Don't Look Back

I was sitting in Sunday School and the teacher asked "Mark when you run in your races do you ever look back?" My response was "I try not to". His point was that God doesn't want us to look back at our past sin but that he wants us to look forward and run the long race of our lives. We are to ask God for forgiveness but continue to grow spiritually in his love. We are not perfect and never will be but God wants us to run the race with our head forward and our eyes focused on the goal.

I started thinking about my response, do I ever really look back in a race? The answer is I occasionally do but it is usually to see if anyone is trying to make a move on me right at the finish line. Sometimes I will pick out someone to "chase" but this is difficult because it is hard to find someone running the exact speed to push you yet not wear you out. Otherwise, whether it is correct or not, I view each race as one against myself. Trying to push my body and overcome the pain whether it is breathing and gasping for air in a short race or fighting off the muscle pain in your legs in a long run. In a race, I am running to see what I can do. How fast can I go and still make it. It is a fine line because you have to juggle the distance with your speed so you don't end up walking the last few miles. When you are running against yourself it does no good to look back.

Umm maybe I made a mistake

Here it is Tuesday morning and I still feel bad. Not so bad I can't sit at the computer and do work but bad enough that I can't really get up and move around much without feeling woozy. Evidently I pushed myself too hard once I got the cold. I've been pretty sick since Saturday evening and I look awful. I don't even feel like running 50 yards much less a mile. Looks like Mark will be taking a week off from running. I'm going to the doctor today to try and get some relief from this. Only a few weeks till Charleston 15 miler I hope I can rebound well.

Feeling better this morning!

Even though I was sick yesterday morning with a cold, I managed to eek out 4 miles. Afterwards, I felt ok. We went to Myrtle Waves Water Park and had a great time. I started feeling better sometime after lunch. This morning I biked 4 miles and then ran 6. The transition was not too hard but I hadn't biked very far. Contrary to what you may think, the beach is hard to run on. The sand and the constant slope of the beach make for difficult running. Throw in the fact that when you are running north the sun beats you in the face and makes you hot. Then when you turn around and run south about a 10-15 mph wind hits you in the face constantly and never lets up. I'm ready to get back to the hills and the hollers!

Sick!

Ugh! I caught a cold yesterday evening. It took all I had to get up and run this morning. I was going to do 7 but had to settle for 3. I actually felt pretty good after I got about a mile into it but it was so hard to get going. It was so hot I really felt like I was melting. The sweat was dripping so fast I couldn't keep my sunglasses dry. There are always several people running on the beach. I usually see about 10 in my morning run. I ended up running with a 47 year old lady from Roanoke the last mile or so. She, like me, had decided enough was enough a year ago and took up running to help with her weight loss. Tomorrow we are supposed to go to the water park. I am sitting here in the camper blowing my nose and clearing my throat constantly. This is not fun!

Update from the Beach!

(On a mission.... to get to the beach!)

Well It's day 3 of our beach adventure. Day 1 was spent traveling down, about a 9 hour camper pull. Day 2, let the triathlon/marathon training begin. I wore myself plumb out... it was my day for a long run so I ran 12.5 miles... mostly in the sand... yikes! by mile 11 I was begging for mercy. I started about 6:30am but by 7am it was really really getting hot. I'm sure it was already approaching 90 or hotter as I finished about 8:30am. The sand was really tough too. There's a big difference running in the sand. I ran on the wetter harder sand but still, whew, it was tough!

I recovered from the run though in about an hour and it was time for the ocean. This was my first time wearing swim goggles. Man do they make a difference. I am so much more relaxed with the goggles on. I can swim much further with them on. It sounds silly but it is true. I don't have to wipe my eyes every time I come out of the water to see where my girls are at. The first wave I road though ripped my goggles right off my head into the ocean and they were gone. I got out of the water and said we have to go get me another set of goggles now! So we went to one of the million beach shops and I got a pair of performance speedos. Bring on Summit Lake!

I swam with them in the pool and I could swim and swim. I'm not saying I'm ready for 1/2 mile or even a 1/4 mile but the goggles really helped me swim farther. Later in the evening (yes this is still day 2) we went back to the ocean and I did some swimming there as well. I was trying to swim about 1/10 of a mile up the beach against the wind/current. I got out past the breakers and started swimming. I swam and I swam and I swam and then I stopped. I had swam for maybe 2 or 3 minutes. I was right where I started! So then I tried a little harder and made a little progress. I ended up swimming some more and tried swimming with the wind and current and that of course was much easier.

Day 3 I let Audrey have the premium running time of 6:30-7am while I stayed with the kids. When she got back after about 30-40 minutes. I ran 3 miles. One mile of warmup and then two at about a 7:30ish pace in the sand. That was tough. Man was it hot. By noon today one of the bank thermometers said 101 F. We're having a good time and are getting ready to head back to the water now. I plan to do more running of course and a couple days I'm going to throw in a short ocean swim with a bike ride followed by a run. I'm going for it all!

Apology to readers

To all you who have read this blog from time to time, I apologize that I have not kept this blog up. I have wanted to blog, I have a lot to blog about I just haven't gotten around to it. I've had some great races this summer. Look for more to come soon. I want to start blogging once a week in this blog but we shall see. I'm getting ready for the Charleston Distance Run in September and the Marine Corps Marathon in October.

Achieving the real goal - Beat the Heat 5k

I have been running for almost 5 years now. In the last 3 I have become more serious about it. Sure my goal was to run a marathon but I've always had another goal. It is not a well defined goal but the goal is to get as many people in my family and even friends involved in some sort of physical activity. Hopefully running of course. Well over the past months I finally started to make progress on this goal. It all started with my cousin Christi and her husband Brian deciding they wanted to run a 5k and get "in shape". They invited me to come to NC and run it with them. The "Beat the Heat 5K" in Winston Salem, NC. This sparked my dad and my wife to begin training for it as well. They both trained for the race. Fortunately the race also included a mile kids run which caused my oldest daughter to start training for that as well. My youngest daughter wanted to run in it too so it became a family affair.


I cannot express the joy it gave me to have all my family with me at a race and most of them running in it! I think they were all really proud of their accomplishment as well. I ran the kids race with my youngest daughter and she ran her guts out. She had to walk some of it but she would run with all her might and then get tired and walk. It's hard to teach a 5 year old to pace themself. My oldest daughter ran really well running the mile in a little over 9 minutes. They both recieved finishing ribbons and they were proud of their accomplishment.
It was a great time and I hope I can keep everyone motivated. Running is not for everyone. It is tough on the body. It can be boring, hot, and lonely. I just feel like a got a tiny bit closer to reaching my goal of getting everyone motivated.

Richwood Scenic Mountain Triathlon 2007

July8th 2007
"Beeeeeeep.... Beep" The sound almost didn't register in my brain. K2 had said "I'll blow my bike horn when I hit the top of the mountain just before the visitor center". That means he's here! He arrived a little earlier than I thought. "We must be doing pretty good I thought". In just a few seconds he appeared on his black mountain bike amongst a couple other road bikes. He slowed to a stop and I yanked the little black wrist band off his wrist slipped it on mine and took off running up the road "like I'd stolen something". I looked down at my GPS and it said I was doing about a 5:45 minute mile. "Whoa Mark" I thought. That is too fast... slow it down. I had been anticipating this 6.2 mile run for months...

(Team Cranberry Rock Pre-Race Jitters)

The Richwood Scenic Triathlon consists of a 0.5 mile swim in the picturesque Summit Lake, a 17.1 mile grueling bicycle ride, and an out-and-back 6.2 (10k) road race. The swim is across the lake and back at the large end of the lake. A rope lined with floating noodles is used to mark the course. Swimmers swim out to the end of the rope and then head back to the start.

(K1 Finishes the Swim!)

The bike ride includes about a 2.5 mile "drop" from summit lake down to the main road (39). The road is a twisty narrow two lane road with several road bike killing pot holes. After that riders turn onto the main road and are treated with almost 14 miles of uphill riding that is capped off with a 9% climb to the top of Kennison Mountain for a total climb of almost 1000 feet.

( A long and grueling uphill ride)

The final section is a slight drop down to the Cranberry Mountain Visitor Center. The run leaves the visitor center and heads for the Cranberry Glades. Most of the run is on pavement the rest is on gravel. From the visitor center, runners drop about 300 feet in 3.1 miles and then have to climb back out for the finish. This race is held near the Cranberry Wilderness, my favorite getaway on earth.

(Touring the Cranberry Glades)

We were competing in this event as a team. Our team name if you can believe it was "Cranberry Rock". Most of the folks were doing it solo. There were about 200 competitors in this event.
I've run in several races now and let me tell you... these triathletes are in shape! Not that runners aren't "in shape" but triathletes work the upper body as well so they have that lean muscular look all over. Hard core runners tend to just be skinny with muscular legs.

(Lining up for the swim start)

We had camped at Summit Lake for a couple days prior to the race. We fished for trout in the Cranberry River and I even fished for native trout in one of its tributaries the Dogway Fork. We had quite of fishing party as my dad and my friend Joe (see Great Greenbrier River Race blog entry in April). On the second day we took it easy and fished in Summit Lake from the boat went sight seeing around the area and went to the race registration dinner.

(K1 with his first two trout)

(One of the three falls of Hills Creek)

(Hills Creek)

My team consisted of two Kevins. Each "specialists" in there field of swimming and biking. At work I call them KT and KA but somehow on this trip we had to interact with my Dad and our race buddies Kenny and Manon and their abbreviations became K1 and K2 respectively. We had been committed to this race for a couple months and the our excitement about the race was ready to explode. We had all trained moderately for the event and were very confident about our abilities. Although we were hoping K1 would not drown in the 1/2 mile swim and K2 would not crash at the bottom of the Summit Lake hill when he had to make the sharp turn onto the main road. He goes downhill like a madman, trust me I've eaten his dust.

(Racing Friends: Manon and Kenny)

Back to the race... After the handoff, I got myself under control and headed down the Cranberry Glades road at a sub 7 minute pace. I began looking for 700 numbers. Our number was 732. Numbers starting with 7 were Male teams... our competition. I counted them as they would pass by going the other way. I saw one early into the race and then a second. About a 1/4 mile before the 3.1 mile turnaround I saw a third. I thought "Man we got 4th... I can't catch that guy no way!". I hit the turn around point at just over 22 minutes which was behind schedule for me. I was resolved we were getting 4th. I pushed along and tried to keep my pace strong. I was starting to climb hills. The air was dry and great but the heat of the sun was beating down hard. I sought the shade along the edges of the road.

(Ah Summit Lake....)

With about two miles to go, I looked out a head and.... there was the guy in the yellow shirt... the third place guy! He was in sight. I had made up some considerable ground on him. I thought "Hey, I can catch this guy". There were plenty of hills left. With about a mile to go there was one of the steeper climbs. I caught him and passed him smoothly. Now I thought "I got to stay ahead of this guy". I made it to the top of the hill before the finish, the same one K2 had blown the horn from. I looked back, he was back there about 200 yards. I relaxed. The finish was great. I cruised through the grass and under the banner.

It was over. We had done it. We got 3rd place in the male teams a medal to boot. Our time was around 2 hours and 6 minutes. The solo guy that won took about an hour and a half. The winning team came in around 1 hour and 40 minutes. We were beat by a team of women over 50 years old. We were 8th out of 14th teams. Now we are totally hooked...

I could write for hours about all this but let me just say this race was special to me because of the friends, the trout fishing, the food (K1 is a great cook), and the Cranberry Backcountry. Thank you Dad for all the memories from this place...

(8 miles from nowhere on Cranberry River: Dad and I camped in a tent and fished many times)

Running in Hinton

Although I've now run races in 3 states and Washington D.C. including Marathons and trail runs in remote places the bulk of my running takes place in Hinton, WV. Which coincidentally is where I was born and where I now work.
Hinton is the county seat of Summers County and was established in 1873 but was not chartered until 1897. Hinton was named for a prominent lawyer named John Hinton and the husband of Avis Gwinn Hinton, pioneer, who owned the land upon which the city of Hinton is located. Hinton is a railroad town that went through a tremendous building boom from 1890 to 1920. Those days are now long gone and Hinton remains a quaint town that is slowly evolving with the times.
Hinton is where two spectacular rivers meet the New and the Greenbrier. Since it is along the river most of my running does occur on "flat" terrain. However, all one needs to do is to turn toward the mountains away from the rivers to find hills. It's not hard to get in a speed workout on the flat or tackle one of the adjacent mountains that climb 1000 or more feet in just a mile or two.

Most of the time, I run alone but I always enjoy bringing a friend along. On this particular jaunt around Hinton my friend KT joined me. As shown in the photo below we were getting ready to embark on a n early May run.
One of the terrain features I almost always climb is the Avis bridge (shown below). This is a relatively small hill about a half mile long with a level spot in the middle but it is always a good workout when thrown in at the end of a 4 or 6 mile run.
My usual loop is a 4.3 mile loop that covers about 75% of Hinton. Sometimes I modify this into a 6 or 7 mile loop that pretty much encompasses most of the town. I enjoy running up the hill to the top of the dam (shown below) and looking out over the beautiful Bluestone Lake.
Many times I will run errands while I'm out running like on this particular run where KT had to hit the bank... I mean make a deposit at the bank.
When I'm finishing up my run it usually means I'm going to be running through downtown and by the courthouse as shown below.

All in all it's a good place to run. In most places there are decent sidewalks and the cars (and their drivers) seem to move along at a slow enough pace that I feel safe. You can tailor your run through the "busier" parts of town which is what I like to do or go out on a more remote single lane road. You can cross the two rivers during your run and watch the fisherman hunt for bass along the grassy patches below the dam. For some reason I never seem to get tired of the running here and it's actually where I performed my debut run. This run was from my office to the Long John Silvers (1 mile) way back in November 2002. I had to walk back...