I caught a nasty bug a couple of weeks ago and I'm still dealing with the aftermath. It started on the Monday after that last trail race, with a wicked scratchy throat that soon turned into a bout of bronchitis. I took a whole week off from running, then got back into it a little last week and figured I would be back to normal this week. Enough time off combined with the dearth of long runs to derail any chance of running a decent marathon in New Hampshire, but not a showstopper.
But then over the weekend at the dog show I started coughing more, and I guess I coughed so much on Saturday that by Sunday I felt like I had cracked a rib. Pain got worse as the day went on, and I almost went to the emergency room Sunday night. So Monday morning I called the doc and got in to see him that afternoon.
He said no cracked rib but I had irritated the cartilage that connects my ribs to my chest wall or something like that. And maybe a touch of something bacterial now too. So he gave me scrips for a Z-pak and some codeine-laced cough syrup and sent me on my way. Wasn't until today that I felt ready to try running again.
Did three miles on the treadmill. Not too much pain, and actually felt better after the run. So I guess I'm on the mend for real now. The marathon plans are in shambles though. I am going to have to do a lot of walking.
Next up, the nighttime trail race this Saturday, and then the half-marathon next weekend.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Powder Keg 5k race report
I have a wicked cold--first one since last October--so I am not in an especially jolly mood today, but I am going to take some time to write about Saturday's race.
This was another one of those trail series things, a new one they just added. It was actually more like 3.5 miles but they advertised it as a 5k. It was up in Deerfield Township, exit 25 off I-71, a place I never go voluntarily.
The race was on trails surrounding the old Kings Mansion property. If you check the link, you'll see it points to a plan that was commissioned to figure out what to do with this historic structure. Unfortunately, if you go there, as I did for this race, you'll see that the township was unable to execute the plan. At least, from the looks of things. Interesting old Italianate home, in great disrepair.
We had some nice cool weather leading up to race morning, and it was still pleasant for the race. As we have had no rain in recent memory, the trails were very dry. This was good since I was wearing shoes with very little traction. I've worn them to walk the dogs a few too many times. But they are very comfortable and have served me well in my last two trail races, so that is what I went with.
There was a bit of confusion and congestion at the packet pickup, but since this was just a 200-person race it was okay. I got there around 8:30, picked up my packet (which included a cotton t-shirt and yet another sport tote bag, nice swag but not like I need more of these things). Went for a little trot around the grassy mounds surrounding the mansion, and a little on a paved path. Was a little worried about my knee, and also traces of a cold that apparently was coming on since I am in the thick of it now. And had a weird twinge also in the left leg up where the hip attaches to the groin area. But after a warmup I felt okay.
Had to chuckle at the start as the race director told the people pushing strollers that this was a trail race, and he did not mean the Loveland Bike Trail, so if they thought they were going to run it pushing strollers they'd better think again. He even offered to refund their money.
I lined up behind a couple of older women. One was a little chunky (like me) but looked like she knew what she was doing. The other one had gray hair, so looked a little older, but more fit. Turned out to be a good position because they were both in my age group. What I wanted to do was stay as close as I could to the fit one.
We were off and running down the grassy hill, and then into the woods. It was quite congested at the entrance to the trails but because of my good position at the start I did not lose too much here. The trails were quite narrow throughout the race, and in many spots it was impossible to pass.
The first segment was what they called a lollipop loop, and the problem with that was when the fastest runners were coming back---finishing the bottom of the business end of the lollipop, as it were---they risked colliding directly with the slower runners who were just entering the circle. In fact, this almost happened to me---I almost took out a couple of the race leaders. So they need better course marshalling at that point because it is a bit of a blind corner and dangerous.
This segment of the trails wasn't bad to run on, but there was one enormous overturned tree that we did have to climb over. This thing was chest high, so I literally had to stop and crawl over it. At this point, Fit Old Lady in Orange was out of sight, but I was ahead of Chunky Lady in Black. On the way back over the tree the second time, I realized that Chunky Lady was right behind me.
Chunky Lady decided to engage me in a bit of conversation, including asking me my age. Okay, lady, if you think you really have a chance of beating me, then you probably shouldn't reveal that we are in the same age group when we are running the same pace midway through the race. Game on.
I stayed ahead of her for a bit but when we came to the water stop I let her get just ahead of me. The great thing about this was I could watch her on the trail and it helped me know where to safely step. It enabled me to conserve my own energy. It was especially helpful when we ran through an area of very rough broken pavement---must have been a little road in there at one time.
There were other interesting parts along the way. At one point we were on a very narrow ledge looking over the river--the Miami? The Little Miami? And if you weren't careful you could fall off and roll down a steep cliff into the river. And there was a very steep wooden stairway that we had to climb up, which at the top, had you literally climbing with your hands instead of running with your feet.
It was just after the top of this stairway that I was able to reestablish contact with Chunky Lady, who had become somewhat fatigued. Also at this point I was surprised to see Fit Old Lady. I ran the next stretch basically even with them, but sensing that when we got to the end I could absolutely outkick them.
We came out into a clearing and a course marshall told us we had a half mile to go, which seemed like a bit much. We did some turning and weird looping around through the grass, and before too long (not a half mile I don't think) we were approaching the finish line, at which point I could easily kick it in and leave Chunky Lady and Fit Lady in my dust. Uphill on grass, too, and I didn't even throw up.
My official time was 37:56, which is quite a bit faster than in my previous trail races. However, I know that I did run this one more aggressively, and despite the treacherous segments and a few climbs, it was overall less hilly than Hyde Park. I hope that explains it. I hope that I am just getting better at this type of racing. Because the race director, in his online results, said that some people were misdirected off course by one of the marshalls and this may have affected the results. I don't know if it made people faster or slower. I do know that I was with Chunky Lady for a large portion of the race, so if I was off course than so was she.
Anyway, I would have liked to stay for the awards, but I had to get home to the dogs. I did hang around for about a half-hour, munching on a bagel and a banana. They also had hot dogs but I was not in the mood. But I had to finally leave, since it didn't seem like they were getting ready to do the awards anytime soon. Too bad because it turns out that I did win my age group and I would have liked to have gotten that prize. My two competitors for it were in fact Chunky Lady and Fit Old Lady and I beat them by 6-8 seconds.
I have one more race to do in order to be in the running for the Dirty Dozen awards. These go to the top 12 men and women who do 5 of the races. I am scheduled for three more. Before the Powder Keg race, there were only four women who had done enough to be eligible, but that may have changed with this race. I checked the results and it looks like Fit Old Lady has now done five. And she was a lot faster than me in her other races. But now I know that I can take her, so Fit Old Lady, you are my new target at the next race!
This was another one of those trail series things, a new one they just added. It was actually more like 3.5 miles but they advertised it as a 5k. It was up in Deerfield Township, exit 25 off I-71, a place I never go voluntarily.
The race was on trails surrounding the old Kings Mansion property. If you check the link, you'll see it points to a plan that was commissioned to figure out what to do with this historic structure. Unfortunately, if you go there, as I did for this race, you'll see that the township was unable to execute the plan. At least, from the looks of things. Interesting old Italianate home, in great disrepair.
We had some nice cool weather leading up to race morning, and it was still pleasant for the race. As we have had no rain in recent memory, the trails were very dry. This was good since I was wearing shoes with very little traction. I've worn them to walk the dogs a few too many times. But they are very comfortable and have served me well in my last two trail races, so that is what I went with.
There was a bit of confusion and congestion at the packet pickup, but since this was just a 200-person race it was okay. I got there around 8:30, picked up my packet (which included a cotton t-shirt and yet another sport tote bag, nice swag but not like I need more of these things). Went for a little trot around the grassy mounds surrounding the mansion, and a little on a paved path. Was a little worried about my knee, and also traces of a cold that apparently was coming on since I am in the thick of it now. And had a weird twinge also in the left leg up where the hip attaches to the groin area. But after a warmup I felt okay.
Had to chuckle at the start as the race director told the people pushing strollers that this was a trail race, and he did not mean the Loveland Bike Trail, so if they thought they were going to run it pushing strollers they'd better think again. He even offered to refund their money.
I lined up behind a couple of older women. One was a little chunky (like me) but looked like she knew what she was doing. The other one had gray hair, so looked a little older, but more fit. Turned out to be a good position because they were both in my age group. What I wanted to do was stay as close as I could to the fit one.
We were off and running down the grassy hill, and then into the woods. It was quite congested at the entrance to the trails but because of my good position at the start I did not lose too much here. The trails were quite narrow throughout the race, and in many spots it was impossible to pass.
The first segment was what they called a lollipop loop, and the problem with that was when the fastest runners were coming back---finishing the bottom of the business end of the lollipop, as it were---they risked colliding directly with the slower runners who were just entering the circle. In fact, this almost happened to me---I almost took out a couple of the race leaders. So they need better course marshalling at that point because it is a bit of a blind corner and dangerous.
This segment of the trails wasn't bad to run on, but there was one enormous overturned tree that we did have to climb over. This thing was chest high, so I literally had to stop and crawl over it. At this point, Fit Old Lady in Orange was out of sight, but I was ahead of Chunky Lady in Black. On the way back over the tree the second time, I realized that Chunky Lady was right behind me.
Chunky Lady decided to engage me in a bit of conversation, including asking me my age. Okay, lady, if you think you really have a chance of beating me, then you probably shouldn't reveal that we are in the same age group when we are running the same pace midway through the race. Game on.
I stayed ahead of her for a bit but when we came to the water stop I let her get just ahead of me. The great thing about this was I could watch her on the trail and it helped me know where to safely step. It enabled me to conserve my own energy. It was especially helpful when we ran through an area of very rough broken pavement---must have been a little road in there at one time.
There were other interesting parts along the way. At one point we were on a very narrow ledge looking over the river--the Miami? The Little Miami? And if you weren't careful you could fall off and roll down a steep cliff into the river. And there was a very steep wooden stairway that we had to climb up, which at the top, had you literally climbing with your hands instead of running with your feet.
It was just after the top of this stairway that I was able to reestablish contact with Chunky Lady, who had become somewhat fatigued. Also at this point I was surprised to see Fit Old Lady. I ran the next stretch basically even with them, but sensing that when we got to the end I could absolutely outkick them.
We came out into a clearing and a course marshall told us we had a half mile to go, which seemed like a bit much. We did some turning and weird looping around through the grass, and before too long (not a half mile I don't think) we were approaching the finish line, at which point I could easily kick it in and leave Chunky Lady and Fit Lady in my dust. Uphill on grass, too, and I didn't even throw up.
My official time was 37:56, which is quite a bit faster than in my previous trail races. However, I know that I did run this one more aggressively, and despite the treacherous segments and a few climbs, it was overall less hilly than Hyde Park. I hope that explains it. I hope that I am just getting better at this type of racing. Because the race director, in his online results, said that some people were misdirected off course by one of the marshalls and this may have affected the results. I don't know if it made people faster or slower. I do know that I was with Chunky Lady for a large portion of the race, so if I was off course than so was she.
Anyway, I would have liked to stay for the awards, but I had to get home to the dogs. I did hang around for about a half-hour, munching on a bagel and a banana. They also had hot dogs but I was not in the mood. But I had to finally leave, since it didn't seem like they were getting ready to do the awards anytime soon. Too bad because it turns out that I did win my age group and I would have liked to have gotten that prize. My two competitors for it were in fact Chunky Lady and Fit Old Lady and I beat them by 6-8 seconds.
I have one more race to do in order to be in the running for the Dirty Dozen awards. These go to the top 12 men and women who do 5 of the races. I am scheduled for three more. Before the Powder Keg race, there were only four women who had done enough to be eligible, but that may have changed with this race. I checked the results and it looks like Fit Old Lady has now done five. And she was a lot faster than me in her other races. But now I know that I can take her, so Fit Old Lady, you are my new target at the next race!
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