Another Day, Another 10 Miles

For those of you who read my last post, in the comments you may have noticed that someone offered to put together a team for the Army Ten-Miler.  Since he is in the reserves, he gets to register two weeks before the general public.  What does that mean? I can’t “forget” to register in time.  I never realized that there are so many races in Washington, DC, which is a city I love.  I believe everyone has a city, one that fits them and is a reflection of their inner self.  So why is it DC for me?  It is a very different city than most large US metropolises.  Its layout and city planning are very open.  In 1910 a law was passed to limit the height of newly constructed buildings.  What this creates is a city that is open to the sky.  Add to that the Roman architecture, and you get a sense of the culture and history.  There are places like Rock Creek Park, which is like a piece of nature cutting deep into the heart of the city.  Numerous memorials and monuments litter the city, each with their own history and story.  I could go on and on about DC.  However, I will not.  I’ll save that for another post, perhaps.  For now, let’s get back to the Army Ten-Miler (ATM).

So a reader and contributor offered to put together a team.  Now we just need runners.  I have started the process to reach out and recruit for this team.  After reading up on the race, I learned that if you don’t cross the five mile marker by 9:45 AM they end your race.  At first I thought the race started at 9 AM.  That would mean you need to run a 9’00” pace.  Not bad, faster than me, but not bad.  Then it hit me; that only works if you are in the first wave.  There is no way I could make that!  I took a deep breath.  I had agreed to do it, so it meant I would just need to train harder.  Before I let panic mode set in, I decided to look up that race start time.  Turns out that it starts at 8:00 AM.  I can do that.  I’m ready for that run.  Now with that out of the way, on to my Easter run.

I woke up this morning and the Easter Bunny had given each of my kids, my wife and me each a basket full of treats.  Ah, the Easter Bunny, you deliver to me once of my vices, the jelly bean.  Or rather, a large quantity of jelly beans.  It is only fitting that I had planned to run ten miles on Easter.  It is the best way to burn off the calories that would surely be consumed in jelly bean form.  Did I mention that I love jelly beans?

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I normally bring hydration with me for any run ten miles or longer.  I also bring with me a snack, PowerBar Energy Blasts.  Unfortunately, I am out of energy blasts.  Instead, I opened a pack of PowerBar Energy Bites.  Not quite the same thing, not even close.  They are too dry to eat while running, so they are only good for a pre-run bite.  Therefore, I have decided to sign up for a monthly delivery of Energy Blasts through Amazon.com to make sure this oversight doesn’t happen again.

This is also my first planned long run since my sprain.  It has been more than a few months since I needed my hydration bottles, and now they are missing.  I knew this would make for an interesting run.  On top of that, this run would be along the same path I took on the day I sprained my ankle. It sounds like a bad sequel, “Rural Run 2: This time, no hydration or snacks.”  If I had brought jelly beans as my snack, it would have seemed somehow wrong.  So off I went with nothing but the one small 6 ounce bottle of Gatorade I could find and an iPod.

When I left the house, I was already tired from two hours of walking around the zoo with the family this morning.  The first three miles of the run were rough.  Out the door I already had a headache, and my right knee, right shin, and left ankle were all screaming at me.  No matter the pain, I always give my run at least two miles to let the joints lube up and get the juices flowing.  By mile two, it still wasn’t feeling good.  I decided to give it another mile, just one more.  By mile three, no pain… only the road.  The run itself was uneventful until the run back.  On mile seven I encountered another runner – human this time.  She was ahead of me at one point.  Her pace was similar to mine.  I pushed to catch up in order to have a companion on the lonely road.  Sadly, she turned in a different direction than my intended route.  So then I was alone once again.  It had been good to see another runner.  I hadn’t felt so crazy to be out there in the middle of nowhere.

By mile eight I was approaching the place where I had sprained my ankle.  Not this time.  I watched each footfall to make sure they landed securely.  I noticed the size of the potholes in the area.  No wonder I had sprained my ankle!

As I said, the run was uneventful.  The most important part was that I completed it.  This is the longest run I have done since the sprain, with an OK pace of 11’20.”  Not the greatest, but good enough.  The true test will be tomorrow morning.  By then my ankle will tell me how good of a run it truly was.

Question:

What do you take on long runs?

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A Threesome…And a Good Duck

Scandalous!  If you have been following, today was my second 5k and the tail end of the third week of my marathon training.  Let’s take a look at how the day unfolded.

6 AM: 2 Miles

To start the day of a race, I have been advised in the past to do a 2 mile warm up run.  When I woke up I wasn’t hungry, only dehydrated.  I decided to have a drink and head out.  Since the temperature had dropped to thirty I decided to wear my winter running pants.  The run and the pants warmed those legs right up.  As you can imagine, on cold Sunday morning the roads were empty.  I ran to Tron: Legacy again.  Since my pace on Saturday went well with it, I thought maybe there was something to the album.  I was a little worried about the Chipotle burrito.  By the half-way point my body reminded me I was carrying the extra 2 pounds of spicy meat and salsa.  I decided I needed to end the run before I vomited in my mouth.  I know, gross.  I pushed harder and shaved twenty seconds off the last mile.  In the end, my pace was five seconds off Saturday’s pace.  Considering I was a burrito-laden, breakfast-free, dehydrated, tired runner I am proud of only losing five seconds on a warm up run.  Time for the race.

9 AM: 3.1 Miles

When leaving for my race this morning, my wife and daughter both wished me good luck.  My not quite three year old son, who is into rhyming right now, said, “Good Duck.”  He thought he was the funniest person in the world.  My wife and daughter followed suit.  After numerous “Good Ducks” I was out the door for my race.

The Run Like A Fool 5k for the Chester Community Physical Therapy Clinic was a much smaller 5k than the Shamrock 5k in Baltimore.  A one hundred person race is far different than a five thousand person race.  A couple things clued me in.  There was no signage along the route save one turn with six traffic cones.  At the turns volunteers and campus police directed the runners with no dividers.  There were, however, more water stations than at the larger event.  The starting and finishing lines (same place) were not well marked; it was just where some staffers stood with a watch.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.  I think I was just spoiled by the Shamrock run being my first.  The race and staff were fantastic, and I will most likely do that run next year as well.  It is their second time running the event, and obviously do not have the budget for a large scale run.  The volunteers had great energy and enthusiasm.  I must have been ten years north of the median age of the other runners.  Why is that important?  I was pretty much guaranteed to win my age group!  Since it is such a small event, there were no prizes for the age groups, but it makes me feel good to say I won my age group.  I am glad six people from my office joined the run.  We all wore matching company running shirts.  It looked impressive.

The race started on a track.  Looking back at it now, I don’t think I have ever run on a track other than gym class (I think I pretty much walked it then).  Three of my coworkers bolted out at the start.  Without realizing my pace I kept up with them for the lap of the track.  Reviewing my run data, I was running a 6’47’ pace.  Good duck, indeed!  For me, that is a tremendous pace, and to maintain it for a quarter mile is fantastic.  After the track I knew I could not keep up that speed without burning out.  My goal was south of 10 minutes.  Stick to the goal, and don’t over exert.  Slowly, some other runners started to pass me.  Soon it would be my turn to pass them.

After a parking lot and a long driveway, the race entered the open road.  It moved through a neighborhood.  Just past the first mile, I started noticing people coming back in the opposite direction.  Shortly after that, members of my team were passing me heading back.  We high-fived as we passed each other.  At times the solo sport can be a team effort.  By this point, due to the low number of runners overall, everyone had more than enough space.  In fact, at some points I felt I was on a solo run.

Eventually, on my return lap I approached the walkers who were still on the first half of the race…They were walking after all.  Not just walkers, walkers with dogs…little toy dogs, some of which were yorkies.  In the last mile I started passing people.  Several people had gone from running to jogging to walking.  One person, whom I will now call Captain 170, was one such person.  Captain 170 did not like being passed by me.  The first time I passed him he was walking.  He then picked up the pace and passed me, and then started walking when he was around the next bend.  He repeated this process two more times.  The last time I passed him he couldn’t pass me right away, not until the final hill.  He caught up and nudged his way past me.  We entered a narrow sidewalk where I could not pass unless I entered the street on the other side of the guard rail.  You do what you have to do.  Once on the street I started to catch him again.  We entered the final parking lot.  Cones were placed to guide you to run around the entire lot.  He chose to cut across the lot while onlookers and staffers kept pointing and yelling at him.  The shortcut gave him too much of a distance to fully close by the end.  Through the last stretch, he kept looking over his shoulder to see how close I was.  How do I know he was looking for me?  The closest person behind me was at least a tenth of a mile.  It didn’t matter to me so much; I found it funny that this college kid found it so important not to be passed by me.

I finished out the 5k with a new PR of 29’19”.  The last 5k I ran was completed in 31’33”.  Almost a full 2 minute drop!  I can live with that.  The goal for next time is below 29 minutes.

4:30 PM: 5 Miles

According to my training schedule I needed to run 10 miles today.  Of course, Nike meant a single 10 mile run.  So instead, I needed to have another run to make up the difference.  I have never attempted a threesome of runs in a single day.  I entered the run already tired.  I didn’t care about the pace, it didn’t matter.  All I needed to do was finish up the distance.  I decided to listen to a funny podcast and hit the road.  A Sunday afternoon is very different than a Sunday morning.  The streets were filled with people enjoying the day.  There were groups of children on bikes, a man creating a dust storm with a snow blower, ten year-olds playing shuffle board, and three roving bands of three teenage girls each.

One kid on a scooter raced towards me and asked me why I was running.  That is the age old question often asked of runners, myself included.  No, I don’t have an answer for you.  I used to ask myself that question, and there has never been an answer that worked.  So I have stopped asking it of myself.  Why do I need it answered?

That completes the third week of marathon training.  “Good Duck” with your running this week!

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Question:

What is the most number of runs you have done in a single day?

One Week Down….again…

I have completed my first week of marathon training. How many times have I said that? Three to be precise.  Or rather, this is my third attempt. Third time’s the charm right? It seems injury always finds me during a marathon training schedule. The first injury was a busted rib, and the second an ankle.  Well, the past is behind me and nothing but the road is ahead.

Maybe I should trick myself. I am not training for a marathon. I am training for two half marathons back to back with no break. It would be very sad if I could trick myself that way.

During this week I had scheduled three treadmill sessions (interval training) and an outdoor run of eight miles. Not only did I accomplish that, I added an extra treadmill session. I just had to see one more episode of Game of Thrones. We all need our little inspirations.

My pace on the outdoor run was less than spectacular. No excuses, I will take the fact that I got out there as a mild success and do better next time. That just sounds pathetic.  I got out there, I got it done.  On a Sunday night there isn’t much to see on the road.

I had two encounters on my run.  The first was a squad car. She paced me down a dark road, and turned away when I returned to the lite section of the neighborhood. I don’t know if she was bored, or wanted to provide me some extra light for my evening run. It was that, or she thought I was cute, or maybe worried that I might get mugged.  The other interesting sight was a young couple I passed on three occasions.  By the third time they finally acknowledged me.  It doesn’t matter.  They were too busy walking down the street, each keeping a hand warm in the others back pocket.  Strange events are the norm for my runs; every now and then I need an uneventful one.

I have decided to sponsor, or rather trick, my office into a 5k race on April 1^st. I convinced three other people to join me.  We are attending the Chester Community Physical Therapy Clinic “Run like a Fool” 5k.  It is a small race, but I have the bug and I need to get out there again.

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Finally, I have two questions for you:

What is the craziest thing you have seen while running?

What do you do to entertain yourself on the treadmill?

Back on the Road!

I’m back!  Where have I been?  As many of you know, I sprained my ankle at the end of last year.  It did a number on me, both physically and mentally.  The road kept calling out to me, however, I was too worried about damaging my ankle further.  That and [insert any number of useless excuses here] I became couch bound.

I have spent the past couple weeks working on the treadmill.  I could have logged each of the sessions, but what would I write about?  The shows I am watching while acting like a gerbil (BSG, Game of Thrones)?  Should I write about the exposed rafters in my basement, or maybe that strange cobweb in the corner?

Obviously I had nothing interesting to write about.  Well now, not so much.  Last Thursday I was working on the treadmill.  Halfway through my run, and episode of BSG, my arm hit the kill cord, shutting the machine down.   Standing there, my heart pounding and frustrated, all I could think was, “1.75 miles isn’t enough.  I am not going out like that.”  I grabbed my IPod and headed out the door to finish out another 2 miles.

Something strange happened on the run.  I couldn’t stop.  I just kept running.  Each driveway I passed, and every turn made I got further and further from home.  As I moved along I kept saying, one more corner, or one more hill.  I looked down and my watch said…4.5 miles!   It was almost ten o’clock, it was time to head home and I still needed to run back.  By the end I logged 9.11 miles, from a run I took outside on a whim.  The ankle wasn’t an issue anymore, and neither was my mental block.  Time to do it again.

Thursday night I was on top of the world, and on Friday morning I suffered for it.

Sunday was my first 5k race.  I attended the Kelly St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5k in Baltimore, Maryland (Bib #3795).  I went with a good friend of mine, Michael, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend.  It was a fantastic event and a fantastic experience.  The energy of five thousand people in a sea of green, all ready to push themselves and accomplish something that many people think is unimaginable.

The skill level of the runners varied so much.  Watching that many people crammed in such a small area pushing their way forward was very interesting.  The first couple seconds can only be compared to cattle moving along for the slaughter.  The most you could do was jog in place.  After the first minute of dodging people, weaving through the crowd, and avoiding the runners flailing their arms, I found my place.  The first mile had slight downhill slope; a great way to start the run.

About half a mile in, Michael tried to cut around the crowd down the sidewalk.  Much to his surprise, a women in a wheelchair cut out from the spectators out in front of him, and he cleared her.  Yes, he jumped OVER the old lady.  Ok, maybe it wasn’t a full vault, only a partial.  From my angle it was hard to tell.  Either way, laughing while running hurts.  She seemed fine and only a little shocked from the experience.

Now, to say that was the only strange sight would be a lie.  I watched as a man tried to squeeze between another runner and a pole.  The pole won.  One kid kept bolting past me, stopping, and bolting again.  There were a number of green hats, funny glasses, and strange head gear.  It was not the most serious of races, the perfect kind to start you racing experience with.

The most interesting sight was the end.  After passing over the finish line, you could pick up granola bars, water, bananas, and beer.  Yes, beer.  Nothing like running a few miles and ending it with a beer.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and keep on running!

All Registered

I have registered for my first race.  I am a little nervous, not about the distance just about the fact I have never done a race before.  I choose a charity race, Race for the Hungry Holiday 5K.  I figure it will have many amateurs and fewer pros.  Who knows?  If you are in the Burlington, New Jersey area come on out for a worthy cause.

Registration Information: Food Bank 5K Brochure (PDF)