Going to try to post more just about the everyday things. This afternoon I did a 10-miler. I missed the long runs the last two weekends so I really needed to get out there and do at least ten. Once again, my plans to run a BQ marathon are in danger of being derailed by my inability to get the long runs done. Was supposed to be 10 two weeks ago, then 11 last weekend and 12 this time. But at least I did ten.
Temp was 38 degrees when I headed out around 12:15. The weather folks have predicted a high of 42 or so today, with sunshine and a little bit of wind. I wore a pair of black tights, not too heavy, and the technical shirt from this year's S2S race. Delaware Marathon cap on my head. Light blue running gloves, not too heavy. Fanny pack with 20 oz water bottle and package of Chomps. Was going to add a jacket but it was not that cold.
It was okay as long as the wind wasn't blowing and I was in the sun.
I ran the route that I call "Three Loops." This is kind of a lop-sided cloverleaf, with each loop a little shorter than the previous run. You are never more than 2.5 miles from home, if you decide to bail out or cut it short. It has plenty of hills but none of them are exceptionally steep. You get to stop at Graeters to refill your water bottle after 6 miles or so. The bad part about this route is that you mostly have to run on the sidewalk. The other bad part, as some would see it, is that you are retracing your steps a bunch. I am running on opposite sides of the street, though, so to me that is variety enough.
Lots of folks out walking this afternoon. Maybe they are visiting family for the holidays and just needed to get out of the house. Not too much traffic. A few other runners, though not as much as some weekends.
Big thing I learned today was that Chomps get kind of hard in 40 degree-weather. Guess I have never used them on a cool day. After the first time, I tried putting the packet inside my glove for a mile or so before I ate them to see if I could soften them up with my body heat. It helped a little but not that much. I guess I am going to have to stick with GU for the colder weather runs.
It was great, though, to be able to get outside and not have to be stuck on the treadmill like last winter.
Gotta figure out how I am going to get the long run done next week. Might have to do it Thursday.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tramps Like Us, 2011
A few recollections about the Born to Run 5-Mile race that I do with members of my family every year on the day after Thanksgiving:
This year my sister actually even signed up in advance so she could be sure to get the special Born to Run shirt, which for every other time we have done this race was a sweatshirt.
So we were all pretty bummed when we got there and it turned out that this time it was a technical, short sleeved tee. I guess that is the in-thing now but I am actually getting pretty tired of them and would have much preferred the sweatshirt, or even a cotton long-sleeved t-shirt.
Another change this year was that instead of gathering at the Freehold fire station for packet pickup and the little mini-expo with all the great deals, they had the pickup outside in front of the Court Jester restaurant. And there was no mini-expo. Just a table set up selling Freehold Area Running Club items. Cathy was extra bummed about this because she was hoping to find some gloves for Ted.
We did have very nice weather this year, though. Not too cold, not too hot.
Before we started our trip to NJ, I spent a few minutes reviewing my old running logs for insights into what went right and what went wrong for me in previous attempts at this race. The big thing is that I had frequently made the mistake of overdressing for it. The race starts at 11 am, so even in a relatively cold year, it usually isn’t too bad.
Except, that first year. That was a cold one, as I recall. Somewhere I have a picture of us all bundled up in our warmest winter running attire, standing in front of the old hotel where they used to have the packet pickup. We were there with Jim Ahrens, a friend from my online running club, who lived in the area. Jim passed away the following year, victim of a sudden, massive heart attack. Running does not protect you from that, much. When your number is up, it’s up.
Anyway, I have learned to dress in lighter clothes if I plan to run “fast.” And not eat too much that morning, which has been another one of my mistakes.
Unlike in the past few races, I had a big, stretch goal for this year. I wanted to run under 40 minutes and place in the top three in my age group. I’ve broken 40 there before (in the 38s actually) but that was ten years ago. I’ve never placed in my age group. I figured that it would likely take a sub-40 to do it. Realistically, I thought I was in more like 42 minute shape. That’s why the sub-40 was a stretch goal. 42 was the realistic goal.
So we got down there about an hour before the race start, and after a bit of confusion figured out where the packet pickup had moved from the firehouse, and we even found a parking space on the street. We pinned our numbers on and attached the D-chips to our shoes. Tommy and our nephew, Michael, were planning to run. Cathy and our niece, Tori, were going to walk part of the course but not do the whole thing.
I hit the portapotty and went for a warm-up jog, and soon it was time to gather near the start line.
This year I tried to line up a little closer to the start than in the recent past. It is a USATF-certified race, and awards are given by gun time, not chip time. Should have gotten a bit closer, because it took me 16 seconds to cross the line.
It is a pleasant, mostly residential course. You run a mile and a half or so down to a park, then you run a loop on the wood chip trails in the park, and then you basically retrace your steps back to the start (which means the last bit is mostly uphill). Past experience told me that my second mile should be the fastest.
Okay, mile one was a 7:53. I only needed to average sub 8s to achieve my goal, but I was hoping to be a little quicker from the start. Oh well. Mile two was a 7:50. Consistent, but again I really hoped to be a bit faster, especially since this was likely to be my quickest mile.
Now we were into the park. I became aware of a woman in a teal-colored jacket, who looked to be around my age. I pulled ahead of her, then she pulled ahead of me, and I decided to just hang right behind her and draft off her. If that’s how you want to play it, if you won’t stay passed, then I am going to draft off you for awhile.
Did not hit my watch for the mile 3 time, but miles 3 and 4 were 17:09. Well, there goes the sub-40.
There are two significant uphills in the second half of the race. I let teal woman pull farther ahead. I always slow down a bit on the uphills. I was not having a bad race. Yeah, I wanted to be a little faster but this was okay. I saw Cathy and Tori when I turned the corner in the last mile and it was fun to have people cheer for me.
Coming up the slight incline toward the finish, I realized I was not too far behind teal woman, and decided to kick past her. My last mile was a 7:53, for a chip time of 40:45.
After she crossed the finish line, teal woman surprised me by asking me what age group I was in. She was bummed to hear that we were the same age. I was pleased to find out that somebody else cared about how she raced besides me. It is always nice to learn that you are not the only one who cares. And I was happy that I kicked past someone who was in my age group instead of just letting her go.
In the end it didn’t matter much, because I was 5 of 50 in the age group (52 of 326 women, and 193 of 691 overall). Yes, would have needed that sub-40. I did find out, however, that all the other women in the top ten or so in my age group had gone off from right behind the start line. This meant that I actually passed a few of them along the way even though they had a 16-second head start. It also means that next year I have to start closer to the front if I really want to have a chance at placing. And I do have to get a little faster, because the top three women were still more than 16 seconds faster than I was.
This year my sister actually even signed up in advance so she could be sure to get the special Born to Run shirt, which for every other time we have done this race was a sweatshirt.
So we were all pretty bummed when we got there and it turned out that this time it was a technical, short sleeved tee. I guess that is the in-thing now but I am actually getting pretty tired of them and would have much preferred the sweatshirt, or even a cotton long-sleeved t-shirt.
Another change this year was that instead of gathering at the Freehold fire station for packet pickup and the little mini-expo with all the great deals, they had the pickup outside in front of the Court Jester restaurant. And there was no mini-expo. Just a table set up selling Freehold Area Running Club items. Cathy was extra bummed about this because she was hoping to find some gloves for Ted.
We did have very nice weather this year, though. Not too cold, not too hot.
Before we started our trip to NJ, I spent a few minutes reviewing my old running logs for insights into what went right and what went wrong for me in previous attempts at this race. The big thing is that I had frequently made the mistake of overdressing for it. The race starts at 11 am, so even in a relatively cold year, it usually isn’t too bad.
Except, that first year. That was a cold one, as I recall. Somewhere I have a picture of us all bundled up in our warmest winter running attire, standing in front of the old hotel where they used to have the packet pickup. We were there with Jim Ahrens, a friend from my online running club, who lived in the area. Jim passed away the following year, victim of a sudden, massive heart attack. Running does not protect you from that, much. When your number is up, it’s up.
Anyway, I have learned to dress in lighter clothes if I plan to run “fast.” And not eat too much that morning, which has been another one of my mistakes.
Unlike in the past few races, I had a big, stretch goal for this year. I wanted to run under 40 minutes and place in the top three in my age group. I’ve broken 40 there before (in the 38s actually) but that was ten years ago. I’ve never placed in my age group. I figured that it would likely take a sub-40 to do it. Realistically, I thought I was in more like 42 minute shape. That’s why the sub-40 was a stretch goal. 42 was the realistic goal.
So we got down there about an hour before the race start, and after a bit of confusion figured out where the packet pickup had moved from the firehouse, and we even found a parking space on the street. We pinned our numbers on and attached the D-chips to our shoes. Tommy and our nephew, Michael, were planning to run. Cathy and our niece, Tori, were going to walk part of the course but not do the whole thing.
I hit the portapotty and went for a warm-up jog, and soon it was time to gather near the start line.
This year I tried to line up a little closer to the start than in the recent past. It is a USATF-certified race, and awards are given by gun time, not chip time. Should have gotten a bit closer, because it took me 16 seconds to cross the line.
It is a pleasant, mostly residential course. You run a mile and a half or so down to a park, then you run a loop on the wood chip trails in the park, and then you basically retrace your steps back to the start (which means the last bit is mostly uphill). Past experience told me that my second mile should be the fastest.
Okay, mile one was a 7:53. I only needed to average sub 8s to achieve my goal, but I was hoping to be a little quicker from the start. Oh well. Mile two was a 7:50. Consistent, but again I really hoped to be a bit faster, especially since this was likely to be my quickest mile.
Now we were into the park. I became aware of a woman in a teal-colored jacket, who looked to be around my age. I pulled ahead of her, then she pulled ahead of me, and I decided to just hang right behind her and draft off her. If that’s how you want to play it, if you won’t stay passed, then I am going to draft off you for awhile.
Did not hit my watch for the mile 3 time, but miles 3 and 4 were 17:09. Well, there goes the sub-40.
There are two significant uphills in the second half of the race. I let teal woman pull farther ahead. I always slow down a bit on the uphills. I was not having a bad race. Yeah, I wanted to be a little faster but this was okay. I saw Cathy and Tori when I turned the corner in the last mile and it was fun to have people cheer for me.
Coming up the slight incline toward the finish, I realized I was not too far behind teal woman, and decided to kick past her. My last mile was a 7:53, for a chip time of 40:45.
After she crossed the finish line, teal woman surprised me by asking me what age group I was in. She was bummed to hear that we were the same age. I was pleased to find out that somebody else cared about how she raced besides me. It is always nice to learn that you are not the only one who cares. And I was happy that I kicked past someone who was in my age group instead of just letting her go.
In the end it didn’t matter much, because I was 5 of 50 in the age group (52 of 326 women, and 193 of 691 overall). Yes, would have needed that sub-40. I did find out, however, that all the other women in the top ten or so in my age group had gone off from right behind the start line. This meant that I actually passed a few of them along the way even though they had a 16-second head start. It also means that next year I have to start closer to the front if I really want to have a chance at placing. And I do have to get a little faster, because the top three women were still more than 16 seconds faster than I was.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Mt. Airy Forest 27k
This is my very late report (getting to be a pattern) about the trail race I ran back in October. I really suck at trail running but I do enjoy it. I am trying to get better, and I am a little better than I was a year ago, but I still suck compared to just about everybody else who shows up for these races.
The 27k race was in its second year, sharing the course with the Stone Steps 50k event. This was the final event in the Dirt Days Trail Series.
The race is in Mt. Airy Forest. You start with a “long” loop that is about 5.6 miles, come through the “oval” (shelter area) and make another “short” loop that is somewhat over 3 miles. Then you go back through the oval and repeat. Overall it’s not that hilly (except for those stone steps and that Gummi Bear Hill, haha) and it’s not that technical (except for the technical parts…).
Mt. Airy is a nice park in which to hold a trail race. There is plenty of parking around the oval and on the access road into the park. The shelter in the oval has electricity, so they can plug in crockpots with hot soup and chili, and serve coffee and hot chocolate. The oval is also a good place for spectators to hang out, because they can see the runners as they come through at the end of each loop.
I seem to be good for about 5-6 miles of trail racing and then the wheels come off. Last year I really fell apart in the second half and finished in second to last place. I was having a lot of trouble with my feet, and I even changed one of my shoes for the second half (so I was running in two different shoes).
This year I was in a little better shape, so I was hoping to improve somewhat. Just like last year, I did run a marathon the weekend before. But, all things considered, I was still starting out stronger than in 2010.
The weather was pleasant. It was cooler than last year but sunny and dry. It had rained a little the day before but not enough to affect the trails. Co-race director Andy Jones had been out the day before blowing the leaves off to the side, and that helped tremendously on the more technical sections.
I was wearing a new pair of shoes (Nike Pegasus trail shoes, bought on sale). Okay, I had worn them for one test run around Ault Park but that was it. I had to get new shoes because somebody (AKA Zen) had eaten one of the insoles from my favorite pair (Saucony Xodus), and I have not been able to find a suitable replacement that is comfortable to run in. Anyway, those shoes were a little snug, and it seemed like they weren’t so great for this distance anyway. The new shoes are roomier, and I hoped that would work (I’ve been feeling great lately in the Pegasus road shoes), but it was a bit of a risk.
Just in case, I brought along a spare pair of shoes (cheap, worn out Salomon something or others).
Looking at the results from last year I decided that I ran the first loop a little too fast. I was trying to stay ahead of a woman who is in my age group and who was also contending for a spot in “The Dirtiest Dozen.” But she wasn’t there this year, and neither was my current “nemesis,” Cindy K. This made it easier for me to relax and not worry so much about being in almost last place from the very start.
The goal this year was to improve my time by having a better second half. I hoped that would result in a better placement, but that part was not up to me. I was only going to worry about myself.
Carried a water bottle and some GUs in a fanny pack. I was going to have a GU every 45 minutes or so.
Came through the first loop in 1:07:40. This was about three minutes slower than last year, but I felt a lot stronger. The steps were not as bad as I remembered, but I forgot about Gummi Bear Hill. But, in contrast to last year, I wasn’t having any issues with my body parts or my gear. I was in almost last place but I didn’t care. Had a little water at the aid station, and then headed back out for the shorter loop.
Another area of improvement was that I managed to avoid getting lost this year, which previously was a problem for me on the second loop. I think I even passed a couple of people during this section, although it was hard to know for sure because we were running into the 50k participants who had started earlier in the morning.
My time for the second loop was 40:34. This was seven minutes faster than last year, and I felt much better than I remembered. Did not have to change shoes! Had some water and a GU and was back out for my repeat of the long loop. Slowed down some but not nearly as much as last year. My time was 1:13:42, which was almost 22 minutes faster than last year. I was pretty happy with that!
Had one more small loop to go. This time, fairly early on, a woman caught up to me and I decided to let her pass me. She had been at the aid station when I got there and I guess she was lingering. As soon as she passed me, I thought better of it, so I asked her if she was doing the trail series and found out that she was not. Then I realized that I still should not have let her pass me, because my point total in the series is based on my placement, after all. Anyway, we were about the same speed, so we continued on, having a nice conversation along the way, and occasionally changing positions.
She was from the Columbus area, and we discussed trail racing in Ohio, with both of us envying somewhat the seemingly more established circuit of trail runs in the Dayton area. It was nice to have somebody to chat with.
On the last uphill section, she was a little stronger and I decided to let her go. I was just happy that my time was going to be so much better than last year. I ran the final loop in 44:08, which was more than 20 minutes faster than last year. My final time was 3:46:01, which was 41:23 faster than last year. The woman I ran that last loop with was 20 seconds ahead of me.
So much faster, and yet, not much better placewise. So it goes. I was 14 of 16 women. Last year was 14 of 15. I could have killed myself trying to stay ahead of that one woman at the end and still only been 13 of 16. But, 49 of 57 finishers, vs. last year 45 of 46. And yes, a couple of these people were actually slower than I was last year. So that is gratifying (as in, I am a little better after all! I am not the worst!)
One of the good things about finishing so much earlier was that there was still some hot soup left! So I had some orange slices, which for some reason just tasted like the most amazing thing in the world to me at that point, and then I had some soup from one of the crockpots.
The Dirtiest Dozen results are in and I ended up in 7th place. One spot behind Cyndi K. Looking forward to next spring and another series of fun trail races.
The 27k race was in its second year, sharing the course with the Stone Steps 50k event. This was the final event in the Dirt Days Trail Series.
The race is in Mt. Airy Forest. You start with a “long” loop that is about 5.6 miles, come through the “oval” (shelter area) and make another “short” loop that is somewhat over 3 miles. Then you go back through the oval and repeat. Overall it’s not that hilly (except for those stone steps and that Gummi Bear Hill, haha) and it’s not that technical (except for the technical parts…).
Mt. Airy is a nice park in which to hold a trail race. There is plenty of parking around the oval and on the access road into the park. The shelter in the oval has electricity, so they can plug in crockpots with hot soup and chili, and serve coffee and hot chocolate. The oval is also a good place for spectators to hang out, because they can see the runners as they come through at the end of each loop.
I seem to be good for about 5-6 miles of trail racing and then the wheels come off. Last year I really fell apart in the second half and finished in second to last place. I was having a lot of trouble with my feet, and I even changed one of my shoes for the second half (so I was running in two different shoes).
This year I was in a little better shape, so I was hoping to improve somewhat. Just like last year, I did run a marathon the weekend before. But, all things considered, I was still starting out stronger than in 2010.
The weather was pleasant. It was cooler than last year but sunny and dry. It had rained a little the day before but not enough to affect the trails. Co-race director Andy Jones had been out the day before blowing the leaves off to the side, and that helped tremendously on the more technical sections.
I was wearing a new pair of shoes (Nike Pegasus trail shoes, bought on sale). Okay, I had worn them for one test run around Ault Park but that was it. I had to get new shoes because somebody (AKA Zen) had eaten one of the insoles from my favorite pair (Saucony Xodus), and I have not been able to find a suitable replacement that is comfortable to run in. Anyway, those shoes were a little snug, and it seemed like they weren’t so great for this distance anyway. The new shoes are roomier, and I hoped that would work (I’ve been feeling great lately in the Pegasus road shoes), but it was a bit of a risk.
Just in case, I brought along a spare pair of shoes (cheap, worn out Salomon something or others).
Looking at the results from last year I decided that I ran the first loop a little too fast. I was trying to stay ahead of a woman who is in my age group and who was also contending for a spot in “The Dirtiest Dozen.” But she wasn’t there this year, and neither was my current “nemesis,” Cindy K. This made it easier for me to relax and not worry so much about being in almost last place from the very start.
The goal this year was to improve my time by having a better second half. I hoped that would result in a better placement, but that part was not up to me. I was only going to worry about myself.
Carried a water bottle and some GUs in a fanny pack. I was going to have a GU every 45 minutes or so.
Came through the first loop in 1:07:40. This was about three minutes slower than last year, but I felt a lot stronger. The steps were not as bad as I remembered, but I forgot about Gummi Bear Hill. But, in contrast to last year, I wasn’t having any issues with my body parts or my gear. I was in almost last place but I didn’t care. Had a little water at the aid station, and then headed back out for the shorter loop.
Another area of improvement was that I managed to avoid getting lost this year, which previously was a problem for me on the second loop. I think I even passed a couple of people during this section, although it was hard to know for sure because we were running into the 50k participants who had started earlier in the morning.
My time for the second loop was 40:34. This was seven minutes faster than last year, and I felt much better than I remembered. Did not have to change shoes! Had some water and a GU and was back out for my repeat of the long loop. Slowed down some but not nearly as much as last year. My time was 1:13:42, which was almost 22 minutes faster than last year. I was pretty happy with that!
Had one more small loop to go. This time, fairly early on, a woman caught up to me and I decided to let her pass me. She had been at the aid station when I got there and I guess she was lingering. As soon as she passed me, I thought better of it, so I asked her if she was doing the trail series and found out that she was not. Then I realized that I still should not have let her pass me, because my point total in the series is based on my placement, after all. Anyway, we were about the same speed, so we continued on, having a nice conversation along the way, and occasionally changing positions.
She was from the Columbus area, and we discussed trail racing in Ohio, with both of us envying somewhat the seemingly more established circuit of trail runs in the Dayton area. It was nice to have somebody to chat with.
On the last uphill section, she was a little stronger and I decided to let her go. I was just happy that my time was going to be so much better than last year. I ran the final loop in 44:08, which was more than 20 minutes faster than last year. My final time was 3:46:01, which was 41:23 faster than last year. The woman I ran that last loop with was 20 seconds ahead of me.
So much faster, and yet, not much better placewise. So it goes. I was 14 of 16 women. Last year was 14 of 15. I could have killed myself trying to stay ahead of that one woman at the end and still only been 13 of 16. But, 49 of 57 finishers, vs. last year 45 of 46. And yes, a couple of these people were actually slower than I was last year. So that is gratifying (as in, I am a little better after all! I am not the worst!)
One of the good things about finishing so much earlier was that there was still some hot soup left! So I had some orange slices, which for some reason just tasted like the most amazing thing in the world to me at that point, and then I had some soup from one of the crockpots.
The Dirtiest Dozen results are in and I ended up in 7th place. One spot behind Cyndi K. Looking forward to next spring and another series of fun trail races.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Hartford Marathon report---finally!
I ran the Hartford Marathon on Saturday, October 15. Hartford took care of Connecticut on my quest to run a marathon in all 50 states. I now have just 13 states to go.
As marathons go, Hartford is just okay. It’s not the best, it’s not the worst. There were a few good things, a few not-so-good things. Overall, just kind of so-so. Which, I guess, is better than truly horrible. I just wasn’t in love with it, if you know what I mean.
I was also expecting that I would be able to run it a little faster than I did, but I swear I am not letting that affect my judgment.
A Long Weekend of Driving
Tommy came along and we drove out to Hartford. As it happened, my van was rear-ended a couple of weeks before, and while it was in the shop I was driving a Town & Country rental with unlimited mileage. So we were able to drive out in that thing and not put the mileage on one of our own cars. It’s not fun to drive in any way, shape or form, but was free. Except for the gas that it sucked down. Wow, it’s a guzzler. And that is just one of its faults, but don’t get me started.
For the race, we stayed at the Residence Inn in Rocky Hill, which is a suburb southwest of Hartford. We stayed there because I waited too long to make a hotel reservation downtown---who knew that everything for race weekend would book up two months in advance?---and also because Tommy could use a corporate discount. It was not much of a drive into town, and it was nice to have a kitchen.
On the way to the Hartford, we spent Thursday night at a Holiday Inn Express in Clearfield, PA (because I had a free night). On the return trip, we first drove up to Boston to see Susan and Ross, and then headed back via New York State (Tommy had business outside Syracuse). We spent Sunday night in Springfield, MA, and Monday night in Erie, PA, staying at Red Roofs. It is pretty weird to stay at a Red Roof without any dogs. Especially when there is a dog show in the town, as happened to be the case in Springfield!
Yeah, pretty much it would have been better if I had flown. We tried to break it up, but it was a lot of hours in the car. A car that I hated. But I digress.
Race Expo (and Pasta Dinner We Missed)
Even though we certainly didn’t linger in Clearfield, PA on Friday morning, it still took us until almost 4 pm to reach Hartford. It took us awhile, driving around in Friday afternoon downtown Hartford traffic---not that bad, except when you don’t know the area at all---to figure out where to park for the expo. The expo was in the XL Center, and we ended up in the garage across the street.
I had purchased tickets for the 5 pm seating of the pasta dinner. So now I was stressing out because I wanted to pick up my race packet and have a chance to thoroughly shop the expo before dinner.
Who am I kidding? I had been stressing out for probably two hours before we got to Hartford, worrying if we were going to make it on time.
Packet pickup was quick, albeit a bit confusing. The confusion kind of set the tone for the activities surrounding the race. Basically, there really was not a lot of direction or signage. And I guess I am old fashioned, but I really like to get printed instructions ahead of time. There was a little bit of info on the website, but not enough so that even if you printed it out would you have a truly clear idea about what was where. Maybe if you lived in Hartford and had done the race before it was enough. But not for somebody visiting for the first time.
I know this is also partly my fault because I’ve gotten kind of sloppy abut reading the directions at these races. After so many races in so many places, I guess I just assume that I’ll get there and figure it out.
Well, maybe it also would have helped if their race website was a little easier to navigate, and if they had sent out some detailed info via email, the way many other races do. They sent info, but not enough. And their website sucks---too much focus on their foundation and the charities, and not enough on the race.
So, I walked up to the first table and got my bib. That was it, just the bib. No bag to put it in. No goodies. No directions about where to go next. I noticed there was a little box of pins on the table but I didn’t bother to pick them up because I had packed extras, and I also assumed that at some point I would get a bag and maybe there would be pins in there.
I had to ask the volunteer about where to go next. If I had not asked, apparently she would not have said anything. She also did not say anything about the pins. I know I have complained about volunteers who are a little too explicit about exactly what the pins are for and how they should be used, but this was kind of the opposite. I would reflect on this later, and observe the results of her reticence while I waited for the race to begin the next morning (when random strangers kept asking me if I knew where they could find some pins).
I asked the volunteer about the location of the pasta dinner. She had no information.
So, it turns out that the next place I go is a table around the corner, where I get my shirt (long sleeved, technical, not bad) and a little orange sack designed like a backpack and made out of that material like you find in the reusable grocery bags. Turns out that does not work very well when you try to turn it into a backpack. It falls apart really fast. So, the result is you are going to throw it away, maybe even sooner than if it were an actual plastic bag! What is so green about that, I wonder?
There is nothing in this bag. It is not secure enough to use as a gear check bag, and it is kind of awkward to put your expo purchases in. I am not a fan of this bag.
I figure out the timing chip is already attached to the back of my race number, so we don’t have to pick up the chip.
I asked the volunteer at the shirt table about the location of the pasta dinner. He had no information.
We found a booth labeled “Information.” There was a large course map on display and a volunteer was going over that with some people. There was another volunteer standing around, so we asked him about the location of the pasta dinner. He did not have any information, and he was kind of rude about it.
I was getting hungry at this point. But we decided to put aside all thoughts of the pasta dinner, and do a quick walkthrough of the expo.
One thing I did like at Hartford was that you were able to pick up your packet (such as it was) before going through the expo. That is one thing that I really dislike about the Flying Pig.
The expo was about the size of the one at Flying Pig, maybe a little smaller. Hartford gets about 14,000 participants across all the events (half-marathon, relay, marathon) so that’s about right. They had a good selection of vendors. I ended up buying a couple of cute tee shirts (one technical, one cotton) with a dog-related theme (dog holding a race number that says 26.2 and the shirt says Marathon Dog).
There was an area selling Hartford Marathon logo wear, and I probably would have bought a hat or something, but they were a little overpriced for the lack of quality.
At this point we were expo’d out, and I was even hungrier, so we decided to try a little harder to locate the pasta dinner. On the way out of the expo I stopped at what appeared to be the “Trouble” desk. Somebody there was able to explain to us that the pasta dinner was located in Bushnell Park, about a half mile away from the expo.
Bushnell Park was also the start/finish area of the marathon. We had passed by it on our way to the XL Center. But now it was raining outside, and we were loath to move the car to another location more convenient to the park in the middle of rush hour on a Friday.
So we gave up on the pasta dinner for which I had stupidly paid in advance. It was windy and cold and rainy and miserable, so even if it were right next door to the expo the idea of sitting outside (under tents, but still) and eating pasta cooked for hundreds of people was not very appealing.
We drove to our hotel, checked in, and headed out to find an Italian restaurant nearby with the help of the GPS. Which turned out to be more difficult than you would think, since all the Italian places it could find seemed to be out of business. After a bit of driving around, we did locate a newish place not too far from the hotel, called Pazzo Cafe. Although the parking lot was full, we were seated right away. Décor was that trendy, casual, open kitchen, wood fired pizza oven kind of thing. Excellent bread. Decent wine list. Large portions. I had cavatappi with an eggplant sauce. I forget what Tommy had. Pizza? That’s right. This place also had an amazing selection of wonderful gelatos. I had two scoops for dessert, one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of mint chocolate chip. Tommy a piece of carrot cake, which I ended up having some of later back at the hotel. We agreed it was maybe the best carrot cake we had ever had in our lives.
The portions were so large, that we could take the leftovers back to the hotel with us, which worked out great for me after the race. I didn’t need my turkey sandwich when I could eat all the leftover pasta and pizza.
Getting to the Start
The morning was relatively stress-free for an out of town race with limited information. I was up early for my pre-race coffee and yogurt. The traffic getting back downtown was not bad at all on Saturday morning, and the highway seemed to dump us out right at Bushnell Park.
I got out of the car and left Tommy to go look for parking on his own. We agreed to meet after the race at the supposedly designated family reunion area, wherever that was. They said they had one.
It was a lovely morning in Bushnell Park, but the grass was soaked from the rain the day before. I got on the portapotty line, which was already rather long. Worse, as I approached the front of the line, I could see that the area directly in front of the portapotties was basically a mud pit. At least, I hoped that was mud. It was pretty disgusting. So, as you went in and out of the portapotty, you ended up with shoes that were covered in mud. Not the best way to start the race, I thought. Should have brought plastic bags to put on my shoes. Oh well.
After the portapotty stop, I walked around the little marathon village they had set up. There were a lot of tents and vendors, but no signage telling you which way to go to the start or providing any sort of useful information. Periodically, a guy on a loudspeaker would announce that the gear check area was in front of Bushnell Theater, but who knew where that was if you didn’t live in Hartford?
It was still early. I noticed that the booth for Dick’s Sporting Goods was unoccupied, so after making a pass around the village (picked up a little tube of free sunscreen, which did prove useful), I sat down in one of the chairs.
Almost as soon as I sat down, people started coming up to me and asking me questions:
Which way is the volunteer check in? Where is the gear check? Do you know where the kids’ fun run starts? And my favorite question, do you know where I can get some pins?
I had passed the volunteer check-in so I could actually help out with that one. In exchange, I asked people if they could tell me where the start line was, but nobody knew.
An official-looking guy dressed in a business suit came over, and I thought he was going to tell me I had to move. But no, he just was looking for the volunteer check-in. I pointed him in the right direction.
It was all pretty funny.
So I stayed seated there until about 15 minutes before the race was to begin, when I followed a growing wave of foot traffic in a direction that I hoped would lead to the starting line. This it did. And I also now knew where the Bushnell Theater was, but I wasn’t checking any gear.
Next point of confusion: I looked around for the pace signs to try to figure out a good place to line up. Then I noticed that all of the pace team leaders were hanging out together in front of the theater (I never did see any of them during the actual race, which was a little strange). So that was not very helpful. I found some people who looked like they were as slow as I was. I started chatting with a guy who told me that yeah, this was where all the over 10 minutes a mile people were, so it was the right place.
One nice thing at the start was that they had a big video display that was right in front of where I was standing, so I could see the people making the announcements (even though they still weren’t all that intelligible) and the woman who sang The Star Spangled Banner. They also showed a little video about selected people and their marathon “stories” but I didn’t pay much attention to that.
The Race
And soon, we were off. Overall, I’d have to say that it was not the most scenic or interesting urban marathon I’ve ever run. Also, it was not the most well-designed.Lots of turns, and retracing of steps. It was mostly flat, with a few hills provided by overpasses, and also by getting up and down from the riverfront. I know there are some pretty neighborhoods in Hartford (saw them later when driving around) but for some reason the course did not take us through them. It was a combination of boring downtown, industrial area, riverfront bike trail, and one somewhat upscale neighborhood in which we went down and back (and one much sketchier ‘hood that we went through on the way back).
There’s not a lot that is very interesting along the way. The aid stations are well-organized and well-staffed. There were occasional spots with live or recorded music, including a couple of bagpipers. Not too much crowd support. Not the worst race, but not the best, either. Just kind of ho-hum. Won’t make my list of favorites. It was just okay.
There were a lot of Maniacs and Fifty Staters. This is a big race weekend in New England, and there were several possibilities to complete a “double” by running Hartford on Saturday and then Mt. Desert Island (Maine) or Breakers (Rhode Island) on Sunday. There was one woman who was just in front of me for the first few miles who was wearing a sign on her back stating her intentions to finish Hartford and Breakers that weekend. I was glad that I had decided not to try that myself. It also made me feel good to eventually pass her. Would have been more demoralizing if she had easily pulled ahead of me. I’m just not ready for a double.
The first couple miles basically serve to get you out of the downtown area and into a combination of industrial areas and a riverside park. I know Hartford probably wants us to remember the park but unfortunately there was a lot of industry in there, too. I missed the first mile marker, but reached mile 2 in 19:58.
By the start of the third mile we had turned onto a paved path that runs along the Connecticut River. Mile 3 took me 9:56. I decided that I needed another portapotty visit. This hasn’t happened to me in quite awhile during a marathon so I must have been overhydrated or something. Anyway, just as we were leaving the industrial area and heading onto the bike path, I noticed a couple of portapotties on the side, off of the trail. I’m not even sure if they were actually associated with the race, but there was no line so I went in. This cost me a minute but it was worth it for the comfort factor. Mile 4 was 11:11.
I remember two things from mile 5, which took us back into downtown. First, there was some woman complaining to some guy that her GPS was a tenth of a mile off, and asking if he thought the course was measured wrong. I tried to explain to her that race courses are measured on the tangents, so unless she was always running the shortest tangent, every time we turned a corner she was adding distance. And we were turning a lot of corners. So really, a tenth of mile over five miles is not that bad. Anyway, she didn’t understand what I was trying to say. So I gave up.
Second thing is that I ran by Tommy, who lamely tried to take my picture but couldn’t figure out how to get the camera to work in time, so I just kept going because I was feeling good and didn’t want to stop.
Mile 5 was 10:04. I don’t remember too much about miles 6-11 (I am looking at the course map as I write this). My times were 10:02, 9:41, 9:52, 10:44, 10:06 and 10:02. I was having GU Chomps (Green Tea flavor) every four miles or so, and walking through the water stations. I guess some of this was along the river, and some of it was industrial. Nothing very memorable.
Around mile 11, we began a long out-and-back stretch that would take us through a neighborhood of large old homes. Even here, I was surprised that there were not more people out cheering. The Hartford Marathon is comparable in size to the Flying Pig in Cincinnati, and I was thinking about how much more interesting a course we have here, and how much louder the people cheer in Hyde Park Square. There was nothing like that in Hartford. In this neighborhood (whatever it is called) there were a few houses with parties going on out on the front lawns, but there were many empty spots as well.
The cool thing about the out-and-back was that it gave me an opportunity to see the fast runners on their way back (mile 23 is near mile 11). I saw the two Kenyan guys who would finish first and second, followed by serial marathoner Michael Wardian (the previous year’s winner, a fellow Maniac who would go on to win Mt. Desert Island in Maine the very next day).
I was still feeling okay, and keeping a pretty even pace for miles 12-16 (10:05, 10:39, 10:09, 9:55, 10:18). I was looking forward to the turnaround at mile 17, when it looked like we would be headed downhill. Funny how when I run these out-and-back portions of a race, I always think it will be downhill on the way back. It’s just an optical illusion.
Mile 17 was 11:47, and I was starting to struggle a bit. And then I found out that we were not going downhill after all. And now, we were running into a headwind, which would be with us for the remainder of the race. At this point I started getting really bored with the race and just wanted it to be over, and I was again very glad that I did not have to get up and do the same thing tomorrow in a different city.
Mile 18 was 9:25 (perhaps mile 17 and 18 markers were in the wrong places), but after that I was struggling again. 10:49 for 19, 11:05 for 20, 22:30 for 21 and 22, 12:05 for 23.
I had kind of been hoping for a sub-4:30 time, but that was not happening now.
At mile 24, we headed back along the river trail and into downtown. Mile 24 was 11:57, mile 25 was 11:59, and mile 26 was 11:14. Saw Tommy, who took my picture, as I ran towards the finish line. We passed under that little stone archway thing that is part of the race logo and replicated in the design of the finisher’s medal, but I did not even notice at the time. 1:57 for the last .2 and I was glad to be done with it.
It has been bothering me that I did not know anything about what that stone archway was supposed to represent, so I looked it up online. It is called the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, and it is in honor of the 4000 Hartford residents who served in the Civil War, and the 400 who died in Union uniforms. I never would have guessed that it was a war memorial. I am surprised that there is no info (or maybe I am not surprised considering the general dearth of info) about the arch on the race web site, since it is used as the race logo and therefore somewhat significant. Again, they seem to be assuming that the people who run this race are all from the Hartford area. Ha, and in truth is not really a race worth travelling for, after all.
So, that time put me 20 of 46 in my age group and 1557 of 2217 marathoners. I guess this race is a little smaller than the Flying Pig. I was disappointed that I didn’t finish any faster than at Leading Ladies, since I felt so good going into the race. But I guess the Leading Ladies course was faster than I realized. And, I had not expected to have so much trouble running into that headwind.
Post-Race
In addition to the traditional space blankets and the finisher’s medal (which is rather a nice one), they handed out reusable orange (the ING race sponsor color) water bottles at the finish line embossed with the race logo and the word “Finisher” on them. I thought that was a nice touch, but it would have been even nicer if they had rinsed the bottles out before filling them. Very strong taste of plastic in there. Had to dump it.
They also do a nice job with the food at the end of this race. There was a large tented area with a bigger variety of items than at most races. My favorite was the hot tomato and chicken soup with parmesan cheese. It was nice and salty and warm, just the perfect thing after an autumn race.
After getting some food, I was ready to find Tommy. Since he had been nearby when I crossed the finish line, I did not expect it to be too difficult to locate him. But what did present a challenge was finding the location of the reunion area where we had agreed to meet. I wandered around the park for a bit, asked various people for directions, and wasn’t having any luck. As I had noticed in the morning before the race, there were no signs anywhere, and nobody seemed to know where anything was---actually, I had a little trouble even finding my way to the food tent, to tell the truth.
Eventually, I found a volunteer who thought that he had seen some signage up on the street with alphabet letters (A-H, I-M, etc. that sort of thing) indicating it might be a reunion area. So I walked out of the park and toward that street, where I did find these signs. They weren’t very big. I stood on the sidewalk by the A-H sign. Nobody else was waiting there. I was getting cold. I walked up and down the street for a few minutes. I thought about how many people I had asked before I located the reunion area, and I thought about how unwilling Tommy was to ask for directions.
I wished I had carried a phone. I was just about to ask someone if I could borrow their phone to try to reach Tommy when he finally appeared.
The good news was that he had found a parking space that morning in the lot directly across the street from the park, so now that we were reunited, I did not have far to walk at all. We headed back to the hotel, where I feasted on our leftovers from the night before---no need of a turkey sandwich this time.
Hartford Touristing
After eating and getting cleaned up, we headed off for the Mark Twain House---the only thing we were going to have time to see while in Hartford, although honestly I am not sure that there is all that much else to see there besides the University of Connecticut and all the insurance companies.
We were lucky enough to get two of the last tickets for the last tour of the day---I had not realized that there were scheduled tour times and a limited number of tickets.
Ok, here is what I remember: Samuel Clemens moved to Hartford with his wife, Olivia. They rented a house in the Nook Farm neighborhood (a writer’s enclave, and I presume, the source of the name for the Barnes & Noble e-reader). They had this house built for them (Livy came from money). Harriet Beecher Stowe was a neighbor. It is a pretty cool house. The time they lived in this house marked the most productive period of Clemens’ life---he wrote Huckleberry Finn, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court while living there. The Clemens lived very well, until some bad business investments forced them to move away, and eventually sell the property.
At one point, the structure was in danger of being demolished and replaced with a car dealership! Would have been a shame. In addition to the house, there is a museum, gift shop, and café.
Oh yeah, and he had a lot of cats. Like Hemingway. And some of the descendants of these cats still roam the grounds.
The entranceway of the house reminded me of an M. C. Escher lithograph, because there is a big square space where you can look straight up and see all the other floors of the house. Or maybe it was the woodcut designs on the walls. Anyway, it reminded me of Escher’s “Relativity.”
After our tour, we drove around the neighborhood. There was a very pretty park (Elizabeth Park) with a restaurant/event space inside of it, where I had thought maybe we could have dinner, but there was an event going on so we didn’t try. The neighborhood around Elizabeth Park reminded me of Wyoming in the Greater Cincinnati area, and I wondered why the marathon didn’t go through here. It was close to downtown and a lot nicer than most of the area we ran through.
I screwed up the restaurant pre-planning for this race. I had been looking for restaurants close to the Mark Twain house (how I found Elizabeth Park) but did not look for things near our hotel.
We drove back near the hotel and tried to use our GPS to locate potential steak houses. No luck. We ended up at Wood-n-Tap, a bar and grill (seemed to be part of a chain) that Tommy had been to while on a business trip. He was not enthused about it because he didn’t remember it as being very good. And he was correct. The beer was okay but the food was pretty bad.
The Rest of our Trip
Sunday morning after breakfast we drove up to Boston and spent the day with Susan and Ross, hanging out around their apartment in Somerville. We got there just in time to see Susan finish a 5k race just around the corner from the apartment. Apparently Davis Square is a very popular location for Boston-area races.
We had lunch at the Boston Burger Company place on the first floor of their building (can you imagine living on top of that?), afternoon coffee at Diesel Café, and dinner at Foundry on Elm (gastropub that is just a couple of blocks away). These places were all really great, of course. Good food and 5k races all within walking distance of home, does it get any better than that?
We spent the night in Springfield at a Red Roof Inn. It felt weird to stay at a Red Roof without a dog or two or three. Especially when there was apparently a dog show going on in the area.
Monday morning we drove west to Fayetteville, NY, where Tommy had some business in the afternoon. We ate lunch at Hullar’s, an excellent little homestyle restaurant and bar that Tommy had been to several times before---a great little chowhoundie find. Had some wonderful French onion soup, and meatloaf with mashed potatoes.
While Tommy visited the plant, I drove around the town. I took some pictures of the Craftsman Inn, which is where Tommy usually stays. It is a neat place, filled with Stickley furniture.
Across the street there is a mall that includes some interesting outlet stores (Stickley furniture, L. L. Bean). We didn’t have room in the car to bring back any furniture, but I took a look around the L. L. Bean outlet. Didn’t find anything worth buying. There was also an Eastern Mountain Sports, and I checked that out as well but didn’t find anything good there either.
At some point I realized that this is the home of the Fayetteville-Manlius high school, a perennial high school cross country powerhouse that generally does well at the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN). How many times has their girls' team won that thing? The fact that I know this stuff just shows what kind of a crazy running geek I have become. Anyway, I drove by the high school. If they were selling logo-wear from that school somewhere in town, I swear I would have bought something.
Soon it was time to pick Tommy up and continue our journey home. We stopped for the night in the Erie, PA suburbs, near the casino. This is where we bought the Bad Monkey beer. I had heard of this beer before---and it was originally named "Butt Monkey." Seriously. It was disgusting, but I am saving the bottle in honor of Eddy. I did not realize until I researched it online that they stopped brewing this beer a couple of years ago. No wonder it tasted so nasty.
And the next day we drove home. It was after this trip that Tommy decided to redeem some frequent flyer miles for our Thanksgiving travels! We put a couple thousand miles on that Town & Country in the three weeks that my van was in the shop. We managed to suck all the newness out of that baby, all right.
I am taking a break from running the states for the next year. My next few marathons will be closer to home. I plan to pick it up again next October, after Susan’s wedding.
As marathons go, Hartford is just okay. It’s not the best, it’s not the worst. There were a few good things, a few not-so-good things. Overall, just kind of so-so. Which, I guess, is better than truly horrible. I just wasn’t in love with it, if you know what I mean.
I was also expecting that I would be able to run it a little faster than I did, but I swear I am not letting that affect my judgment.
A Long Weekend of Driving
Tommy came along and we drove out to Hartford. As it happened, my van was rear-ended a couple of weeks before, and while it was in the shop I was driving a Town & Country rental with unlimited mileage. So we were able to drive out in that thing and not put the mileage on one of our own cars. It’s not fun to drive in any way, shape or form, but was free. Except for the gas that it sucked down. Wow, it’s a guzzler. And that is just one of its faults, but don’t get me started.
For the race, we stayed at the Residence Inn in Rocky Hill, which is a suburb southwest of Hartford. We stayed there because I waited too long to make a hotel reservation downtown---who knew that everything for race weekend would book up two months in advance?---and also because Tommy could use a corporate discount. It was not much of a drive into town, and it was nice to have a kitchen.
On the way to the Hartford, we spent Thursday night at a Holiday Inn Express in Clearfield, PA (because I had a free night). On the return trip, we first drove up to Boston to see Susan and Ross, and then headed back via New York State (Tommy had business outside Syracuse). We spent Sunday night in Springfield, MA, and Monday night in Erie, PA, staying at Red Roofs. It is pretty weird to stay at a Red Roof without any dogs. Especially when there is a dog show in the town, as happened to be the case in Springfield!
Yeah, pretty much it would have been better if I had flown. We tried to break it up, but it was a lot of hours in the car. A car that I hated. But I digress.
Race Expo (and Pasta Dinner We Missed)
Even though we certainly didn’t linger in Clearfield, PA on Friday morning, it still took us until almost 4 pm to reach Hartford. It took us awhile, driving around in Friday afternoon downtown Hartford traffic---not that bad, except when you don’t know the area at all---to figure out where to park for the expo. The expo was in the XL Center, and we ended up in the garage across the street.
I had purchased tickets for the 5 pm seating of the pasta dinner. So now I was stressing out because I wanted to pick up my race packet and have a chance to thoroughly shop the expo before dinner.
Who am I kidding? I had been stressing out for probably two hours before we got to Hartford, worrying if we were going to make it on time.
Packet pickup was quick, albeit a bit confusing. The confusion kind of set the tone for the activities surrounding the race. Basically, there really was not a lot of direction or signage. And I guess I am old fashioned, but I really like to get printed instructions ahead of time. There was a little bit of info on the website, but not enough so that even if you printed it out would you have a truly clear idea about what was where. Maybe if you lived in Hartford and had done the race before it was enough. But not for somebody visiting for the first time.
I know this is also partly my fault because I’ve gotten kind of sloppy abut reading the directions at these races. After so many races in so many places, I guess I just assume that I’ll get there and figure it out.
Well, maybe it also would have helped if their race website was a little easier to navigate, and if they had sent out some detailed info via email, the way many other races do. They sent info, but not enough. And their website sucks---too much focus on their foundation and the charities, and not enough on the race.
So, I walked up to the first table and got my bib. That was it, just the bib. No bag to put it in. No goodies. No directions about where to go next. I noticed there was a little box of pins on the table but I didn’t bother to pick them up because I had packed extras, and I also assumed that at some point I would get a bag and maybe there would be pins in there.
I had to ask the volunteer about where to go next. If I had not asked, apparently she would not have said anything. She also did not say anything about the pins. I know I have complained about volunteers who are a little too explicit about exactly what the pins are for and how they should be used, but this was kind of the opposite. I would reflect on this later, and observe the results of her reticence while I waited for the race to begin the next morning (when random strangers kept asking me if I knew where they could find some pins).
I asked the volunteer about the location of the pasta dinner. She had no information.
So, it turns out that the next place I go is a table around the corner, where I get my shirt (long sleeved, technical, not bad) and a little orange sack designed like a backpack and made out of that material like you find in the reusable grocery bags. Turns out that does not work very well when you try to turn it into a backpack. It falls apart really fast. So, the result is you are going to throw it away, maybe even sooner than if it were an actual plastic bag! What is so green about that, I wonder?
There is nothing in this bag. It is not secure enough to use as a gear check bag, and it is kind of awkward to put your expo purchases in. I am not a fan of this bag.
I figure out the timing chip is already attached to the back of my race number, so we don’t have to pick up the chip.
I asked the volunteer at the shirt table about the location of the pasta dinner. He had no information.
We found a booth labeled “Information.” There was a large course map on display and a volunteer was going over that with some people. There was another volunteer standing around, so we asked him about the location of the pasta dinner. He did not have any information, and he was kind of rude about it.
I was getting hungry at this point. But we decided to put aside all thoughts of the pasta dinner, and do a quick walkthrough of the expo.
One thing I did like at Hartford was that you were able to pick up your packet (such as it was) before going through the expo. That is one thing that I really dislike about the Flying Pig.
The expo was about the size of the one at Flying Pig, maybe a little smaller. Hartford gets about 14,000 participants across all the events (half-marathon, relay, marathon) so that’s about right. They had a good selection of vendors. I ended up buying a couple of cute tee shirts (one technical, one cotton) with a dog-related theme (dog holding a race number that says 26.2 and the shirt says Marathon Dog).
There was an area selling Hartford Marathon logo wear, and I probably would have bought a hat or something, but they were a little overpriced for the lack of quality.
At this point we were expo’d out, and I was even hungrier, so we decided to try a little harder to locate the pasta dinner. On the way out of the expo I stopped at what appeared to be the “Trouble” desk. Somebody there was able to explain to us that the pasta dinner was located in Bushnell Park, about a half mile away from the expo.
Bushnell Park was also the start/finish area of the marathon. We had passed by it on our way to the XL Center. But now it was raining outside, and we were loath to move the car to another location more convenient to the park in the middle of rush hour on a Friday.
So we gave up on the pasta dinner for which I had stupidly paid in advance. It was windy and cold and rainy and miserable, so even if it were right next door to the expo the idea of sitting outside (under tents, but still) and eating pasta cooked for hundreds of people was not very appealing.
We drove to our hotel, checked in, and headed out to find an Italian restaurant nearby with the help of the GPS. Which turned out to be more difficult than you would think, since all the Italian places it could find seemed to be out of business. After a bit of driving around, we did locate a newish place not too far from the hotel, called Pazzo Cafe. Although the parking lot was full, we were seated right away. Décor was that trendy, casual, open kitchen, wood fired pizza oven kind of thing. Excellent bread. Decent wine list. Large portions. I had cavatappi with an eggplant sauce. I forget what Tommy had. Pizza? That’s right. This place also had an amazing selection of wonderful gelatos. I had two scoops for dessert, one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of mint chocolate chip. Tommy a piece of carrot cake, which I ended up having some of later back at the hotel. We agreed it was maybe the best carrot cake we had ever had in our lives.
The portions were so large, that we could take the leftovers back to the hotel with us, which worked out great for me after the race. I didn’t need my turkey sandwich when I could eat all the leftover pasta and pizza.
Getting to the Start
The morning was relatively stress-free for an out of town race with limited information. I was up early for my pre-race coffee and yogurt. The traffic getting back downtown was not bad at all on Saturday morning, and the highway seemed to dump us out right at Bushnell Park.
I got out of the car and left Tommy to go look for parking on his own. We agreed to meet after the race at the supposedly designated family reunion area, wherever that was. They said they had one.
It was a lovely morning in Bushnell Park, but the grass was soaked from the rain the day before. I got on the portapotty line, which was already rather long. Worse, as I approached the front of the line, I could see that the area directly in front of the portapotties was basically a mud pit. At least, I hoped that was mud. It was pretty disgusting. So, as you went in and out of the portapotty, you ended up with shoes that were covered in mud. Not the best way to start the race, I thought. Should have brought plastic bags to put on my shoes. Oh well.
After the portapotty stop, I walked around the little marathon village they had set up. There were a lot of tents and vendors, but no signage telling you which way to go to the start or providing any sort of useful information. Periodically, a guy on a loudspeaker would announce that the gear check area was in front of Bushnell Theater, but who knew where that was if you didn’t live in Hartford?
It was still early. I noticed that the booth for Dick’s Sporting Goods was unoccupied, so after making a pass around the village (picked up a little tube of free sunscreen, which did prove useful), I sat down in one of the chairs.
Almost as soon as I sat down, people started coming up to me and asking me questions:
Which way is the volunteer check in? Where is the gear check? Do you know where the kids’ fun run starts? And my favorite question, do you know where I can get some pins?
I had passed the volunteer check-in so I could actually help out with that one. In exchange, I asked people if they could tell me where the start line was, but nobody knew.
An official-looking guy dressed in a business suit came over, and I thought he was going to tell me I had to move. But no, he just was looking for the volunteer check-in. I pointed him in the right direction.
It was all pretty funny.
So I stayed seated there until about 15 minutes before the race was to begin, when I followed a growing wave of foot traffic in a direction that I hoped would lead to the starting line. This it did. And I also now knew where the Bushnell Theater was, but I wasn’t checking any gear.
Next point of confusion: I looked around for the pace signs to try to figure out a good place to line up. Then I noticed that all of the pace team leaders were hanging out together in front of the theater (I never did see any of them during the actual race, which was a little strange). So that was not very helpful. I found some people who looked like they were as slow as I was. I started chatting with a guy who told me that yeah, this was where all the over 10 minutes a mile people were, so it was the right place.
One nice thing at the start was that they had a big video display that was right in front of where I was standing, so I could see the people making the announcements (even though they still weren’t all that intelligible) and the woman who sang The Star Spangled Banner. They also showed a little video about selected people and their marathon “stories” but I didn’t pay much attention to that.
The Race
And soon, we were off. Overall, I’d have to say that it was not the most scenic or interesting urban marathon I’ve ever run. Also, it was not the most well-designed.Lots of turns, and retracing of steps. It was mostly flat, with a few hills provided by overpasses, and also by getting up and down from the riverfront. I know there are some pretty neighborhoods in Hartford (saw them later when driving around) but for some reason the course did not take us through them. It was a combination of boring downtown, industrial area, riverfront bike trail, and one somewhat upscale neighborhood in which we went down and back (and one much sketchier ‘hood that we went through on the way back).
There’s not a lot that is very interesting along the way. The aid stations are well-organized and well-staffed. There were occasional spots with live or recorded music, including a couple of bagpipers. Not too much crowd support. Not the worst race, but not the best, either. Just kind of ho-hum. Won’t make my list of favorites. It was just okay.
There were a lot of Maniacs and Fifty Staters. This is a big race weekend in New England, and there were several possibilities to complete a “double” by running Hartford on Saturday and then Mt. Desert Island (Maine) or Breakers (Rhode Island) on Sunday. There was one woman who was just in front of me for the first few miles who was wearing a sign on her back stating her intentions to finish Hartford and Breakers that weekend. I was glad that I had decided not to try that myself. It also made me feel good to eventually pass her. Would have been more demoralizing if she had easily pulled ahead of me. I’m just not ready for a double.
The first couple miles basically serve to get you out of the downtown area and into a combination of industrial areas and a riverside park. I know Hartford probably wants us to remember the park but unfortunately there was a lot of industry in there, too. I missed the first mile marker, but reached mile 2 in 19:58.
By the start of the third mile we had turned onto a paved path that runs along the Connecticut River. Mile 3 took me 9:56. I decided that I needed another portapotty visit. This hasn’t happened to me in quite awhile during a marathon so I must have been overhydrated or something. Anyway, just as we were leaving the industrial area and heading onto the bike path, I noticed a couple of portapotties on the side, off of the trail. I’m not even sure if they were actually associated with the race, but there was no line so I went in. This cost me a minute but it was worth it for the comfort factor. Mile 4 was 11:11.
I remember two things from mile 5, which took us back into downtown. First, there was some woman complaining to some guy that her GPS was a tenth of a mile off, and asking if he thought the course was measured wrong. I tried to explain to her that race courses are measured on the tangents, so unless she was always running the shortest tangent, every time we turned a corner she was adding distance. And we were turning a lot of corners. So really, a tenth of mile over five miles is not that bad. Anyway, she didn’t understand what I was trying to say. So I gave up.
Second thing is that I ran by Tommy, who lamely tried to take my picture but couldn’t figure out how to get the camera to work in time, so I just kept going because I was feeling good and didn’t want to stop.
Mile 5 was 10:04. I don’t remember too much about miles 6-11 (I am looking at the course map as I write this). My times were 10:02, 9:41, 9:52, 10:44, 10:06 and 10:02. I was having GU Chomps (Green Tea flavor) every four miles or so, and walking through the water stations. I guess some of this was along the river, and some of it was industrial. Nothing very memorable.
Around mile 11, we began a long out-and-back stretch that would take us through a neighborhood of large old homes. Even here, I was surprised that there were not more people out cheering. The Hartford Marathon is comparable in size to the Flying Pig in Cincinnati, and I was thinking about how much more interesting a course we have here, and how much louder the people cheer in Hyde Park Square. There was nothing like that in Hartford. In this neighborhood (whatever it is called) there were a few houses with parties going on out on the front lawns, but there were many empty spots as well.
The cool thing about the out-and-back was that it gave me an opportunity to see the fast runners on their way back (mile 23 is near mile 11). I saw the two Kenyan guys who would finish first and second, followed by serial marathoner Michael Wardian (the previous year’s winner, a fellow Maniac who would go on to win Mt. Desert Island in Maine the very next day).
I was still feeling okay, and keeping a pretty even pace for miles 12-16 (10:05, 10:39, 10:09, 9:55, 10:18). I was looking forward to the turnaround at mile 17, when it looked like we would be headed downhill. Funny how when I run these out-and-back portions of a race, I always think it will be downhill on the way back. It’s just an optical illusion.
Mile 17 was 11:47, and I was starting to struggle a bit. And then I found out that we were not going downhill after all. And now, we were running into a headwind, which would be with us for the remainder of the race. At this point I started getting really bored with the race and just wanted it to be over, and I was again very glad that I did not have to get up and do the same thing tomorrow in a different city.
Mile 18 was 9:25 (perhaps mile 17 and 18 markers were in the wrong places), but after that I was struggling again. 10:49 for 19, 11:05 for 20, 22:30 for 21 and 22, 12:05 for 23.
I had kind of been hoping for a sub-4:30 time, but that was not happening now.
At mile 24, we headed back along the river trail and into downtown. Mile 24 was 11:57, mile 25 was 11:59, and mile 26 was 11:14. Saw Tommy, who took my picture, as I ran towards the finish line. We passed under that little stone archway thing that is part of the race logo and replicated in the design of the finisher’s medal, but I did not even notice at the time. 1:57 for the last .2 and I was glad to be done with it.
It has been bothering me that I did not know anything about what that stone archway was supposed to represent, so I looked it up online. It is called the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, and it is in honor of the 4000 Hartford residents who served in the Civil War, and the 400 who died in Union uniforms. I never would have guessed that it was a war memorial. I am surprised that there is no info (or maybe I am not surprised considering the general dearth of info) about the arch on the race web site, since it is used as the race logo and therefore somewhat significant. Again, they seem to be assuming that the people who run this race are all from the Hartford area. Ha, and in truth is not really a race worth travelling for, after all.
So, that time put me 20 of 46 in my age group and 1557 of 2217 marathoners. I guess this race is a little smaller than the Flying Pig. I was disappointed that I didn’t finish any faster than at Leading Ladies, since I felt so good going into the race. But I guess the Leading Ladies course was faster than I realized. And, I had not expected to have so much trouble running into that headwind.
Post-Race
In addition to the traditional space blankets and the finisher’s medal (which is rather a nice one), they handed out reusable orange (the ING race sponsor color) water bottles at the finish line embossed with the race logo and the word “Finisher” on them. I thought that was a nice touch, but it would have been even nicer if they had rinsed the bottles out before filling them. Very strong taste of plastic in there. Had to dump it.
They also do a nice job with the food at the end of this race. There was a large tented area with a bigger variety of items than at most races. My favorite was the hot tomato and chicken soup with parmesan cheese. It was nice and salty and warm, just the perfect thing after an autumn race.
After getting some food, I was ready to find Tommy. Since he had been nearby when I crossed the finish line, I did not expect it to be too difficult to locate him. But what did present a challenge was finding the location of the reunion area where we had agreed to meet. I wandered around the park for a bit, asked various people for directions, and wasn’t having any luck. As I had noticed in the morning before the race, there were no signs anywhere, and nobody seemed to know where anything was---actually, I had a little trouble even finding my way to the food tent, to tell the truth.
Eventually, I found a volunteer who thought that he had seen some signage up on the street with alphabet letters (A-H, I-M, etc. that sort of thing) indicating it might be a reunion area. So I walked out of the park and toward that street, where I did find these signs. They weren’t very big. I stood on the sidewalk by the A-H sign. Nobody else was waiting there. I was getting cold. I walked up and down the street for a few minutes. I thought about how many people I had asked before I located the reunion area, and I thought about how unwilling Tommy was to ask for directions.
I wished I had carried a phone. I was just about to ask someone if I could borrow their phone to try to reach Tommy when he finally appeared.
The good news was that he had found a parking space that morning in the lot directly across the street from the park, so now that we were reunited, I did not have far to walk at all. We headed back to the hotel, where I feasted on our leftovers from the night before---no need of a turkey sandwich this time.
Hartford Touristing
We were lucky enough to get two of the last tickets for the last tour of the day---I had not realized that there were scheduled tour times and a limited number of tickets.
Ok, here is what I remember: Samuel Clemens moved to Hartford with his wife, Olivia. They rented a house in the Nook Farm neighborhood (a writer’s enclave, and I presume, the source of the name for the Barnes & Noble e-reader). They had this house built for them (Livy came from money). Harriet Beecher Stowe was a neighbor. It is a pretty cool house. The time they lived in this house marked the most productive period of Clemens’ life---he wrote Huckleberry Finn, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court while living there. The Clemens lived very well, until some bad business investments forced them to move away, and eventually sell the property.
At one point, the structure was in danger of being demolished and replaced with a car dealership! Would have been a shame. In addition to the house, there is a museum, gift shop, and café.
Oh yeah, and he had a lot of cats. Like Hemingway. And some of the descendants of these cats still roam the grounds.
The entranceway of the house reminded me of an M. C. Escher lithograph, because there is a big square space where you can look straight up and see all the other floors of the house. Or maybe it was the woodcut designs on the walls. Anyway, it reminded me of Escher’s “Relativity.”
After our tour, we drove around the neighborhood. There was a very pretty park (Elizabeth Park) with a restaurant/event space inside of it, where I had thought maybe we could have dinner, but there was an event going on so we didn’t try. The neighborhood around Elizabeth Park reminded me of Wyoming in the Greater Cincinnati area, and I wondered why the marathon didn’t go through here. It was close to downtown and a lot nicer than most of the area we ran through.
I screwed up the restaurant pre-planning for this race. I had been looking for restaurants close to the Mark Twain house (how I found Elizabeth Park) but did not look for things near our hotel.
We drove back near the hotel and tried to use our GPS to locate potential steak houses. No luck. We ended up at Wood-n-Tap, a bar and grill (seemed to be part of a chain) that Tommy had been to while on a business trip. He was not enthused about it because he didn’t remember it as being very good. And he was correct. The beer was okay but the food was pretty bad.
The Rest of our Trip
Sunday morning after breakfast we drove up to Boston and spent the day with Susan and Ross, hanging out around their apartment in Somerville. We got there just in time to see Susan finish a 5k race just around the corner from the apartment. Apparently Davis Square is a very popular location for Boston-area races.
We had lunch at the Boston Burger Company place on the first floor of their building (can you imagine living on top of that?), afternoon coffee at Diesel Café, and dinner at Foundry on Elm (gastropub that is just a couple of blocks away). These places were all really great, of course. Good food and 5k races all within walking distance of home, does it get any better than that?
We spent the night in Springfield at a Red Roof Inn. It felt weird to stay at a Red Roof without a dog or two or three. Especially when there was apparently a dog show going on in the area.
Monday morning we drove west to Fayetteville, NY, where Tommy had some business in the afternoon. We ate lunch at Hullar’s, an excellent little homestyle restaurant and bar that Tommy had been to several times before---a great little chowhoundie find. Had some wonderful French onion soup, and meatloaf with mashed potatoes.
While Tommy visited the plant, I drove around the town. I took some pictures of the Craftsman Inn, which is where Tommy usually stays. It is a neat place, filled with Stickley furniture.
Across the street there is a mall that includes some interesting outlet stores (Stickley furniture, L. L. Bean). We didn’t have room in the car to bring back any furniture, but I took a look around the L. L. Bean outlet. Didn’t find anything worth buying. There was also an Eastern Mountain Sports, and I checked that out as well but didn’t find anything good there either.
At some point I realized that this is the home of the Fayetteville-Manlius high school, a perennial high school cross country powerhouse that generally does well at the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN). How many times has their girls' team won that thing? The fact that I know this stuff just shows what kind of a crazy running geek I have become. Anyway, I drove by the high school. If they were selling logo-wear from that school somewhere in town, I swear I would have bought something.
Soon it was time to pick Tommy up and continue our journey home. We stopped for the night in the Erie, PA suburbs, near the casino. This is where we bought the Bad Monkey beer. I had heard of this beer before---and it was originally named "Butt Monkey." Seriously. It was disgusting, but I am saving the bottle in honor of Eddy. I did not realize until I researched it online that they stopped brewing this beer a couple of years ago. No wonder it tasted so nasty.
And the next day we drove home. It was after this trip that Tommy decided to redeem some frequent flyer miles for our Thanksgiving travels! We put a couple thousand miles on that Town & Country in the three weeks that my van was in the shop. We managed to suck all the newness out of that baby, all right.
I am taking a break from running the states for the next year. My next few marathons will be closer to home. I plan to pick it up again next October, after Susan’s wedding.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Leading Ladies Marathon, August 21
I ran this race back in August but have not made time to write about it until now. I took copious handwritten notes while I was there---did not have a laptop with me---with lots of detail about the trip, including the people I sat next to on the flights and what I ate for every single meal. But I will skip most of that stuff in this report. In fact, I won’t even go back and look at those notes right now. I’ll just see how much I can remember off the top of my head.
The Leading Ladies Marathon is an all-woman race in Spearfish, South Dakota. The race director, Elaine Doll-Dunn, is a Maniac and a 50-Stater and married to Jerry Dunn (race director of a few other races in similar places). I was looking forward to a small but well-executed event, by runners and for runners, and this race did not disappoint.
OTOH, I was a little worried about feeling awkwardly out of place, as I often do whenever surrounded by large groups of women who already know each other or who are really into the female bonding thing. I had hoped that my daughter and sister would be accompanying me to this race, but it did not work out. So I was travelling alone, and I really am a loner at heart, anyway. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to Spearfish. There were plenty of other women there by themselves. I was not made to feel weird at all.
How I Got There
From Cincinnati, I flew into Rapid City, SD via Minneapolis on Delta. I rented a car from Dollar (best price, offsite pickup but there was a shuttle driven by a friendly elder gentleman), and the car rental place was a Subaru dealer, so it was all good. I enjoyed my weekend of driving in my cute little Subaru sedan.
Where I Stayed
I stayed at the Holiday Inn Convention Center hotel in Spearfish, which was the race hotel. The pasta dinner and expo were at this hotel, and the bus to the start line departed from there. Had I known the area better, I might have stayed at one of the places across the street, which I suspect were cheaper---it would have been no big deal to walk up the hill and across the parking lot to catch the bus. There’s also a Best Western (I think that is what it was) in downtown Spearfish that is probably close to the finish line, and if not there is plenty of parking to drop a car at the finish and pick up the bus (which made a stop there) to the start. Holiday Inn was over-priced, but at least I got Priority Club points.
Tourist Attractions
I flew in Friday morning and walked around Mt. Rushmore before driving up to Spearfish. It was ridiculously cold and I didn't have quite the right clothes. Fortunately for me it warmed up a bit by race day.
Friday evening, I had dinner in downtown Spearfish and walked around some. Saturday morning, I had breakfast at Perkins across the street from the hotel, and then wandered the grounds of the historic D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery (in the park near the finish line of the race). Had lunch at a little coffee shop.
Sunday, post-race, I had lunch at a sports bar downtown, then walked around the High Plains Western Heritage Center. Had a chocolate milk shake at Culvers (a chain restaurant across from my hotel). Ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was decent but I wish I had gone there for lunch instead.
On Monday, I drove to the Crazy Horse Memorial before dropping off the rental car. In retrospect, I should have done that on Friday, also, because I only had an hour there on Monday.
Changed My Mind
So I went back and read this over and who am I kidding? Of course, if you are reading this, you want to know about the food. Maybe you don't need to read about the woman who sat next to me on the first flight who wiped down the entire seat cushion with an anitbacterial cloth before sitting down, or the guy on the second flight who had just returned from Alaska, but you do want to read about the food.
So here is more detail about the food:
Between flights in Minneapolis, I had a breakfast sandwich from Caribou Coffee. I was trying to eat healthy, so I had the egg white, cheese and spinach on a wheat bun. Kind of bland. I would not recommend it. And I'm not sure the egg white even makes up for the cheese.
Friday night dinner in downtown Spearfish: Ate at a somewhat overpriced place called the Bay Leaf Cafe. Food was just ok. Ambiance was of a slightly rundown 70s cafe, trying to be gourmet. I know, it is probably somebody's dream I am stomping on here. I had a cup of clam chowder, herb-crusted walleye, and a chocolate mint cheesecake (that last part was a little better than okay). Ordered a glass of wine that was terrible. Served in the wrong type of glass, and did not go well with the walleye. Actually could not finish it. Also, flies buzzing around in the restaurant that I had to fight off. Gross.
Saturday morning: Two cups of coffee in the room before showering. Perkins was Perkins. I had three pancakes with butter and syrup (you have to pick your poisons), 2 poached eggs, fruit instead of hash browns (ate some of it), OJ and more coffee.
Lunch at Common Ground coffee shop. Had smoked salmon cream cheese on a bagel. Read article in local magazine about how owner catches salmon in Alaska over the summer, and that was the salmon in my cream cheese.
Pasta dinner is covered below.
Race morning: two cups of coffee and half a Bobo's Oat Bar.
Post-race: Disappointed (as is mostly the case) in the variety of food at the finish line, and there is no one there to bring me a turkey sandwich. Good thing I got a ride back to the hotel swiftly. Back downtown, I had a burger at a sports bar, the name of which escapes me but that is where the waitress tipped me off to the shakes at Culvers, which I hit later that afternoon.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant. Surprisingly good. Had salmon with an orange butter glaze, incredible cheddar smashed potatoes (would like the recipe for those), and turkey wild rice cream soup (too rich for an appetizer, didn't finish it), and a Ranger IPA draft.
Breakfast on Monday morning: Coffee shop in the WalMart plaze across from the hotel. Nice ambiance inside but the coffee was weak and the bagel was a fluffy roll.
Try to eat "lunch" in the lone sitdown restaurant in the Rapid City airport, but there is just one overworked waitress for all the customers, so after 15 minutes I gave up and had a grilled chicken salad from the carryout place by the gate.
Where I Buy My Souvenirs
Race expo and packet pickup: This was surprisingly good for such a small event. There were a couple of local running stores represented, and they had brought an interesting assortment of products. I bought some stuff, including a running skirt, a couple of tops with running-related designs, and some spicy beef jerky. I also bought a cheap wine glass with the race logo hand painted on it, mostly because I felt sorry for the person selling them as there did not appear to be many takers. The race shirt is a short sleeved white performance top in a woman’s cut. It feels kind of itchy but I haven’t tested it out yet. The half-marathon shirt was in black, which I would have preferred.
Entertainment
Guest speaker: Pre-dinner. Better than expected. Helene Neville is a cancer survivor who ran across America last year. To be a little different and make it more challenging, she took a southern route (CA to FL) in the summer. She showed us slides and talked about the experiences she had on her trip.
I'll admit, I was not expecting much from her talk. I thought it was going to be just another story about some cancer survivor who ran across the country. Ho hum. But it was better than that. Helene was very real and refreshing, funny and sweet. I enjoyed her talk very much. Helene did not seem to be a very experienced motivational speaker (despite what her web site says!), but we were a gentle and welcoming audience, and receptive to her story. Maybe what helped make her presentation compelling was precisely the fact that she does not think of herself as very extraordinary. She is just a regular person who decided to try to do some extreme things.
Helene is a nurse, and her mission is to inspire other nurses to be healthy---to eat better and exercise. She does charity/fundraising work for a Catholic elementary school in the Philadelphia inner city. Her next adventure will be to run 300 miles non-stop, at the end of which she will be announcing her candidacy for the Senate, from Nevada, if I am remembering correctly. Note to self, get her book. Helene was not running in the race, but I remember seeing her volunteering at an aid station somewhere past the halfway mark.
Pasta Dinner
As I expected, the food was decent since we were in a hotel. Rigatoni in plain and whole wheat, spinach linguini, alfredo and meatball sauces, and rigatoni in a veggie cream sauce. And chocolate brownies. (I confess I had to go back to my notes for this part).
Dinner company better than expected. I sat at a table with five other women: Ruth from NYC (by way of Dayton, OH), Debbie from Columbus, OH, and another woman from Rapid City (but by way of Ashland, OH) so we were joking that we were the Ohio table, until we were joined by a couple of women from Oregon. We had some good conversations about the races we had done. The Oregon women were 50-Staters/Maniacs. Ruth was run-walking a marathon a month. She was not a 50-Stater yet, but she had multiple completions in NY and was working on doing it enough times to get a permanent automatic entry.
Debbie was doing just her second marathon and hoping to BQ after a 4:08 last year in Columbus. She said her workouts all indicated that she was just on the cusp, and she had a lot of people back home who were pulling for her. I asked if she had done her Yasso 800s and she didn’t know what I was talking about. The woman from Ashland was going to do the full as her first marathon, but had chickened out and switched to the half. She had just returned to the US from S. Korea with her husband, who is in the military, and they have a young child.
Bus Ride to the Start
I was down in the lobby at 3:45 am to catch the bus, which departed at 4. Yikes! But at least with the time change, it was two hours later for me. I saw next to a woman from the Denver, CO area. We were a little quiet at first but soon started chatting. She had done seven or eight marathons before, mostly in Colorado. She recommended Steamtown as the one for me to do in CO. Like Debbie from dinner, she was hoping for a BQ, but I thought she had a little more realistic idea about it than Debbie did.
At the Start
I hit the portapotty line right away, then took a couple of pictures. It was not too cool at the start, so I went with just my ratty old blue anorak over a technical tee. It was bright enough for my sunglasses, even at 6 am. I had not been crazy about the long ride to the start plus the wait outside once we got there, but I survived. It was not raining. I felt good. The altitude did not seem to be bothering me and I had no niggling aches. My goal was just to finish in under 5 hours, in relative comfort.
The Race Itself
The race begins with a little downhill jog, and then we were on a dirt/gravel road uphill for most of the first mile. People were commenting on how the race was supposed to be downhill, but I just thought that I was used to being lied to by race directors, so what else was new? I was hoping there would not be so much gravel, though!
Fortunately, we were soon on regular asphalt. The race was mostly downhill, but with enough breaks and changes in the cant of the road that you didn’t get fatigue from over use of specific muscles.
I ran most of the race alone, but almost always with other women in sight. Had a little conversation around mile six or so with a woman from New Jersey, who was breathing hard and complaining about the altitude just before she left me in the dust. She had run Boston four times, and she was further along the 50-State odyssey than am I, and she happily shared these facts with me. Is that a New Jersey thing? She appeared to be of Ethiopian heritage, so I decided that would explain how easily she could pass me despite her problems with the altitude.
I felt solidly mid-pack, not a bad place to be. The scenery was beautiful. I carried a camera but did not stop to take pics (except of the Elvis impersonator near the halfway mark). I was going to take pics if things started going really bad, but since I was running pretty well I didn’t want to stop.
I kept a pretty steady effort, slowing down a little in the second half but not dramatically so. Crossed the finish in 4:36:26 chip time, which put me 10 of 31 in my age group and 69 of 155 overall. My time was about what I expected, and it wasn't too much of a struggle. So once again I am left wondering what would happen if I actually trained properly.
I enjoyed this race and my weekend in South Dakota. I would highly recommend this race to any woman who appreciates a small but well-organized marathon in a scenic locale. It's a race that I would go back to again and again if I lived near there, but I don't, so I won't.
The Leading Ladies Marathon is an all-woman race in Spearfish, South Dakota. The race director, Elaine Doll-Dunn, is a Maniac and a 50-Stater and married to Jerry Dunn (race director of a few other races in similar places). I was looking forward to a small but well-executed event, by runners and for runners, and this race did not disappoint.
OTOH, I was a little worried about feeling awkwardly out of place, as I often do whenever surrounded by large groups of women who already know each other or who are really into the female bonding thing. I had hoped that my daughter and sister would be accompanying me to this race, but it did not work out. So I was travelling alone, and I really am a loner at heart, anyway. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to Spearfish. There were plenty of other women there by themselves. I was not made to feel weird at all.
How I Got There
From Cincinnati, I flew into Rapid City, SD via Minneapolis on Delta. I rented a car from Dollar (best price, offsite pickup but there was a shuttle driven by a friendly elder gentleman), and the car rental place was a Subaru dealer, so it was all good. I enjoyed my weekend of driving in my cute little Subaru sedan.
Where I Stayed
I stayed at the Holiday Inn Convention Center hotel in Spearfish, which was the race hotel. The pasta dinner and expo were at this hotel, and the bus to the start line departed from there. Had I known the area better, I might have stayed at one of the places across the street, which I suspect were cheaper---it would have been no big deal to walk up the hill and across the parking lot to catch the bus. There’s also a Best Western (I think that is what it was) in downtown Spearfish that is probably close to the finish line, and if not there is plenty of parking to drop a car at the finish and pick up the bus (which made a stop there) to the start. Holiday Inn was over-priced, but at least I got Priority Club points.
Tourist Attractions
I flew in Friday morning and walked around Mt. Rushmore before driving up to Spearfish. It was ridiculously cold and I didn't have quite the right clothes. Fortunately for me it warmed up a bit by race day.
Friday evening, I had dinner in downtown Spearfish and walked around some. Saturday morning, I had breakfast at Perkins across the street from the hotel, and then wandered the grounds of the historic D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery (in the park near the finish line of the race). Had lunch at a little coffee shop.
Sunday, post-race, I had lunch at a sports bar downtown, then walked around the High Plains Western Heritage Center. Had a chocolate milk shake at Culvers (a chain restaurant across from my hotel). Ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was decent but I wish I had gone there for lunch instead.
On Monday, I drove to the Crazy Horse Memorial before dropping off the rental car. In retrospect, I should have done that on Friday, also, because I only had an hour there on Monday.
Changed My Mind
So I went back and read this over and who am I kidding? Of course, if you are reading this, you want to know about the food. Maybe you don't need to read about the woman who sat next to me on the first flight who wiped down the entire seat cushion with an anitbacterial cloth before sitting down, or the guy on the second flight who had just returned from Alaska, but you do want to read about the food.
So here is more detail about the food:
Between flights in Minneapolis, I had a breakfast sandwich from Caribou Coffee. I was trying to eat healthy, so I had the egg white, cheese and spinach on a wheat bun. Kind of bland. I would not recommend it. And I'm not sure the egg white even makes up for the cheese.
Friday night dinner in downtown Spearfish: Ate at a somewhat overpriced place called the Bay Leaf Cafe. Food was just ok. Ambiance was of a slightly rundown 70s cafe, trying to be gourmet. I know, it is probably somebody's dream I am stomping on here. I had a cup of clam chowder, herb-crusted walleye, and a chocolate mint cheesecake (that last part was a little better than okay). Ordered a glass of wine that was terrible. Served in the wrong type of glass, and did not go well with the walleye. Actually could not finish it. Also, flies buzzing around in the restaurant that I had to fight off. Gross.
Saturday morning: Two cups of coffee in the room before showering. Perkins was Perkins. I had three pancakes with butter and syrup (you have to pick your poisons), 2 poached eggs, fruit instead of hash browns (ate some of it), OJ and more coffee.
Lunch at Common Ground coffee shop. Had smoked salmon cream cheese on a bagel. Read article in local magazine about how owner catches salmon in Alaska over the summer, and that was the salmon in my cream cheese.
Pasta dinner is covered below.
Race morning: two cups of coffee and half a Bobo's Oat Bar.
Post-race: Disappointed (as is mostly the case) in the variety of food at the finish line, and there is no one there to bring me a turkey sandwich. Good thing I got a ride back to the hotel swiftly. Back downtown, I had a burger at a sports bar, the name of which escapes me but that is where the waitress tipped me off to the shakes at Culvers, which I hit later that afternoon.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant. Surprisingly good. Had salmon with an orange butter glaze, incredible cheddar smashed potatoes (would like the recipe for those), and turkey wild rice cream soup (too rich for an appetizer, didn't finish it), and a Ranger IPA draft.
Breakfast on Monday morning: Coffee shop in the WalMart plaze across from the hotel. Nice ambiance inside but the coffee was weak and the bagel was a fluffy roll.
Try to eat "lunch" in the lone sitdown restaurant in the Rapid City airport, but there is just one overworked waitress for all the customers, so after 15 minutes I gave up and had a grilled chicken salad from the carryout place by the gate.
Where I Buy My Souvenirs
Race expo and packet pickup: This was surprisingly good for such a small event. There were a couple of local running stores represented, and they had brought an interesting assortment of products. I bought some stuff, including a running skirt, a couple of tops with running-related designs, and some spicy beef jerky. I also bought a cheap wine glass with the race logo hand painted on it, mostly because I felt sorry for the person selling them as there did not appear to be many takers. The race shirt is a short sleeved white performance top in a woman’s cut. It feels kind of itchy but I haven’t tested it out yet. The half-marathon shirt was in black, which I would have preferred.
Entertainment
Guest speaker: Pre-dinner. Better than expected. Helene Neville is a cancer survivor who ran across America last year. To be a little different and make it more challenging, she took a southern route (CA to FL) in the summer. She showed us slides and talked about the experiences she had on her trip.
I'll admit, I was not expecting much from her talk. I thought it was going to be just another story about some cancer survivor who ran across the country. Ho hum. But it was better than that. Helene was very real and refreshing, funny and sweet. I enjoyed her talk very much. Helene did not seem to be a very experienced motivational speaker (despite what her web site says!), but we were a gentle and welcoming audience, and receptive to her story. Maybe what helped make her presentation compelling was precisely the fact that she does not think of herself as very extraordinary. She is just a regular person who decided to try to do some extreme things.
Helene is a nurse, and her mission is to inspire other nurses to be healthy---to eat better and exercise. She does charity/fundraising work for a Catholic elementary school in the Philadelphia inner city. Her next adventure will be to run 300 miles non-stop, at the end of which she will be announcing her candidacy for the Senate, from Nevada, if I am remembering correctly. Note to self, get her book. Helene was not running in the race, but I remember seeing her volunteering at an aid station somewhere past the halfway mark.
Pasta Dinner
As I expected, the food was decent since we were in a hotel. Rigatoni in plain and whole wheat, spinach linguini, alfredo and meatball sauces, and rigatoni in a veggie cream sauce. And chocolate brownies. (I confess I had to go back to my notes for this part).
Dinner company better than expected. I sat at a table with five other women: Ruth from NYC (by way of Dayton, OH), Debbie from Columbus, OH, and another woman from Rapid City (but by way of Ashland, OH) so we were joking that we were the Ohio table, until we were joined by a couple of women from Oregon. We had some good conversations about the races we had done. The Oregon women were 50-Staters/Maniacs. Ruth was run-walking a marathon a month. She was not a 50-Stater yet, but she had multiple completions in NY and was working on doing it enough times to get a permanent automatic entry.
Debbie was doing just her second marathon and hoping to BQ after a 4:08 last year in Columbus. She said her workouts all indicated that she was just on the cusp, and she had a lot of people back home who were pulling for her. I asked if she had done her Yasso 800s and she didn’t know what I was talking about. The woman from Ashland was going to do the full as her first marathon, but had chickened out and switched to the half. She had just returned to the US from S. Korea with her husband, who is in the military, and they have a young child.
Bus Ride to the Start
I was down in the lobby at 3:45 am to catch the bus, which departed at 4. Yikes! But at least with the time change, it was two hours later for me. I saw next to a woman from the Denver, CO area. We were a little quiet at first but soon started chatting. She had done seven or eight marathons before, mostly in Colorado. She recommended Steamtown as the one for me to do in CO. Like Debbie from dinner, she was hoping for a BQ, but I thought she had a little more realistic idea about it than Debbie did.
At the Start
I hit the portapotty line right away, then took a couple of pictures. It was not too cool at the start, so I went with just my ratty old blue anorak over a technical tee. It was bright enough for my sunglasses, even at 6 am. I had not been crazy about the long ride to the start plus the wait outside once we got there, but I survived. It was not raining. I felt good. The altitude did not seem to be bothering me and I had no niggling aches. My goal was just to finish in under 5 hours, in relative comfort.
The Race Itself
The race begins with a little downhill jog, and then we were on a dirt/gravel road uphill for most of the first mile. People were commenting on how the race was supposed to be downhill, but I just thought that I was used to being lied to by race directors, so what else was new? I was hoping there would not be so much gravel, though!
Fortunately, we were soon on regular asphalt. The race was mostly downhill, but with enough breaks and changes in the cant of the road that you didn’t get fatigue from over use of specific muscles.
I ran most of the race alone, but almost always with other women in sight. Had a little conversation around mile six or so with a woman from New Jersey, who was breathing hard and complaining about the altitude just before she left me in the dust. She had run Boston four times, and she was further along the 50-State odyssey than am I, and she happily shared these facts with me. Is that a New Jersey thing? She appeared to be of Ethiopian heritage, so I decided that would explain how easily she could pass me despite her problems with the altitude.
I felt solidly mid-pack, not a bad place to be. The scenery was beautiful. I carried a camera but did not stop to take pics (except of the Elvis impersonator near the halfway mark). I was going to take pics if things started going really bad, but since I was running pretty well I didn’t want to stop.
I kept a pretty steady effort, slowing down a little in the second half but not dramatically so. Crossed the finish in 4:36:26 chip time, which put me 10 of 31 in my age group and 69 of 155 overall. My time was about what I expected, and it wasn't too much of a struggle. So once again I am left wondering what would happen if I actually trained properly.
I enjoyed this race and my weekend in South Dakota. I would highly recommend this race to any woman who appreciates a small but well-organized marathon in a scenic locale. It's a race that I would go back to again and again if I lived near there, but I don't, so I won't.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Warrior Run 5K
I wanted to race one more 5k before my marathon next weekend. At last week’s race, I was not completely confident that the course was accurately measured, and I know I lost some time when I stopped to mess around with my race number. I’ve been feeling pretty good lately and I wanted to see just what kind of speed I really have.
Picked up my bib number at The Running Spot on Friday afternoon. The shirt is included. It’s orange, which is okay with me. Cheerful. The volunteer told me they were using chip timing but we had to pick up our chips up at the start.
Red Wine & Gin are Not a Race-Ready Combo
Friday night I made steak for dinner (which seemed to necessitate sharing a bottle of Shiraz). Prior to dinner, it just felt right to celebrate one of the last warm evenings of the season with a gin & tonic on the patio. I should have known better.
I saw a woman whom I thought might have been my age group competitor, Cyndi K., but I was not completely sure. Otherwise I didn’t see anybody there I knew.
A Little Friendly Competition
She said she thought she had seen me at a few of the trail races, and her name was Cyndi. I had to stop myself from saying her name before she did. I told her I was Monica. We chatted for a bit about how we just do these things for fun, and we really don’t train very hard, and how we just love to get out and run in these different parts of town (that last part is true). Cyndi said that she is really more into triathlons (of course she is). I was surprised that she didn’t know that the Ironman was going on in Kona as we spoke. I told her that I had been watching it streamed live before I left for the race, and the elites were just about halfway through the bike at that point.
The Warrior Run, in its second year, is a fundraiser for the suicide prevention program at Children’s Hospital Medical Center (“Surviving the Teens”). The race was created by the friends and family of Jim Miller, who was a runner and active member of the community before his death from suicide in 2008. You can read about Jim Miller here. You can read a newspaper article about last year’s race here.
I picked this race out of the available options for a number of reasons---it was for a good cause, close to home, they said there would be food afterwards, the timing Saturday night would enable me to still get a long run in on Sunday, and I am familiar with the course. It is run almost entirely through pleasant residential streets in the village of Mariemont. And it also helped that when I looked at the results, the times from last year were not that competitive, so I figured I had a chance at another moment of glory. I wanted to finish in the top ten women and win my age group.Also, I had a fair amount of confidence that the race director for this one would put together an accurately measured course.
All of these things turned out to be true, except this year, the field was a bit more competitive.Picked up my bib number at The Running Spot on Friday afternoon. The shirt is included. It’s orange, which is okay with me. Cheerful. The volunteer told me they were using chip timing but we had to pick up our chips up at the start.
Red Wine & Gin are Not a Race-Ready Combo
Friday night I made steak for dinner (which seemed to necessitate sharing a bottle of Shiraz). Prior to dinner, it just felt right to celebrate one of the last warm evenings of the season with a gin & tonic on the patio. I should have known better.
I just can’t drink that much anymore, and it is always a bad idea for me to mix gin and red wine in the same evening. I didn’t feel that bad Saturday morning, but by afternoon I was dragging. Had to take a nap. Had to have three cups of coffee. And a cup of tea. Really wasn’t in the mood to race but went over anyway.
Parking was recommended at Mariemont High School, but that is a mile away from the start/finish of the race. I need a mile warm up anyway but I didn’t want to walk that far afterwards. They did have a shuttle bus, but I didn’t want to deal with that. Fortunately, it was no problem finding a spot in the lot behind the Dilly Café/Mariemont Inn, only about a quarter mile from the start.The race start and finish was on Pleasant St. (remember, I said it was a pleasant neighborhood) next to the Bell Tower Park. There were lots of kids and families gathered in the park, hanging out by the playground. Booths were set up offering the promised food items, including pizza, chili, ice cream, baked goods, and fruit cups. I liked what I saw. I didn’t think I would be very hungry after the race but maybe some ice cream.
After attaching my chip to my left shoe, I stopped at the portapotties. My mouth felt dry, so I grabbed a bottle of water from a cooler and headed out for my warm up. I wondered if I really needed to get any warmer. It was much warmer out than last weekend. I felt crappy but I made myself do a mile anyway. I jogged down the street and saw where the one mile marker was positioned. Good to know that there would be mile markers at this one. I passed by an aid station where the volunteer asked me if the race had started already. No, not for another 20 minutes, I told her.I did some strides. I still felt yucky. I was thinking that maybe if my first mile was over 9 minutes I would just drop out. I was thinking that if it looked like I was not going to break 25 minutes, I would not cross the finish line. I was thinking maybe it was a stupid idea to be doing this race a week before the Hartford Marathon.
I finished the bottle of water. I made another stop at the portapotties, and took my place behind the start line. We were packed in tight on Pleasant St. I tried to find a spot close to the front and ahead of any obvious walker-types. The walkers are supposed to start after the runners but sometimes they don’t get the message, or maybe they don’t realize that they are walkers until the rest of us start running.I saw a woman whom I thought might have been my age group competitor, Cyndi K., but I was not completely sure. Otherwise I didn’t see anybody there I knew.
And then we were off, and I discovered that I had not entirely succeeded in getting ahead of the walkers, because I had to elbow a couple of women aside right away. After that it was crowded, but moving at the right pace. We headed out onto Rt. 50 for a few blocks, before turning back into the neighborhood for the remainder of the race. I was passed by one woman who looked like she was in my age group, but I caught up to and overtook another couple of possible rivals before the first half mile.
I felt bad. I did not know if it was because I was running fast, or if it was just because I was still hung over. I remind myself about how I am trying to stop giving in to that desire to quit, in running and in many other parts of life. And dropping out really is not in the spirit of the day.I hit the first mile marker in 7:47. It was comforting to realize that I felt bad because I was actually running what for me is a fairly fast pace.
Now I knew that I was not going to drop out. I told myself, 16, 17 more minutes, you’ll be done. You can handle that, right?Picked up a cup of water at the aid station and swished some around my mouth. Walked for just a few paces. Halfway into the race and I was no longer thinking about feeling hung over. I was just racing. Mile two was 8:09. Okay, a bit slower, but maybe there is a slight incline here and also I did lose a few seconds at the aid station.
In 5ks, I always start counting down the minutes until I will be done after I start the last mile. So now I was telling myself, eight or nine more minutes and I would be done. You can do this for eight more minutes, I told myself.As we approached the three mile mark and the turn for home, I noticed a couple of women that I remembered from the start, who might have been in my age group. I didn’t think I could catch them, but when we turned the corner it seemed like they were slowing down.
I kicked and passed those two women (and a few men) and almost caught one other, crossing the finish line in 24:29 official time. I had the last mile as 7:52 on my watch, and 40 seconds for the last bit. I was out of breath but I did not throw up. Yay for me.I was quite pleased with my time, which was about the same as last weekend on a much cooler day. Hangover was gone. I felt fabulous. I love racing!
I walked around for a bit, and then decided to have a little ice cream. And a brownie. Incredible brownie. I went back to the dessert booth to inquire about the caterer who had made the brownies. I was still walking around stuffing my face with brownies and ice cream when Cyndi K. came over and introduced herself to me.A Little Friendly Competition
She said she thought she had seen me at a few of the trail races, and her name was Cyndi. I had to stop myself from saying her name before she did. I told her I was Monica. We chatted for a bit about how we just do these things for fun, and we really don’t train very hard, and how we just love to get out and run in these different parts of town (that last part is true). Cyndi said that she is really more into triathlons (of course she is). I was surprised that she didn’t know that the Ironman was going on in Kona as we spoke. I told her that I had been watching it streamed live before I left for the race, and the elites were just about halfway through the bike at that point.
“I just love the human interest stories, that’s my favorite part.” said Cyndi.
“Me too,” I said.Sure we do.
And more like that for a little bit. I was conscious of having chocolate fudge all over my face. I told Cyndi I needed to be heading out, and we said our goodbyes until the next time.
When I tell Tommy this story later, he just has a good laugh about how funny women are! I mean, if Cyndi really doesn’t care that I have beaten her in our last four races, why did she come over to say hello? All out of the blue and at random like that? Tommy asks why we can’t admit that we are competing with each other.Well, mostly I am competing with myself. But I can’t help but be aware of the others, these people that I see every week and whose names get published along with mine on lists with our respective times next to them. We are racing, after all. We are racing to see how fast we are. But we are also racing to see if we are faster than somebody else.
I went off to look for a napkin. I decided not to stay for the awards, because on the web site they said they were only going one deep in the age groups. I was pretty sure I had beaten Cyndi (note that we did not discuss our finish times or places at all), but I didn’t know who else was there. This particular race director sometimes is a little slow getting the awards going, and I didn’t want to hang around for an hour and not get anything.Turns out, I was 3 of 13 in the age group, and they did go three deep on the awards. Oh well, I suspect it was not anything I really need to add to my collection. I was 13 of 186 women, and 61 of 237 runners overall. By comparison, last year my time would have easily won the age group and finished in the top ten women. But it was more competitive this year.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable event, and one that I will add to the calendar for the future.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Glenwood Gardens 2011
And now, I will write about the "trail" race I ran on Saturday night, September 17. Glenwood Gardens is a park in the northwest suburbs on Cincinnati. I have never been to this park during the day, but it is supposed to be pretty. It is hard to tell at night!
This was my second time at this event. Because we are running in the dark, and there are no street lights in the park, it helps to wear a headlamp. I purchased one last year just for this race, and I haven't had a reason to use it again since.
Last year I was recovering from bronchitis, and getting ready for the New Hampshire marathon. Still, I ran faster than I expected. So this year, since I have been pretty healthy lately and my training is going well, I was hoping for some significant improvement.
This doesn't really qualify as a true "trail run," even though it is included as part of the Dirt Days trail series. But this is good for me, because I am relatively better on the roads than I am on the trails. The course is mostly flat, but a large part of it is on a gravel path.
And that was the only little hitch in my plans for the evening, because the trail shoes I wanted to wear, the well-cushioned Saucony Xodus 2.0s with the great traction, were missing one of their insoles. The insole disappeared after the last time I wore these shoes, which was to show Zen in conformation outdoors in the rain. I took the insoles out so the shoes could dry, and one of them disappeared. I think Zen got ahold of it and Tommy took it away from her but he doesn't remember what he did with it and she is not telling, either. I have been unable to find a replacement insole that works for this shoe.
So, I put on my more lightweight Salomon trail shoes, which are not very well cushioned and don't have much tread left on them either. The tread is not so important but cushion would be nice. At the last minute, I throw a pair of regular running shoes (Nike Structures) in my bag. When I get to the race, I decide that I am better off wearing the regular shoes, because it is not a real trail race after all, and the extra bit of cushion will protect my feet better on the gravel.
After parking my car, I picked up my bib number and one of the little red flashing lights they want us to wear on our backs to aid with visibility. I hook the light on the back of my cap. After a visit to the rest room, I spend a little time in the car. It is too early for a warmup but I get antsy. So I decide to go out for a little walk around the race course. This gets boring pretty quick so I end up jogging anyway.
I'm not good at map reading, so I didn't spend any time looking at the race map, and I also don't remember a whole lot about the route from last year. I remember that we start on the paved path and run that for at least a half mile or more before we hit the gravel, and that we seem to retrace our steps or repeat a loop somewhere along the way. And that's about it for what I remember.
There are little lights set out to mark the course, but there is no signage anywhere you have to change direction. I jog around for awhile, not sure where I am going, until I start to get nervous that I am going to get lost in the park and miss the start of the race. So I head back towards the sounds of the music, and the light on top of the hill near the parking lot. I make it back in time for another pit stop, and ditch my jacket in the car.
At the start line, I line up a little closer to the front than usual, near some of the women I recognize from the other trail races. People are chatting about their standings in the Dirty Dozen. I am thinking about how my standing is going to improve dramatically after this race. The standings are based on your five best times, and this will be my sixth race, which means that my horrific 70th place from the very first race last March will drop off. Even if I am the very last woman in this race---which isn't going to happen---there are few enough entrants that my placement will be much better.
There is a woman, about my age, whom I have beaten soundly in my last couple of road races. who also does these trail races, but I have never beaten her in a trail race. I'm not 100 percent sure I recognize her, and it is dark out which doesn't help, but I want to try to beat her in this one. I figure since this race is more like a typical road race than a trail run, I have a good shot at that.
From the start, I feel like I am further ahead in the pack than I was last year, and I feel good. There are no mile markers in this race, and I am so unfamiliar with the park, that for most of the race I really have only a vague idea of where I am. I find myself running most of the race with a man and a young girl. The course feels different to me than what I remember from last year, but I don't remember it very clearly and it is also possible that our route is actually different this year. The turns and the areas where the path forks are not especially well-marked. There are supposed to be people out there directing us but there don't seem to be as many people as they need.
So I stick with this guy and the girl and try to turn where they do, assuming that we are following the right path. After awhile they pull away, but fortunately for me at that point the remainder of the route is pretty clear.
A young man and woman (younger than me, anyway) catch up to me. The woman is wearing a Boston Marathon shirt. I ask if they know how much more we have left, and the woman says about a half-mile. I let them pull ahead, even though I could stay ahead of them if I really tried. I guess I am intimidated by her Boston shirt and figure she should be faster than I am.
Soon we are approaching the lights of the finish line. I can see on the clock that my time is much better than last year. I kick and try to see if I can catch BQ woman and her friend, but I run out of real estate. Finish the race in 30:08, which is two and a half minutes faster than last year.
I hear that someone has ordered pizza, so I hang around to get some. After I change into dry clothes, the pizza tastes pretty good to me. I sit on a bench, where I am joined by another woman, and we chat about the trail races in general. We agree that they are a fun change of pace. I say that I am happy that I ran so much faster than last year.
Then it is time for the awards. I do not make the top ten women or the top ten age graded, and I do not win a door prize. That's okay. Later, I find out that I just missed placing. I was 11th woman of 47 (43 of 112 overall), and I was also 11th overall of 112 runners based on age-graded times. That is the best age-graded time I've ever run in one of these "trail" races.
The bummer is that if I had not let that woman in the Boston shirt pass me, I would have placed as 10th woman and 10th age-graded. And won, I think, a pair of socks? Another lesson in not slacking off too soon. I did not have to let that woman pass me, but it just did not seem worth staying ahead of her at the time.
However, I did manage to beat the woman I had never before beaten in a trail race, and by several minutes. So that was pretty cool. Still not sure who she is. I must have been ahead of her almost the whole way, because I didn't really pass anybody after the first quarter mile.
And my 11th place finish does significantly improve my place in the standings, by wiping out that awful 70th place from the first race.
One more trail race to go on October 23, the Stone Steps 27K. I'm hoping to improve on my time from last year at that one, even if I don't manage to finish any further ahead. Last year I was second to last, but it is such a small field of runners I could be faster this year and still be almost last.
This was my second time at this event. Because we are running in the dark, and there are no street lights in the park, it helps to wear a headlamp. I purchased one last year just for this race, and I haven't had a reason to use it again since.
Last year I was recovering from bronchitis, and getting ready for the New Hampshire marathon. Still, I ran faster than I expected. So this year, since I have been pretty healthy lately and my training is going well, I was hoping for some significant improvement.
This doesn't really qualify as a true "trail run," even though it is included as part of the Dirt Days trail series. But this is good for me, because I am relatively better on the roads than I am on the trails. The course is mostly flat, but a large part of it is on a gravel path.
And that was the only little hitch in my plans for the evening, because the trail shoes I wanted to wear, the well-cushioned Saucony Xodus 2.0s with the great traction, were missing one of their insoles. The insole disappeared after the last time I wore these shoes, which was to show Zen in conformation outdoors in the rain. I took the insoles out so the shoes could dry, and one of them disappeared. I think Zen got ahold of it and Tommy took it away from her but he doesn't remember what he did with it and she is not telling, either. I have been unable to find a replacement insole that works for this shoe.
So, I put on my more lightweight Salomon trail shoes, which are not very well cushioned and don't have much tread left on them either. The tread is not so important but cushion would be nice. At the last minute, I throw a pair of regular running shoes (Nike Structures) in my bag. When I get to the race, I decide that I am better off wearing the regular shoes, because it is not a real trail race after all, and the extra bit of cushion will protect my feet better on the gravel.
After parking my car, I picked up my bib number and one of the little red flashing lights they want us to wear on our backs to aid with visibility. I hook the light on the back of my cap. After a visit to the rest room, I spend a little time in the car. It is too early for a warmup but I get antsy. So I decide to go out for a little walk around the race course. This gets boring pretty quick so I end up jogging anyway.
I'm not good at map reading, so I didn't spend any time looking at the race map, and I also don't remember a whole lot about the route from last year. I remember that we start on the paved path and run that for at least a half mile or more before we hit the gravel, and that we seem to retrace our steps or repeat a loop somewhere along the way. And that's about it for what I remember.
There are little lights set out to mark the course, but there is no signage anywhere you have to change direction. I jog around for awhile, not sure where I am going, until I start to get nervous that I am going to get lost in the park and miss the start of the race. So I head back towards the sounds of the music, and the light on top of the hill near the parking lot. I make it back in time for another pit stop, and ditch my jacket in the car.
At the start line, I line up a little closer to the front than usual, near some of the women I recognize from the other trail races. People are chatting about their standings in the Dirty Dozen. I am thinking about how my standing is going to improve dramatically after this race. The standings are based on your five best times, and this will be my sixth race, which means that my horrific 70th place from the very first race last March will drop off. Even if I am the very last woman in this race---which isn't going to happen---there are few enough entrants that my placement will be much better.
There is a woman, about my age, whom I have beaten soundly in my last couple of road races. who also does these trail races, but I have never beaten her in a trail race. I'm not 100 percent sure I recognize her, and it is dark out which doesn't help, but I want to try to beat her in this one. I figure since this race is more like a typical road race than a trail run, I have a good shot at that.
From the start, I feel like I am further ahead in the pack than I was last year, and I feel good. There are no mile markers in this race, and I am so unfamiliar with the park, that for most of the race I really have only a vague idea of where I am. I find myself running most of the race with a man and a young girl. The course feels different to me than what I remember from last year, but I don't remember it very clearly and it is also possible that our route is actually different this year. The turns and the areas where the path forks are not especially well-marked. There are supposed to be people out there directing us but there don't seem to be as many people as they need.
So I stick with this guy and the girl and try to turn where they do, assuming that we are following the right path. After awhile they pull away, but fortunately for me at that point the remainder of the route is pretty clear.
A young man and woman (younger than me, anyway) catch up to me. The woman is wearing a Boston Marathon shirt. I ask if they know how much more we have left, and the woman says about a half-mile. I let them pull ahead, even though I could stay ahead of them if I really tried. I guess I am intimidated by her Boston shirt and figure she should be faster than I am.
Soon we are approaching the lights of the finish line. I can see on the clock that my time is much better than last year. I kick and try to see if I can catch BQ woman and her friend, but I run out of real estate. Finish the race in 30:08, which is two and a half minutes faster than last year.
I hear that someone has ordered pizza, so I hang around to get some. After I change into dry clothes, the pizza tastes pretty good to me. I sit on a bench, where I am joined by another woman, and we chat about the trail races in general. We agree that they are a fun change of pace. I say that I am happy that I ran so much faster than last year.
Then it is time for the awards. I do not make the top ten women or the top ten age graded, and I do not win a door prize. That's okay. Later, I find out that I just missed placing. I was 11th woman of 47 (43 of 112 overall), and I was also 11th overall of 112 runners based on age-graded times. That is the best age-graded time I've ever run in one of these "trail" races.
The bummer is that if I had not let that woman in the Boston shirt pass me, I would have placed as 10th woman and 10th age-graded. And won, I think, a pair of socks? Another lesson in not slacking off too soon. I did not have to let that woman pass me, but it just did not seem worth staying ahead of her at the time.
However, I did manage to beat the woman I had never before beaten in a trail race, and by several minutes. So that was pretty cool. Still not sure who she is. I must have been ahead of her almost the whole way, because I didn't really pass anybody after the first quarter mile.
And my 11th place finish does significantly improve my place in the standings, by wiping out that awful 70th place from the first race.
One more trail race to go on October 23, the Stone Steps 27K. I'm hoping to improve on my time from last year at that one, even if I don't manage to finish any further ahead. Last year I was second to last, but it is such a small field of runners I could be faster this year and still be almost last.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Aviator Flight Fest 5k
I did this race on Saturday morning, October 1. After running so well in my last trail race a few weeks ago, I wanted to see what kind of 5k speed I have right now.
This is the first year for this race. There were actually quite a number of races going on last weekend in Cincinnati. Something like 8 or 9 5ks, plus a trail half-marathon up at Caesar's Creek. I would have gone for the trail race, but Tommy was going to be at an all day shooting match and I didn't want to leave the dogs home alone for that long.
I picked this race because they promised technical tops and pancakes afterwards. So it sounded like the best value of the morning 5k races. I might have done the Reggae Run in the park by my house on Saturday night, but that is such a tough course and my chances of making it into the top 50 women to win a coffee mug are not great. I did sign us up for the Reggae Run anyway so we would get race shirts and tickets to the party (which I did attend on my own but that is another story).
The race starts and finishes at Sycamore Junior High (whose team name is "The Aviators"), and follows a loop course over almost entirely residential streets. There is an aerial video of the course here. The only difference in what we ran was that we entered the track in a slightly different place, ran a little over a half lap, and then came up the middle of the field to the 50 yard line for the finish.
Left the house at 7:30 am for the 8:30 race. I'd never been to Sycamore Junior High before. Never had any reason to go there. It is a 1960s era structure in very good repair. Parked in the side lot of the school, and walked through the school to a back parking lot where they were having a fitness festival (to start after the race).
I was able to do my warmup on the track. Pretty nice facility for a junior high, I would say: Turf infield and tartan-type track. It was supposed to be sunny that morning according to the weather forecast from the night before, but instead it was overcast and drizzling. And cold! Temperature in the 40s. I was wearing capri-length tights and a long sleeved shirt, and I added a water-repellant pullover. Kept the pullover on for my warmup.
And here is where I made a crucial mistake. Usually, if I am wearing a jacket during a race, I still pin my race number inside on my shirt. Because I know eventually the jacket is coming off. For some reason, this time, I assume that I am really going to keep that pullover on. Which was ridiculous. In a 5k, where I was going to be really booking it? I seriously thought I was going to finish the race with that pullover on? But for some reason, on this day, I decided to pin my number on the outside of the pullover.
Lined up for pre-race announcements in the parking lot. This went on for awhile, because they wanted to thank every possible person who contributed anything to this first time event. Most runners were wearing the technical top, which was that garish yellow-green color that seems to be popular in race giveaways this year. But it was a pleasant community atmosphere, similar to the Clark 5k from a few weeks ago, although I was assuming there would be some more competitive runners among the young people at Sycamore. I was wrong about that.
We all walked out to the start on Cooper Rd. in front of the school. I lined up pretty close to the front. I didn't see anyone I recognized, and I wondered which of the 8 or 9 other races my regular age group competition had selected this time.
The course is a nice one. It is fairly flat with just some slight rolls along the way---can't even really classify them as hills, but just enough variation to keep the legs from getting fatigued. There were two aid stations, or maybe it was just one aid station that we passed by twice. There is a part of the course where we do retrace our steps.
My only real complaint about the actual race is that, just as in the Clark race, there were no mile markers. I don't understand what is up with this. I know a lot of people are now wearing Garmins or other tracking devices, but still it would be nice to know where the race director thinks the miles begin and end when I am really trying to figure out my pacing.
But it was not too big a deal because at least I had watched the video, and when we were running back towards the school I had a good idea how much race was left.
It was about halfway through the race that I decided to ditch the pullover. Now, what I should have done, if I had been thinking clearly, was simply to remove it and tie it across my waist. There was no real reason that my race number had to be pinned to my front for the entire duration of the race. It is not like there was a photographer out there taking pictures along the way and the only way to identify me would be by my race number.
But no, I decided that I should unpin the number and re-pin it to my shirt. I have done this before without breaking stride but it has been many years. Many years since I have been quite this stupid. So, I try to unpin and re-pin it while running and that doesn't go so well. No blood shed, but I end up having to stop and walk for a bit, during which time I am passed by several people that I had passed easily earlier in the race. I end up with the number pinned very awkwardly to my front, with just the top two pins, before I give up.
I tell myself that after this little rest, I can recover and run faster. I spend the rest of the race chasing down all those people who passed me during my mental lapse. I achieve this, but I still wonder what my time would have been if I had just run properly the entire way.
My finish time on my watch was 24:34, which was my fastest 5k in a number of years, so I was pretty pleased---although without having those mile markers along the way I do find myself wondering about the accuracy of the course. It felt more accurate than the Clark race did, however.
I walked around for a few minutes, drank some Gatorade, and had a pancake with butter and syrup. I figured out that if you roll them up, these post-race pancakes are easy to eat with one hand while standing up! I have learned from my last post-race pancake experience that it is good to get on the pancake line before the bulk of the field has finished the race!
So, two good things: ran a decent time and got to eat a pancake.
I heard them announce that the awards would not take place until 10 am, when the fitness festival was supposed to start. It was only about 9:20 then, so I decided not to stick around. I can understand that they had to wait until most people had finished, and that they wanted to encourage people to stay for the festival, but it was a cold and miserable morning and I needed to get home. Plus I knew they were only going one deep in each age group, so it didn't seem worth hanging around on the off chance that I had won.
So, that is my second complaint about the event: I wish they had started the awards at 9:30 or even 9:45. Then I might have hung around and even visited the fitness festival afterwards. Or, I wish they had posted results as we had finished. If I knew I had won an award, I would have hung around until 10 am to collect it.
When the results were posted online, I found out that I had won my age group after all (1 of 8 in the age group, 8 of 90 women, and 40 of 180 runners overall, not too shabby). They had my time as 24:22, which was 12 seconds faster than my watch. I know that is wrong but I'll take it! I'm pretty sure the placement is right.
Planning to run one more 5k this Saturday night to get one more take on what my current speed is at, before next weekend's marathon, and then starting all over again with some new goals.
This is the first year for this race. There were actually quite a number of races going on last weekend in Cincinnati. Something like 8 or 9 5ks, plus a trail half-marathon up at Caesar's Creek. I would have gone for the trail race, but Tommy was going to be at an all day shooting match and I didn't want to leave the dogs home alone for that long.
I picked this race because they promised technical tops and pancakes afterwards. So it sounded like the best value of the morning 5k races. I might have done the Reggae Run in the park by my house on Saturday night, but that is such a tough course and my chances of making it into the top 50 women to win a coffee mug are not great. I did sign us up for the Reggae Run anyway so we would get race shirts and tickets to the party (which I did attend on my own but that is another story).
The race starts and finishes at Sycamore Junior High (whose team name is "The Aviators"), and follows a loop course over almost entirely residential streets. There is an aerial video of the course here. The only difference in what we ran was that we entered the track in a slightly different place, ran a little over a half lap, and then came up the middle of the field to the 50 yard line for the finish.
Left the house at 7:30 am for the 8:30 race. I'd never been to Sycamore Junior High before. Never had any reason to go there. It is a 1960s era structure in very good repair. Parked in the side lot of the school, and walked through the school to a back parking lot where they were having a fitness festival (to start after the race).
I was able to do my warmup on the track. Pretty nice facility for a junior high, I would say: Turf infield and tartan-type track. It was supposed to be sunny that morning according to the weather forecast from the night before, but instead it was overcast and drizzling. And cold! Temperature in the 40s. I was wearing capri-length tights and a long sleeved shirt, and I added a water-repellant pullover. Kept the pullover on for my warmup.
And here is where I made a crucial mistake. Usually, if I am wearing a jacket during a race, I still pin my race number inside on my shirt. Because I know eventually the jacket is coming off. For some reason, this time, I assume that I am really going to keep that pullover on. Which was ridiculous. In a 5k, where I was going to be really booking it? I seriously thought I was going to finish the race with that pullover on? But for some reason, on this day, I decided to pin my number on the outside of the pullover.
Lined up for pre-race announcements in the parking lot. This went on for awhile, because they wanted to thank every possible person who contributed anything to this first time event. Most runners were wearing the technical top, which was that garish yellow-green color that seems to be popular in race giveaways this year. But it was a pleasant community atmosphere, similar to the Clark 5k from a few weeks ago, although I was assuming there would be some more competitive runners among the young people at Sycamore. I was wrong about that.
We all walked out to the start on Cooper Rd. in front of the school. I lined up pretty close to the front. I didn't see anyone I recognized, and I wondered which of the 8 or 9 other races my regular age group competition had selected this time.
The course is a nice one. It is fairly flat with just some slight rolls along the way---can't even really classify them as hills, but just enough variation to keep the legs from getting fatigued. There were two aid stations, or maybe it was just one aid station that we passed by twice. There is a part of the course where we do retrace our steps.
My only real complaint about the actual race is that, just as in the Clark race, there were no mile markers. I don't understand what is up with this. I know a lot of people are now wearing Garmins or other tracking devices, but still it would be nice to know where the race director thinks the miles begin and end when I am really trying to figure out my pacing.
But it was not too big a deal because at least I had watched the video, and when we were running back towards the school I had a good idea how much race was left.
It was about halfway through the race that I decided to ditch the pullover. Now, what I should have done, if I had been thinking clearly, was simply to remove it and tie it across my waist. There was no real reason that my race number had to be pinned to my front for the entire duration of the race. It is not like there was a photographer out there taking pictures along the way and the only way to identify me would be by my race number.
But no, I decided that I should unpin the number and re-pin it to my shirt. I have done this before without breaking stride but it has been many years. Many years since I have been quite this stupid. So, I try to unpin and re-pin it while running and that doesn't go so well. No blood shed, but I end up having to stop and walk for a bit, during which time I am passed by several people that I had passed easily earlier in the race. I end up with the number pinned very awkwardly to my front, with just the top two pins, before I give up.
I tell myself that after this little rest, I can recover and run faster. I spend the rest of the race chasing down all those people who passed me during my mental lapse. I achieve this, but I still wonder what my time would have been if I had just run properly the entire way.
My finish time on my watch was 24:34, which was my fastest 5k in a number of years, so I was pretty pleased---although without having those mile markers along the way I do find myself wondering about the accuracy of the course. It felt more accurate than the Clark race did, however.
I walked around for a few minutes, drank some Gatorade, and had a pancake with butter and syrup. I figured out that if you roll them up, these post-race pancakes are easy to eat with one hand while standing up! I have learned from my last post-race pancake experience that it is good to get on the pancake line before the bulk of the field has finished the race!
So, two good things: ran a decent time and got to eat a pancake.
I heard them announce that the awards would not take place until 10 am, when the fitness festival was supposed to start. It was only about 9:20 then, so I decided not to stick around. I can understand that they had to wait until most people had finished, and that they wanted to encourage people to stay for the festival, but it was a cold and miserable morning and I needed to get home. Plus I knew they were only going one deep in each age group, so it didn't seem worth hanging around on the off chance that I had won.
So, that is my second complaint about the event: I wish they had started the awards at 9:30 or even 9:45. Then I might have hung around and even visited the fitness festival afterwards. Or, I wish they had posted results as we had finished. If I knew I had won an award, I would have hung around until 10 am to collect it.
When the results were posted online, I found out that I had won my age group after all (1 of 8 in the age group, 8 of 90 women, and 40 of 180 runners overall, not too shabby). They had my time as 24:22, which was 12 seconds faster than my watch. I know that is wrong but I'll take it! I'm pretty sure the placement is right.
Planning to run one more 5k this Saturday night to get one more take on what my current speed is at, before next weekend's marathon, and then starting all over again with some new goals.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
I am kind of excited
I have been thinking about making requalifying for Boston my goal for the next year. But I am a bit dismayed by the realization that even if I do manage to run a qualifying time, there is no guarantee to get in due to the increased demand of the last couple of years. The new system they have instituted makes things a bit more fair, but it still will fill as soon as it opens.
I knew about the Gansett Marathon in Rhode Island, that was started a couple of years ago as an alternative for people who were closed out of Boston. It's the Saturday before Boston, and unlike Boston, you absolutely have to run a qualifying time to get in (Boston has spots open for charity runners, celebrities, foreign tourists, what have you---if you want to run Boston that way, you can get in). It's a little race without all the hoopla, or in other words, precisely the kind of thing that I really like best anyway.
But I had assumed the qualifying times were more stringent. I thought everybody had to run under 3:20 orf 3:30 or something like that. Turns out, Gansett has the same standards now as Boston. So that means, 4:00 right now for me until I turn 55, when I get an extra ten minutes. And just like it does for Boston, my April birthday gives me a little bonus in that I can run that 55 year old time while I am still just 53 years old. Even better, it looks like they give you a two-year qualifying window, so I could actually run that 4:10 anytime after next April 21, and I could use it in 2014.
And if I run sub-4:00, I could go sooner.
But the big thing is I feel pretty confident that the way things are going right now, I can get a 4:10 next year. It is nice to know that I can use it for something prestigious, even if I do get closed out of Boston.
I knew about the Gansett Marathon in Rhode Island, that was started a couple of years ago as an alternative for people who were closed out of Boston. It's the Saturday before Boston, and unlike Boston, you absolutely have to run a qualifying time to get in (Boston has spots open for charity runners, celebrities, foreign tourists, what have you---if you want to run Boston that way, you can get in). It's a little race without all the hoopla, or in other words, precisely the kind of thing that I really like best anyway.
But I had assumed the qualifying times were more stringent. I thought everybody had to run under 3:20 orf 3:30 or something like that. Turns out, Gansett has the same standards now as Boston. So that means, 4:00 right now for me until I turn 55, when I get an extra ten minutes. And just like it does for Boston, my April birthday gives me a little bonus in that I can run that 55 year old time while I am still just 53 years old. Even better, it looks like they give you a two-year qualifying window, so I could actually run that 4:10 anytime after next April 21, and I could use it in 2014.
And if I run sub-4:00, I could go sooner.
But the big thing is I feel pretty confident that the way things are going right now, I can get a 4:10 next year. It is nice to know that I can use it for something prestigious, even if I do get closed out of Boston.
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