And then there were two...

Today was my 2nd running of the Blacksburg 10 miler. I was so lucky to be joined by my wife and sister-in-law for this run. They hold a 5k run along with the 10 miler. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Really you could call it the first day of spring in a way. Mostly sunny with temps well in to the 50's. Well to get to the reason for the title of this blog. I'll tell you about the start of this race. There were a little more than 350 people there. So you have this mob of almost 400 people that make their way down the street near the school we had assembled at.
I really didn't ask them to come with me on this trip they just sort of talked about it and thought it would be fun so they agreed to it about a month or more ahead of the event. My Sis-in-Law has been walking a lot over the last several months. My wife has been doing aerobic style tapes for quite some time in an on again off again manner. I knew neither of them would have any trouble walking the 5k (3.1 miles). Of course last year I had ran the 10 miler and didn't see the 5k finish or stick around for any of the awards.

So it was time to start this mob of people racing down the road. I went back to them and wished them good luck and we joked about how they asked over the bullhorn for the faster runners to get up to the front. I knew they were going to walk most of the race. I thought they might run a little but not much. They were in the very back of this big pack. I made my way up near the front of the pack. I think I was probably about 15 rows back or so. "On your mark"... "Get set".... "Go". I was far enough back in the mob that we walked a few steps or so before we could get running. It was crowded but after a few hundred yards the crowds started to thin down. I was trying to make sure I got on my 7:40 pace.

Meanwhile back in the "rear" A and Em were ready to go. When the race started they kinda looked around to see who would be walking this race with them... EVERYONE TOOK OFF RUNNING! Leaving the two of them to watch the mob of runners go down the street and quickly out of sight. I think my sis-in-law said "Well I'll never believe Mark again!" There was a bicycle volunteer out on the course who kept doubling back to check on the "walkers" and the race volunteers were pulling up the traffic cones behind them as they walked by. "Two more coming" they would yell down to the next volunteers. I think they had a good time even if they were a little embarrassed. I had no idea nobody walked! I am proud of both of them and they finished somewhere around 47 minutes.
Back out on the course. I was having gizmo problems. I didn't wear my ipod because I've found in "shorter" races I really don't want it or need it. Part of the race is run on a paved trail that has lots of trees down each side. My gps got blocked really bad at one section of the trail. I don't know if was the trees or what but I could tell something was really affecting it. It was right on till mile 3 and then about mile 4 I realized it was 0.11 miles off. This through my overall pace reading off. I was trying to hold a 7:40 mile.

By mile 5 I figured out I was already behind pace. I felt like I was doing as good as I could. I felt a little tired and a little bloated in the stomach. At mile 6 one or my running acquaintances, Bruce, passed me. Bruce is an exceptional individual who is tall and dresses to be seen during races. It would be nearly impossible to go to any race of less than a 1000 people and not see Bruce in the crowd. Bruce is 53 years old and if he's not hurt, usually runs faster than me. So at mile 6 he goes past me wearing a tuquoise "dew rag/turban" a light pink sleeveless shirt and purple shorts. Don't ask me why but his wardrobe is a much debated topic in running circles.

He got about 30 yards ahead of me and it seemed I was able to hold him there. He didn't say anything to me when he passed me. There was a turnaround at mile 7 and I said hey Bruce as we passed each other and he said hey back. By mile 8 I was starting to feel really good and I caught him and passed him and said "C'mon Bruce here is your rabbit, Let's go!" I could hear him drop farther and farther behind. I was doing really good running about a 7:30 mile. The only problem is the last two miles are mainly uphill and I knew it from last year. I pushed hard and was breathing just about as hard as I could. There was really no one around me, behind or in front. I knew I pushed my way back up the hill to the school and kept the hammer down. I finished officially in 1:18:52 which was about 2:12 slower than I wanted but it was just a goal. I was 39th out of 121 under 40 years old. I finished 8th out of 15 in males 30-34. You can check out the race results here.

http://civic.bev.net/striders/classic_2007/results_2007.html

I improved a whopping 27 seconds from last year. Hmm. I don't want to talk about that. I can't explain it. All the running I had done over the last year, the marathon, the speed work... I don't know. Anyway it was a fun day and I feel good about my effort and thanks to Bruce I had a really good push at the end.

Day before Bburg

Bring on spring man! Last week was so cold and my heart just wasn't in it. I ran twice once for 4.5 miles and once for 5 miles. On Monday of this week the weather started improving greatly. Tuesday I ran 6 miles and Wednesday I ran 5 miles. Yesterday I was supposed to run an easy 2 miles but I had KA join me on a run for the 2nd time. Last time we ran he ran a couple miles and did fine except I think he had some foot pain the next day. Yesterday we took off and things were going so good we decided to do 3. This run involved a small hill and he handled it all fine. We ran it faster (8:37 avg I think) than I was planning to run but it did feel good and I feel good today.

However, for the bad news. Up until this week I was thinking of running Blacksburg (10 miles) in 1:15. I usually do run faster in a race but I just don't see how this goal is realistic. Last year I ran at an average pace of 7:56 and I was sick at the stomach about half the race. I don't see how I can do much better than a 7:40 pace which would put me across the line at 7.66667 * 10 = 1:16:40. Therefore I am claiming that as my goal for this year. My friend G laughs at me for setting goals. He takes a little more laid back approach of what happens, happens. I tend to be goal oriented.

I'm really excited about this race because the weather is supposed to be good (50's) and sunny. But more importantly my wife and sis-in-law are going to join me! I can't wait to get them hooked. I know they are just doing it just for something to do but I hope the bug catches....

Running on Dumplings

Today after church, we had a big family dinner and my aunt made delicious chicken and dumplings. I didn't overdo it and was a good boy. We even had cake. After about an hour or so I had to get running or I wouldn't make it back for evening chuch and beat the darkness. So my tummy was still quite full when I embarked.

I put a new twist on a familiar loop. I ran from PS to Talcott and back and then down to Lowell, crossed the old railroad footbridge and back to PS. It was 16.59 miles total and it took me 2:36 (9:24 pace).This is slower than I had wanted to run it. I wanted to run it at marathon pace which for me is 9:07. It was a balmy 40 degrees when I left the house so I said eh, no gloves needed. Boy was I wrong. In the first minute I had my hands pulled back into my sleeves. I had on shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt and that was it. I was comfortable except for my hands. This meant, I couldn't see my garmin. I guess I could have taken it off and put it on the outside of my shirt but I didn't really care at the time. I just thought I'd run and it felt like I was at my goal pace. Well as I started looking at the garmin, I was behind schedule and with bathroom breaks I was never able to catch up.

I got some really strange looks as I ran because here I was running along the road with a few inches of snow on the ground everywhere and I was in shorts! People were really giving me the eye as they drove by. I would have like it about 5 degrees warmer but it would have really been nice if I would have had gloves. Anyway, I knew I was going to run more than 15 so I toyed with the notion of taking an ibuprofen with me. I decided not to to see what would happen. Well sure enough about mile 14 I started to feel some acidic burning in my legs and by the time I got home I was walking funny and my legs were burning pretty good. I took a 200mg ibuprofen and hurried off to church. That took care of the burning for a while but then a couple hours later some soreness came back. So I am just becoming more unusre about my ability to "run long". I guess I just need to keep trying and keep running long. It just doensn't seem like I can overcome this burning in my legs after about mile 15. I think my next long run I will try to take an ibuprofen with me and take it about mile 13 just to see if and how it helps. I don't want to do that but I want to keep pushing over the 20 mile mark.

I am in the process of picking out a spring marathon. I have four choices right now. Charlottesville VA on 4/21, Abingdon VA on 4/1, Athens OH on 4/1, or the National Marathon on 3/24 in D.C. Right now I am leaning toward the National but I really like the closeness of Charlottesville though I hear the course is killer with a lot of hills. We'll see but I need to decide in the next two weeks so stay posted.

Gearing up for Blacksburg

The next race I am running is the Blacksburg 10 miler. I haven't run in a race since November so I am ready to go. All the 20 milers in January have prepared me well I think and right now I am working on speed. Last year I ran it in 1:19 and change. This year I hope to be sub 1:15. I think that if I run my absolute best I can run a 1:15. We'll see. This will be a special race for me because my wife and her sister will be joining me at the start because they will be running/walking the 5k and the races start together. I'm real excited about this and look forward to seeing them when I finish.

Treadmill 5k's

I hate the treadmill. I refuse to run more than about 4 or 5 miles on one. I get so bored I can't take it. However, I think they are very good for training. They teach you to maintain pace. You can't be a slacker on a treadmill. You know when you slow down. I decided if the snow and cold were going to keep me from outside I would hit the treadmill at work and go all out for a 5k.

On Tuesday I pushed myself to my limit. My muscles were not exhausted but my cardiovascular limit was reached. It took me about 10 minutes or so to regain my composure. I ran 3.1 miles in 21:28. This is 15 seconds better than my best 5k race time of 21:43. That doesn't impress me much because the 5k had hills.

I took Wednesday off due to the snow. On Thursday I did it again but this time, when I finished I felt much better. I don't know what the difference was other than I didn't eat as much beforehand on Thursday. I ran it in 21:15 (6:51 pace) which is 13 seconds faster than on Tuesday. That doesn't sound like much but over 3.1 miles thats about 4 seconds faster for each mile.

One other little note. I recently left my atm card in the atm machine at the bank. I realized it was gone but didn't know where at first so I canceled it and ordered another. Anyway, today I had to go inside the gas station to pay with cash there were about 3 people ahead of me. They all bought cartons of cigarettes. Not packs but cartons. I was thinking about my quasi-obsession with eating healthy and being healthy and these people were looking for there next cig. They may outlive me but you just realize that these people are slaves to the cigarettes just like I am in a way to running.

I then went to McD to get a salad. The guy in front of me ordered two mcchickens, a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. That's about 2000 calories. Now I don't know what this guy was doing that day but anyway... he was about my size maybe a little heavier it was hard to tell with the coat. Anyway my day out at lunch made me wonder why do I try so hard doing what I do. Well the main reason is shown in the photo below.

Coldest Long Run Ever (for me that is)

This morning against my better judgement the "Greenbriar" County guys went for a cold run. I didn't have my Garmin GPS because it was just going to be an easy run. It was about 18 degrees when I left my house and the wind was somewhat clam. I have never run more than a couple miles below 25 degrees. We were to run 12-14 miles today from the Greenbrier Courthouse to the Lewisburg Airport. The wind was fairly still as we met at 7:30am in Lewisburg so even though L and S wanted to head for the bakery, I was ready to go. We started out and I was afraid that my legs were going to be cold because I only had on my running tights and a pair of shorts, yes that's right I wear tights. Actually, they are Under Armour cold weather pants.

About a mile into it I was starting to warm up and we ran along at a good but leisurely pace. We reached the airport and I noticed my camel bak water hose was frozen up solid so I had to duck into the airport to get it thawed at the sink. L and S ran on another mile and I met them on the way back. I was feeling good and was actually very comfortable.

When we turned around it seemed that the wind picked up plus it was blowing in our face. This made the run back a little more uncomfortable. The total run time was 2 hours and 10 minutes. It is hard then to warm your body back up after it is cold. It kinda makes you feel funny for a few minutes. This was L and S's last long run before their marathon at Myrtle Beach. Good luck guys. Don't have too much fun at the beach and enjoy your taper. I am expecting the "Greenbriar" County boys to be victorious with sub 3:30 performances!

Running the last week of January

After the 23 mile run dished out by my weekend mentors, I have to turn around and face my gung ho running coworkers. Boy don't I have a good attitude. I guess I've spent so many solitary miles I'm not used to running with others. In some ways it is easier in others it is harder. I enjoy it but I enjoy my alone miles too.

At work "R" as we'll call him is totally gung ho. I am just amazed that anyone younger than me likes running as much as me. He is hard core. He and is cohort "B" ran with me Tues-Thurs and they even ran Monday. I showed R this steep road last week that just goes up for about 3 or 4 miles to Elk Knob and he loves it. So this week we ran two miles up it and back down. We then went on Wednesday over and did the Dam Race Course which is a 5k. On Thursday I gave them there first speed workout session. "R" and I ran ourselves till the world seemed to spin around kinda funny. It was the combination of cold air, pushing hard. and stopping fast. It was a good week but it was just about the coldest yet. I can't wait for the 40's...