After battling bronchitis for the last 2 weeks, I attempted the Press Club 5K on Saturday, September 13. The race is an out and back course that essentially runs between the Press Club and the Capital. It's a pretty flat course and I had one of my best races of the year last year in this race. And then there are the pancakes! They have a great post race party in the Press Club after the race featuring a pancake breakfast. I wasn't going to miss that!
I ran 1.3 miles two days before the race just to see if I could even run. I managed to run it at about 10 minute pace so I thought I might do OK. Nonetheless, a 2 week illness and layoff had me worried. At the starting line I was thinking a 37 minute 5K might be the target.
I got through the first mile in 10:24. That was a comfortable pace and included a 1 minute walk break. However, after a mile I just didn't feel very good. My heart felt like it was running fast and any running at this point was difficult. I walked up the hill by the Capital, made the turn, had a couple of cups of water and ran down the hill I just climbed. The 2 mile mark was at the bottom of the hill...it took me 13:57 to complete that second mile! Doing some quick math in my head I realized that I needed to run at a 10 minute pace for the entire rest of the race just to come in under 36 minutes. Well that wasn't going to happen. Given my difficulty breathing from the bronchitis, my elevated heart rate, and pain in my left foot which I have to think is a stress fracture, I decided to shut it down for the day. I walked the final 1.1 miles in 16:58. My final time was 41:18....probably my worst 5K time in years.
I hope I get better soon. These times are just dePRESSing!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Who could have predicted this?
August 23rd marked the annual PG County Road Runners Womens distance festival followed by a predicted time 5K. Anyone that reads these blogs knows the only way I will ever win anything is if I run in a "gimmic" type of race. I came in 2nd a couple of years ago at the DCRRC predicted time 5 miler. I think I looked good again last year until I fell and broke my foot (still finished though).
This was the first time I had run this race which made predicting a time even more difficult than usual. I asked the nice folks when I checked in what the course was like and I was told it had a lot of turns but was pretty flat. Turns don't really hurt someone as slow as me so this all sounded good. I thought about my time in the 3K on Wednesday and considered the temperature (not too bad) and came up with a time of 35:16. I thought that should be a tough time to get but do-able.
I knew I wouldn't be able to take a lot of walk breaks.
I misjudged the start and had to jog over to the start line just as we were being sent off. I had about 30 seconds to recover though so I can't complain about that. The start took us parallel to the runway at College Park airport. Then we veered into a park with a large lake. It was so weird to not have a watch on to see how I was doing. I started taking walk breaks pretty early on...perhaps only 1/2 mile in. But I tried to keep them short. It seemed like I was the last runner before a pretty long break to the walkers. I could see a guy in front of me for most of the race but I just couldn't catch up to him. However, as I got to within 1/2 a mile of the finish, a woman appeared behind me. The sight of her pushed me along and helped me finish a little faster than I probably would have otherwise. Where was she earlier?
I was convinced that I ran a very slow race...perhaps something around 40 minutes. But when I got back to my car I saw that it was 9:40 and the race started at 9. It took me several minutes to get to the car and I had stopped for a bagel so I started thinking maybe I wasn't as slow as I thought. I waited through the awards for the women and then they finally awarded the prizes for the predicted time race. The woman that finished behind me actually won the race! If she is anything like me, seeing me ahead of her at the finish probably pushed her to run a little faster which enabled her to win the race! A couple of guys tied for 2nd and that was it for the prizes so I went home.
Imagine my surprise when I checked the results the next day and found that I came in 4th! The 2 guys ahead of me missed their prediction by 22 seconds. I missed mine by 23.97 seconds! If I had pushed myself to start running 20 yards sooner at the finish I would have come in 2nd! The winner was within 16 seconds of her prediction. A 100 yard push would have been good enough to beat her! Argh!!
Nonetheless, it was a fun race and I'll plan on running this again next year. This race marked my 36th race of the year. A prolific month of September should put me within spitting distance of 50 races for the year. It will be nice to get it out of the way so I don't have to worry about injuries like the one I suffered at the end of last year.
Place Name Age S City State Predict Time Diff
1 Mary Contreras 37 F Arlington VA 36:00 36:17 0:00:16.40
2 Malcolm Lester 41 M Washington C 17:11 17:33 0:00:22.00
3 Kent McCullough 51 M Lanham MD 19:56 19:34 0:00:22.46
4 Tim Ramsey 48 M Arlington VA 35:16 35:40 0:00:23.97
5 Katy Wareheme 26 F Boonsboro MD 25:00 25:30 0:00:29.02
6 Ian Wright 33 M Laurel MD 30:00 29:28 0:00:32.52
7 Manuel Legaspi M 20:00 20:36 0:00:35.53
8 Clifford Bedore M 27:00 27:38 0:00:37.53
9 Vennita Harris 24 F Laurel MD 45:00 45:49 0:00:48.62
10 Shawn Gilleylen 40 F Laurel MD 45:00 46:02 0:01:01.18
11 Nicole Greene 30 F Frederick MD 40:36 39:35 0:01:01.27
12 Jason Morancie M 30:00 28:52 0:01:08.28
13 Ben Lipovsky 60 M Hyattsville MD 28:00 26:50 0:01:10.27
14 Kirk Gordon 52 M Mitchellville MD 20:50 22:11 0:01:20.49
15 Eileen Spear F 31:00 29:39 0:01:21.91
16 DeNita DeLano 32 F Temple Hills MD 49:20 47:56 0:01:24.51
17 Tammy Colandrea 32 F Greenbelt MD 43:21 41:53 0:01:28.42
18 Ethica Kumsa F 17:00 18:29 0:01:28.98
19 Laurence Daniels 41 M Mitchellville MD 50:00 48:31 0:01:29.64
20 Mary Ester 47 F Washington DC 30:00 28:27 0:01:33.50
21 Valerie Barnes 31 F Greenbelt MD 46:45 44:58 0:01:47.45
22 Sally Bolenger F 31:00 32:54 0:01:53.50
23 Richard Vickers III 45 M Silver Spring MD 25:00 26:59 0:01:58.28
24 Olivia Payton 51 F Laurel MD 45:00 47:36 0:02:35.75
25 Ernest Brown 51 M Washington DC 43:00 45:45 0:02:44.74
26 Heather Burroughs 24 F Burtonsville MD 36:00 38:46 0:02:45.56
27 Philip Zenchoff 80 M Silver Spring MD 46:30 49:33 0:03:02.40
28 Sharlene Deskins 44 F Seabrook MD 32:45 36:20 0:03:34.72
29 Valerie Ballard F 40:00 36:22 0:03:38.76
30 Loretta Henry 44 F Laurel MD 45:00 41:16 0:03:44.08
31 Risa Ryan 26 F Odenton MD 33:45 29:46 0:03:59.49
32 Gerard Alleyne 27 M Bladensburg MD 33:54 29:21 0:04:33.53 33 242 David Ferris M 30:00 25:18 0:04:42.12 34 212 Moneta Strickland 27 F Montgomery Village MD 37:00 42:26 0:05:25.75 35 209 Jodi Lethbridge 26 F Burtonsville MD 42:00 47:32 0:05:31.53 36 213 Henson Rara 26 M Montgomery Village MD 36:50 42:27 0:05:36.35 37 232 Jackie Nitowitz 44 F College Park MD 1:30:00 1:23:35 0:06:25.12 38 210 Elissa Lethbridge 53 F Burtonsville MD 55:00 1:01:41 0:06:40.64 39 234 David Palomino 28 M Riverdale MD 42:00 34:52 0:07:08.94 40 211 Mandy Lethbridge 21 F Burtonsville MD 40:00 49:33 0:09:32.53 41 225 Irene Park 32 F Baltimore MD 1:00:00 49:29 0:10:31.37 42 224 Sarah Park 29 F Baltimore MD 1:00:00 49:29 0:10:31.40 43 221 Netta Henry 39 F Laurel MD 45:00 56:42 0:11:41.51 44 219 Denise Henry 48 F Laurel MD 45:00 56:42 0:11:41.57 45 246 Dave Rapp M 45:00 30:01 0:14:59.63 46 243 Laurie Fisher F 35:10 1:23:35 0:48:24.33
This was the first time I had run this race which made predicting a time even more difficult than usual. I asked the nice folks when I checked in what the course was like and I was told it had a lot of turns but was pretty flat. Turns don't really hurt someone as slow as me so this all sounded good. I thought about my time in the 3K on Wednesday and considered the temperature (not too bad) and came up with a time of 35:16. I thought that should be a tough time to get but do-able.
I knew I wouldn't be able to take a lot of walk breaks.
I misjudged the start and had to jog over to the start line just as we were being sent off. I had about 30 seconds to recover though so I can't complain about that. The start took us parallel to the runway at College Park airport. Then we veered into a park with a large lake. It was so weird to not have a watch on to see how I was doing. I started taking walk breaks pretty early on...perhaps only 1/2 mile in. But I tried to keep them short. It seemed like I was the last runner before a pretty long break to the walkers. I could see a guy in front of me for most of the race but I just couldn't catch up to him. However, as I got to within 1/2 a mile of the finish, a woman appeared behind me. The sight of her pushed me along and helped me finish a little faster than I probably would have otherwise. Where was she earlier?
I was convinced that I ran a very slow race...perhaps something around 40 minutes. But when I got back to my car I saw that it was 9:40 and the race started at 9. It took me several minutes to get to the car and I had stopped for a bagel so I started thinking maybe I wasn't as slow as I thought. I waited through the awards for the women and then they finally awarded the prizes for the predicted time race. The woman that finished behind me actually won the race! If she is anything like me, seeing me ahead of her at the finish probably pushed her to run a little faster which enabled her to win the race! A couple of guys tied for 2nd and that was it for the prizes so I went home.
Imagine my surprise when I checked the results the next day and found that I came in 4th! The 2 guys ahead of me missed their prediction by 22 seconds. I missed mine by 23.97 seconds! If I had pushed myself to start running 20 yards sooner at the finish I would have come in 2nd! The winner was within 16 seconds of her prediction. A 100 yard push would have been good enough to beat her! Argh!!
Nonetheless, it was a fun race and I'll plan on running this again next year. This race marked my 36th race of the year. A prolific month of September should put me within spitting distance of 50 races for the year. It will be nice to get it out of the way so I don't have to worry about injuries like the one I suffered at the end of last year.
Place Name Age S City State Predict Time Diff
1 Mary Contreras 37 F Arlington VA 36:00 36:17 0:00:16.40
2 Malcolm Lester 41 M Washington C 17:11 17:33 0:00:22.00
3 Kent McCullough 51 M Lanham MD 19:56 19:34 0:00:22.46
4 Tim Ramsey 48 M Arlington VA 35:16 35:40 0:00:23.97
5 Katy Wareheme 26 F Boonsboro MD 25:00 25:30 0:00:29.02
6 Ian Wright 33 M Laurel MD 30:00 29:28 0:00:32.52
7 Manuel Legaspi M 20:00 20:36 0:00:35.53
8 Clifford Bedore M 27:00 27:38 0:00:37.53
9 Vennita Harris 24 F Laurel MD 45:00 45:49 0:00:48.62
10 Shawn Gilleylen 40 F Laurel MD 45:00 46:02 0:01:01.18
11 Nicole Greene 30 F Frederick MD 40:36 39:35 0:01:01.27
12 Jason Morancie M 30:00 28:52 0:01:08.28
13 Ben Lipovsky 60 M Hyattsville MD 28:00 26:50 0:01:10.27
14 Kirk Gordon 52 M Mitchellville MD 20:50 22:11 0:01:20.49
15 Eileen Spear F 31:00 29:39 0:01:21.91
16 DeNita DeLano 32 F Temple Hills MD 49:20 47:56 0:01:24.51
17 Tammy Colandrea 32 F Greenbelt MD 43:21 41:53 0:01:28.42
18 Ethica Kumsa F 17:00 18:29 0:01:28.98
19 Laurence Daniels 41 M Mitchellville MD 50:00 48:31 0:01:29.64
20 Mary Ester 47 F Washington DC 30:00 28:27 0:01:33.50
21 Valerie Barnes 31 F Greenbelt MD 46:45 44:58 0:01:47.45
22 Sally Bolenger F 31:00 32:54 0:01:53.50
23 Richard Vickers III 45 M Silver Spring MD 25:00 26:59 0:01:58.28
24 Olivia Payton 51 F Laurel MD 45:00 47:36 0:02:35.75
25 Ernest Brown 51 M Washington DC 43:00 45:45 0:02:44.74
26 Heather Burroughs 24 F Burtonsville MD 36:00 38:46 0:02:45.56
27 Philip Zenchoff 80 M Silver Spring MD 46:30 49:33 0:03:02.40
28 Sharlene Deskins 44 F Seabrook MD 32:45 36:20 0:03:34.72
29 Valerie Ballard F 40:00 36:22 0:03:38.76
30 Loretta Henry 44 F Laurel MD 45:00 41:16 0:03:44.08
31 Risa Ryan 26 F Odenton MD 33:45 29:46 0:03:59.49
32 Gerard Alleyne 27 M Bladensburg MD 33:54 29:21 0:04:33.53 33 242 David Ferris M 30:00 25:18 0:04:42.12 34 212 Moneta Strickland 27 F Montgomery Village MD 37:00 42:26 0:05:25.75 35 209 Jodi Lethbridge 26 F Burtonsville MD 42:00 47:32 0:05:31.53 36 213 Henson Rara 26 M Montgomery Village MD 36:50 42:27 0:05:36.35 37 232 Jackie Nitowitz 44 F College Park MD 1:30:00 1:23:35 0:06:25.12 38 210 Elissa Lethbridge 53 F Burtonsville MD 55:00 1:01:41 0:06:40.64 39 234 David Palomino 28 M Riverdale MD 42:00 34:52 0:07:08.94 40 211 Mandy Lethbridge 21 F Burtonsville MD 40:00 49:33 0:09:32.53 41 225 Irene Park 32 F Baltimore MD 1:00:00 49:29 0:10:31.37 42 224 Sarah Park 29 F Baltimore MD 1:00:00 49:29 0:10:31.40 43 221 Netta Henry 39 F Laurel MD 45:00 56:42 0:11:41.51 44 219 Denise Henry 48 F Laurel MD 45:00 56:42 0:11:41.57 45 246 Dave Rapp M 45:00 30:01 0:14:59.63 46 243 Laurie Fisher F 35:10 1:23:35 0:48:24.33
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tidal Basin 3K reprised
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.
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.
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
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