on Sunday August 10th. Unfortunately, they combined it with a 3 mile cross country run around Landon High School. I ran this race last year and while I loved the picnic, I hated the course. Even when I was in my best shape a couple of years ago, I didn't perform well in cross country events. Besides my fear of twisting an already tender ankle, it just seems like these courses take it out of me. This day was no exception.
Last year I managed to beat Christine C. by a minute or so. My one goal was to beat her again this day. I took off quickly at the start. So quickly that it wasn't until a minute or two into the race did people like Kirk Gordon pass me. Hmm, maybe that explained why I felt like I was going to hurl after only a few minutes. In essence, my race was over after just a few minutes. From that point on I just tried to stay in reach of the person in front of me, whoever it might be, and to also keep Christine(who was running with Mark Zimmerman) behind me.
I did OK on the first part for the first half of the race but Christine and Mark caught up to me about half way through the race. They put a pretty good gap on me when I stopped for a walk and I never recovered. Because of the nature of the course (lots of hills and turns) I didn't see them again untiul they were just about to finish. I trailed them by over 2 minutes. I thought there was a woman walking behind me but she must have dropped out because I show up in last place on the official results page. bummer. Someone talk me out of this race next year! I finished in 39:02 and was the 62nd male and the 82nd finisher.
Notable finishers were:
Richie Booth M 20 Darnestown MD 15:52 1 M 1
Ted Poulos M 46 McLean VA 19:58 16 M40-49 3
Kirk Gordon M 52 Mitchellville MD 22:38 33 M50-59 2
Robert L. Gurtler M 73 The Plains VA 33:15 59 M70-79 3
Christina Caravoulias F 53 Silver Spring MD 36:45 18
Mark Zimmermann M 55 Silver Spring MD 36:46 61
Last year I managed to beat Christine C. by a minute or so. My one goal was to beat her again this day. I took off quickly at the start. So quickly that it wasn't until a minute or two into the race did people like Kirk Gordon pass me. Hmm, maybe that explained why I felt like I was going to hurl after only a few minutes. In essence, my race was over after just a few minutes. From that point on I just tried to stay in reach of the person in front of me, whoever it might be, and to also keep Christine(who was running with Mark Zimmerman) behind me.
I did OK on the first part for the first half of the race but Christine and Mark caught up to me about half way through the race. They put a pretty good gap on me when I stopped for a walk and I never recovered. Because of the nature of the course (lots of hills and turns) I didn't see them again untiul they were just about to finish. I trailed them by over 2 minutes. I thought there was a woman walking behind me but she must have dropped out because I show up in last place on the official results page. bummer. Someone talk me out of this race next year! I finished in 39:02 and was the 62nd male and the 82nd finisher.
Notable finishers were:
Richie Booth M 20 Darnestown MD 15:52 1 M 1
Ted Poulos M 46 McLean VA 19:58 16 M40-49 3
Kirk Gordon M 52 Mitchellville MD 22:38 33 M50-59 2
Robert L. Gurtler M 73 The Plains VA 33:15 59 M70-79 3
Christina Caravoulias F 53 Silver Spring MD 36:45 18
Mark Zimmermann M 55 Silver Spring MD 36:46 61
Feeling blue at Bluemont
I have run at Bluemont Park probably 2 dozen times. I have run a lot of races there and I also do some of my training there. It's where my wife usually goes to run and I will occassionally join her. So when the DC Road Runner Club held there annual 5K there August 5th I was feeling fairly good about my chances. Not only did I know the course but they also moved the starting line back so the one major hill on the course wouldn't come into play for this race. On the downside, it was hot and storms were in the area so it was also kind of muggy. Given the cancellation of the 8K a few weeks before, I was actually surprised to find that the race was on as scheduled when I arrived in the parking lot.
Unfortunately, I had one of those days where I just didn't "feel it". I went out moderately fast but had to take a walk break after only about 4 minutes. I then used a 4 on, 1 off cycle for the remainder of the race. I tried to keep some of my old competition (Bob Gurtler, Tami Graf, Sharyn Gordon) in sight but I lost touch with them after about a mile. Then I tried to keep Blair Jones in striking distance but I lost her at about the halfway point ( I did lead her for part of the first half of the race). In the end, it was just me running between some slower women. Not a guy to be seen behind me and the nearest male in front of me finished 3 minutes ahead of me. I finished in 37:02 (official was 37:18), making me the 89th male and 139th overall out of 146 finishers. Back to the treadmill I suppose.
Notable finishers were:
Sam Blasiak M 28 Falls Church VA 16:33 1 male winner
Madeline Harms F 22 Arlington VA 19:24 1 Female winner
Karsten Brown M 34 Front Royal VA 17:11 4
Ted Poulos M 46 McLean VA 18:49 15
Charlie Mercer M 38 Arlington VA 19:20 22
Bill Stahr M 47 The Plains VA 20:12 28
James Moreland M 55 Gaithersburg MD 20:25 31 won age grp
Kirk Gordon M 52 Mitchellville MD 20:58 36
Jay Jacob Wind M 58 Arlington VA 21:12 41
Bob Platt M 57 Arlington VA 23:24 57
Jon Palks M 59 Bowie MD 24:46
Tami Graf F 72 Lusby MD 31:08 42 F70-79 1
Robert L. Gurtler M 73 The Plains VA 31:18 86 M70-79 2
Sharyn D. Gordon F 50 Mitchellville MD 32:16 43
Blair Jones F 64 Washington DC 33:17 44 F60-69 1
Unfortunately, I had one of those days where I just didn't "feel it". I went out moderately fast but had to take a walk break after only about 4 minutes. I then used a 4 on, 1 off cycle for the remainder of the race. I tried to keep some of my old competition (Bob Gurtler, Tami Graf, Sharyn Gordon) in sight but I lost touch with them after about a mile. Then I tried to keep Blair Jones in striking distance but I lost her at about the halfway point ( I did lead her for part of the first half of the race). In the end, it was just me running between some slower women. Not a guy to be seen behind me and the nearest male in front of me finished 3 minutes ahead of me. I finished in 37:02 (official was 37:18), making me the 89th male and 139th overall out of 146 finishers. Back to the treadmill I suppose.
Notable finishers were:
Sam Blasiak M 28 Falls Church VA 16:33 1 male winner
Madeline Harms F 22 Arlington VA 19:24 1 Female winner
Karsten Brown M 34 Front Royal VA 17:11 4
Ted Poulos M 46 McLean VA 18:49 15
Charlie Mercer M 38 Arlington VA 19:20 22
Bill Stahr M 47 The Plains VA 20:12 28
James Moreland M 55 Gaithersburg MD 20:25 31 won age grp
Kirk Gordon M 52 Mitchellville MD 20:58 36
Jay Jacob Wind M 58 Arlington VA 21:12 41
Bob Platt M 57 Arlington VA 23:24 57
Jon Palks M 59 Bowie MD 24:46
Tami Graf F 72 Lusby MD 31:08 42 F70-79 1
Robert L. Gurtler M 73 The Plains VA 31:18 86 M70-79 2
Sharyn D. Gordon F 50 Mitchellville MD 32:16 43
Blair Jones F 64 Washington DC 33:17 44 F60-69 1
Friday, August 8, 2008
Anybody can run a mile...right?
The DC Road Runners held their annual 1 mile and 3K championships on July 30 this year. Last year at this event I actually knocked off 3 races-the 1 mile race walk, a 1 mile run and the 3K run. I got to the track this year just as Peter Blank was starting the 1 mile race walk. I cheered him on as he went by and he yelled over that I should be out there with him. I don't know if I would have done it anyway - I did it twice last year and they really beat up my calves. Plus, I'm sure I'm not following the official race walk criteria...I just try to walk fast.
I ran in the next event...the masters mile. I've been worried about this event for the past week. I always dreaded these track events even when I was running at my best. I always get lapped, which is embarrasing, and I worry about holding everyone up. In the past I had always run the mile in at least 8:30. This year I hadn't run faster than a 10:00 mile in practice or in a race. That would be very slow. I looked for runners I knew to be relatively slow-there were none. I would represent the slowbies today.
There was a field of 12 in my heat which meant I was close to the start line when the gun went off. But I quickly fell to the back after only a couple of strides. Initially, Peter was right in front of me. In fact, he turned and said "It looks like its you and me Rammer". But I knew better. Even though he hadn't had enough time to recover from his race walk-which he did in 9:35-I knew he would finish well in front of me. I mumbled something to that effect back to Peter and continued on.
I completed the first lap in about 2:10. I was fairly pleased with that. That went away quickly though as I began to be lapped almost immediately. First by was Ted Poulos. I never know if I should run on the inside lane or get to the outside in these situations-I have received conflicting instructions. Today I ran on the inside, actually stepping on the inside line quite a few times. I really don't think I impeded anyone.
I completed the 2nd lap in 4:20. Not bad at all I thought. Except for the fact that I was gasping for any air I could get and my heart rate was probably about 900. I had to walk. Now its one thing to take a walk break in the middle of a 5K on a road. A few runners that are close to you see you and maybe you get a jeer from an onlooker telling you to run but thats about it. It doesn't get much worse than having to walk during a track event. EVERYONE sees you. But I HAD to walk. I wouldn't have finished if I didn't walk. I only walked for about 20 yards...enough time to get a little air and to let my heart rate come down a little bit. Jay Wind passed me around here. I knew it was him before he got to me because of his heavy breathing. I rooted him on and then got back to my own run.
I got to the 3/4 pole at 6:50. Ugh...my lap was 20 seconds slower than my previous laps. And I had to walk again. At least I wasn't being passed anymore. But only because everyone was either finished or about to finish. I was dying but I pushed on, I think mostly from pride. All of the Pacer girls were there and I really didn't want to collapse in front of them. I saw the clock 100 yards ahead and thought I might be able to get there in under 9 minutes which would be a real achievement. I was cheered in but my legs felt like they were carrying weights and I finished in 9:01:6.
OK, I passed my first test. I didn't totally embarass myself in the 1 mile. But what about the 3K? I knew my pace was going to be considerably slower for the 3K. I would be lucky to break 20 minutes. Was that too slow?
I had some time to think about it. They ran the masters womens mile next. There was only 1 master woman (Patricia Zerfas) but Jim Noone arrived late for the mens master so he ran with her. They both ran close to a 6 minute mile. Great job by both.
Next was the open mile. Time for the young guys. The leaders were absolutely flying. Bert Rodriguez won with a time of 4:21:6! willy Viviani was just a second behind. I think I saw smoke coming off of their shoes.
My favorite race of the night was the womens mile. As I mentioned the Pacer girls were there in force. I happened to be next to the starting line when they lined up. There was a cute woman I had never seen before at the front of the pack in lane 1. She was joking with the race director as he lined them up and she was very relaxed. But when the gun fired she was out of there in a flash. She ran probably the most impressive race I have ever seen run by a woman. She was just cruising. She looked relaxed but purposeful. She had a nice lead on the 2nd place woman who was no slouch herself (and had probably the most defined abs I have ever seen on a woman). As I watched the splits I was thinking to myself "she might break 5 minutes". Sure enough, she came in with a time of 4:55.1! Wow! I looked up the results the next day and learned she was Kristen Henehan, last years Marine Corp winner. After a 6 year layoff after college, she took up competitive running again last year and won her first marathon. She did so well she qualified for the Olympic Trials. Runners world did a very nice video interview with her...look it up...it was very interesting. BTW- the 2nd place woman was Lindsay Wilkins, who won the Crystal City 5K just a few days before. She ran the mile in 5:09.1. If not for Kristen, I would marvelling over her race.
Anyway, back to me. I decided that in fairness to the other runners, I couldn't run the 3K. I figured I would be about 6 minutes slower than the next slowest runner. The women would be waiting for me to finish before they could run their own 3K. It would be getting dark. I would be embarrased. It just wasn't a good situation. So I ate hot dogs instead (provided by the race director for the race that was cancelled the previous week).
I left before the 3K's were run. I'm bummed about that because I see in the results that Charlie Mercer ran the first 3K. Not only did he run it, he won it! I guess he is recovered from the being hit by a car. He ran it in 11:16. Last place was Carlos Liceaga with a time of 16:28.8. That's slower than I expected but it still means I would have been out there by myself for over 3 1/2 minutes. I think I made the right decision.
The 2nd heat of the 3K combined the women with the fast men. Robert Wade, who came in a close 3rd in the mile, won this race with a time of 8:45.9. That would be good enough to usually demolish the field at the monthly tidal basin 3K. Bert Rodriguez was clearly wiped out as he ran a miserable time of only 8:59.8...good enough for 4th!Kristen led the women in with a time of 10:16 with Lindsay right behind in a time of 10:35.2.
What a night!
I ran in the next event...the masters mile. I've been worried about this event for the past week. I always dreaded these track events even when I was running at my best. I always get lapped, which is embarrasing, and I worry about holding everyone up. In the past I had always run the mile in at least 8:30. This year I hadn't run faster than a 10:00 mile in practice or in a race. That would be very slow. I looked for runners I knew to be relatively slow-there were none. I would represent the slowbies today.
There was a field of 12 in my heat which meant I was close to the start line when the gun went off. But I quickly fell to the back after only a couple of strides. Initially, Peter was right in front of me. In fact, he turned and said "It looks like its you and me Rammer". But I knew better. Even though he hadn't had enough time to recover from his race walk-which he did in 9:35-I knew he would finish well in front of me. I mumbled something to that effect back to Peter and continued on.
I completed the first lap in about 2:10. I was fairly pleased with that. That went away quickly though as I began to be lapped almost immediately. First by was Ted Poulos. I never know if I should run on the inside lane or get to the outside in these situations-I have received conflicting instructions. Today I ran on the inside, actually stepping on the inside line quite a few times. I really don't think I impeded anyone.
I completed the 2nd lap in 4:20. Not bad at all I thought. Except for the fact that I was gasping for any air I could get and my heart rate was probably about 900. I had to walk. Now its one thing to take a walk break in the middle of a 5K on a road. A few runners that are close to you see you and maybe you get a jeer from an onlooker telling you to run but thats about it. It doesn't get much worse than having to walk during a track event. EVERYONE sees you. But I HAD to walk. I wouldn't have finished if I didn't walk. I only walked for about 20 yards...enough time to get a little air and to let my heart rate come down a little bit. Jay Wind passed me around here. I knew it was him before he got to me because of his heavy breathing. I rooted him on and then got back to my own run.
I got to the 3/4 pole at 6:50. Ugh...my lap was 20 seconds slower than my previous laps. And I had to walk again. At least I wasn't being passed anymore. But only because everyone was either finished or about to finish. I was dying but I pushed on, I think mostly from pride. All of the Pacer girls were there and I really didn't want to collapse in front of them. I saw the clock 100 yards ahead and thought I might be able to get there in under 9 minutes which would be a real achievement. I was cheered in but my legs felt like they were carrying weights and I finished in 9:01:6.
OK, I passed my first test. I didn't totally embarass myself in the 1 mile. But what about the 3K? I knew my pace was going to be considerably slower for the 3K. I would be lucky to break 20 minutes. Was that too slow?
I had some time to think about it. They ran the masters womens mile next. There was only 1 master woman (Patricia Zerfas) but Jim Noone arrived late for the mens master so he ran with her. They both ran close to a 6 minute mile. Great job by both.
Next was the open mile. Time for the young guys. The leaders were absolutely flying. Bert Rodriguez won with a time of 4:21:6! willy Viviani was just a second behind. I think I saw smoke coming off of their shoes.
My favorite race of the night was the womens mile. As I mentioned the Pacer girls were there in force. I happened to be next to the starting line when they lined up. There was a cute woman I had never seen before at the front of the pack in lane 1. She was joking with the race director as he lined them up and she was very relaxed. But when the gun fired she was out of there in a flash. She ran probably the most impressive race I have ever seen run by a woman. She was just cruising. She looked relaxed but purposeful. She had a nice lead on the 2nd place woman who was no slouch herself (and had probably the most defined abs I have ever seen on a woman). As I watched the splits I was thinking to myself "she might break 5 minutes". Sure enough, she came in with a time of 4:55.1! Wow! I looked up the results the next day and learned she was Kristen Henehan, last years Marine Corp winner. After a 6 year layoff after college, she took up competitive running again last year and won her first marathon. She did so well she qualified for the Olympic Trials. Runners world did a very nice video interview with her...look it up...it was very interesting. BTW- the 2nd place woman was Lindsay Wilkins, who won the Crystal City 5K just a few days before. She ran the mile in 5:09.1. If not for Kristen, I would marvelling over her race.
Anyway, back to me. I decided that in fairness to the other runners, I couldn't run the 3K. I figured I would be about 6 minutes slower than the next slowest runner. The women would be waiting for me to finish before they could run their own 3K. It would be getting dark. I would be embarrased. It just wasn't a good situation. So I ate hot dogs instead (provided by the race director for the race that was cancelled the previous week).
I left before the 3K's were run. I'm bummed about that because I see in the results that Charlie Mercer ran the first 3K. Not only did he run it, he won it! I guess he is recovered from the being hit by a car. He ran it in 11:16. Last place was Carlos Liceaga with a time of 16:28.8. That's slower than I expected but it still means I would have been out there by myself for over 3 1/2 minutes. I think I made the right decision.
The 2nd heat of the 3K combined the women with the fast men. Robert Wade, who came in a close 3rd in the mile, won this race with a time of 8:45.9. That would be good enough to usually demolish the field at the monthly tidal basin 3K. Bert Rodriguez was clearly wiped out as he ran a miserable time of only 8:59.8...good enough for 4th!Kristen led the women in with a time of 10:16 with Lindsay right behind in a time of 10:35.2.
What a night!
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