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.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
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.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
State-to-State 2011
Now I will begin writing about some races, not in order. I have been neglecting to record anything about my races lately, and I want to do it and I always have lots of ideas about what I want to say, but I am just not finding the time.
Gotta start somewhere, so starting with the one I did Sunday: the 9th annual State-to-State Half-Marathon. This is one of those races I have done every year since it started, so now I have to keep doing it every year because I have a "streak" to protect.
The race starts and finishes in Oxford, Ohio (home of Miami University) and follows a mostly out-and-back course of rolling hills into Indiana and back. It begins in "uptown" Oxford, passes through some residential areas and then into farmland, and back again. The first and last tenth of a mile or so is on red bricks, with the rest of it on your normal asphalt roadway.
I have a little spreadsheet of my results from this race each year. The data includes my weight, my time, my placement, and any relative details about why things unfolded the way they did. I've never run a very good time here. The first year was just before my knee surgery, when I was already slightly injured but in denial about it. And I've never managed to get back into the kind of shape I was in before that injury.
My best time at this race was a 2:04 in 2006. By comparison, my 1/2 marathon PR is 1:47, set on the much flatter Dayton course in 2002, just before I qualified for Boston. My worst time was last year, when I struggled through a 2:19 (recovering from bronchitis, overweight, undertrained, hot day?).
This year I had an idea about trying to go under 2:00. It seemed possible, though less realistic than something in the 2:03 - 2:05 range. So I decided I would aim for the sub-2:00, but not let myself be disappointed in a 2:04, which would at least beat last year's time. I figured I was definitely in at least 2:04 shape.
Got up at 5 am for my two cups of coffee and one cup of vanilla yogurt. Dressed and in the car by 6 am. Arrived in Oxford around 7 am and found my regular parking spot on Church St. (two blocks from the start) just waiting for me.
Hit the portapotties before the lines start to form. Picked up my bib (# 3, I assume in deference to my exalted standing as a streaker), shirt and timing chip. The shirts this year are a little better than usual---long-sleeved technical shirt, in white, with the race logo (which is rather ugly and uninspired). This is not why I do this race. I do it because I am a streaker!
Yes, as races go, and as half-marathon races go, it is not my favorite. But it is okay. Its charms have grown on me over the 9 years of participating. It is, for one thing, a good value. It is reasonably well-supported. The drive is on the long side for a local event, but easy enough to get to. I know the course really well by now. It has become a very comfortable event for me.
I see a couple of other people with low bib numbers. In most races these are reserved for the elite runners. But none of these people look any fitter than I am. So maybe we are all the streakers. I wonder if they are going to recognize us in some way at the start, thank us for our years of support, or whatever. But nothing like that happens. In the 5th year they gave us all autographed copies of a book about a race across the country during the Depression. I am assuming that they will do something for us in the 10th year. My plan is to keep running this race every year until I am the only streaker left.
I was wearing black capri tights, a black short-sleeved technical top (from the Mason Half-Marathon) and my white cap from Fargo. In a little fanny pack, I am carrying my car key, 2 packs of GU Chomps, a chapstick and a small tube of Aquaphor. It was still a little chilly, and at the last minute I decided to add my blue long-sleeved technical top from Milwaukee. It is light enough to take off and tie around my waist, and would keep the drizzle off if it started again.
Hit the portapotties again. Had to wait on line this time. Went out in the street behind the start line. Did not see anyone I knew. Heard some people talking about a 2:00 pace so lined myself up by them. Not as far back as I usually start. Hoped I wouldn’t get passed by too many people right away.
No National Anthem this year (I think they played it before they started the walkers, a half-hour earlier). No hullabaloo, no announcements. At 8:00 am we are off.
It takes me about ten seconds to cross the start line. I’m in the right place, not getting passed and not having to run around people. I get water at the first aid station. They have them every mile this year. I don’t seem to remember that many in the past. I miss the first mile marker but that’s okay because I know where I am. I take off the blue shirt and tie it around my waist. I think about ditching it but it doesn’t weigh that much. I pass the people playing drums who are out there every year.
A sub-2:00 is about 9:05 to 9:10 pace. My first two miles take 17:54, so I’m just about there. We go through the upscale subdivision, we go through the assisted living complex. I am wondering if I am overdressed, and I hope the sun doesn’t come out. Mile 3 is 9:03, still right on pace. I have some Chomps. I am taking water or Gatorade at every aid station, and walking a minute per mile. Sometimes I walk for 30 seconds through the aid station and another 30 seconds on an uphill. There are a few people who pass me when I take my walking breaks, and to amuse myself I keep track of how long it takes me to catch up with them after I start running again, and when in the race they disappear for good. Disappear behind me, that is.
Mile 4 is 9:12, but I don’t worry about it with the hills. I pass some black cattle chomping away in a field, including one very large bull. Good morning, Mr. Bull! I pass some horses, who come running out towards the fence to greet us and I swear they are smiling. Good morning, horses!
Mile 5 is 8:53. Mile 6 is 8:59. I have some more Chomps. We cross over into Indiana. We hit the turnaround. I think about how I always slow down so much in the second half of this race. You are running into the sun and the wind. I wonder what is going to happen today.
Mile 7 is 9:47. I try not to be disheartened. It is still overcast and the temps are holding steady. I try to focus on how good I feel, how if I can just run the next 6 miles in an hour I will have a sub-2:04 at least. I remind myself about how in the middle of this race sometimes the mile markers seem a little off and also there are the hills.
Mile 8 is 8:39 and that's more like it! Mile 9 is 9:30. I'll be done in less than 40 minutes, I tell myself. I'm skipping the Chomps now and sticking with Gatorade.
Mile 10 is 9:32. The horses and the cows all seem to have gone inside. Mile 11 is 9:24. I look forward to the downhill portion of mile 12. The drummers are still out to lend their support. Mile 12 is 9:01.
The last mile is mostly uphill, but once you hit the bricks, you can see the finish line. I try to pick it up. And then I can see the clock and realize that I am going to break two hours for sure. I run a 9:12 for the last 1.1 miles, kicking hard at the end. I don't throw up, but have some problems in the other direction, so to speak. I don't care. I cross the line in 1:59:15 on the clock, 1:59:04 chip time.
I get my medal, catch my breath, check out the food. I'm not too hungry, but I have some more Gatorade, and later I go back for a cheese stick. I hang around a little while, and notice that they are posting the results up on a concrete pillar. I debate looking at the results vs. waiting to find out when I get home. Finally I go to check.
I discover that I have gotten second place in my age group. Yeehah! I am pretty excited about this, because I have never placed in my age group at this race before, never even really come close. Woo! I have to look at it a couple of times, walk away and keep coming back and looking at it to make sure I'm seeing it right.
Now I have to wait for my award to come in the mail. Anti-climactic but better than nothing. Not too bad for an old gal. Not super speedy but respectable, almost local-class time. And faster than last year, by a bunch. The little bits of more serious training I have been doing are working.
Gotta start somewhere, so starting with the one I did Sunday: the 9th annual State-to-State Half-Marathon. This is one of those races I have done every year since it started, so now I have to keep doing it every year because I have a "streak" to protect.
The race starts and finishes in Oxford, Ohio (home of Miami University) and follows a mostly out-and-back course of rolling hills into Indiana and back. It begins in "uptown" Oxford, passes through some residential areas and then into farmland, and back again. The first and last tenth of a mile or so is on red bricks, with the rest of it on your normal asphalt roadway.
I have a little spreadsheet of my results from this race each year. The data includes my weight, my time, my placement, and any relative details about why things unfolded the way they did. I've never run a very good time here. The first year was just before my knee surgery, when I was already slightly injured but in denial about it. And I've never managed to get back into the kind of shape I was in before that injury.
My best time at this race was a 2:04 in 2006. By comparison, my 1/2 marathon PR is 1:47, set on the much flatter Dayton course in 2002, just before I qualified for Boston. My worst time was last year, when I struggled through a 2:19 (recovering from bronchitis, overweight, undertrained, hot day?).
This year I had an idea about trying to go under 2:00. It seemed possible, though less realistic than something in the 2:03 - 2:05 range. So I decided I would aim for the sub-2:00, but not let myself be disappointed in a 2:04, which would at least beat last year's time. I figured I was definitely in at least 2:04 shape.
Got up at 5 am for my two cups of coffee and one cup of vanilla yogurt. Dressed and in the car by 6 am. Arrived in Oxford around 7 am and found my regular parking spot on Church St. (two blocks from the start) just waiting for me.
Hit the portapotties before the lines start to form. Picked up my bib (# 3, I assume in deference to my exalted standing as a streaker), shirt and timing chip. The shirts this year are a little better than usual---long-sleeved technical shirt, in white, with the race logo (which is rather ugly and uninspired). This is not why I do this race. I do it because I am a streaker!
Yes, as races go, and as half-marathon races go, it is not my favorite. But it is okay. Its charms have grown on me over the 9 years of participating. It is, for one thing, a good value. It is reasonably well-supported. The drive is on the long side for a local event, but easy enough to get to. I know the course really well by now. It has become a very comfortable event for me.
I see a couple of other people with low bib numbers. In most races these are reserved for the elite runners. But none of these people look any fitter than I am. So maybe we are all the streakers. I wonder if they are going to recognize us in some way at the start, thank us for our years of support, or whatever. But nothing like that happens. In the 5th year they gave us all autographed copies of a book about a race across the country during the Depression. I am assuming that they will do something for us in the 10th year. My plan is to keep running this race every year until I am the only streaker left.
I was wearing black capri tights, a black short-sleeved technical top (from the Mason Half-Marathon) and my white cap from Fargo. In a little fanny pack, I am carrying my car key, 2 packs of GU Chomps, a chapstick and a small tube of Aquaphor. It was still a little chilly, and at the last minute I decided to add my blue long-sleeved technical top from Milwaukee. It is light enough to take off and tie around my waist, and would keep the drizzle off if it started again.
Hit the portapotties again. Had to wait on line this time. Went out in the street behind the start line. Did not see anyone I knew. Heard some people talking about a 2:00 pace so lined myself up by them. Not as far back as I usually start. Hoped I wouldn’t get passed by too many people right away.
No National Anthem this year (I think they played it before they started the walkers, a half-hour earlier). No hullabaloo, no announcements. At 8:00 am we are off.
It takes me about ten seconds to cross the start line. I’m in the right place, not getting passed and not having to run around people. I get water at the first aid station. They have them every mile this year. I don’t seem to remember that many in the past. I miss the first mile marker but that’s okay because I know where I am. I take off the blue shirt and tie it around my waist. I think about ditching it but it doesn’t weigh that much. I pass the people playing drums who are out there every year.
A sub-2:00 is about 9:05 to 9:10 pace. My first two miles take 17:54, so I’m just about there. We go through the upscale subdivision, we go through the assisted living complex. I am wondering if I am overdressed, and I hope the sun doesn’t come out. Mile 3 is 9:03, still right on pace. I have some Chomps. I am taking water or Gatorade at every aid station, and walking a minute per mile. Sometimes I walk for 30 seconds through the aid station and another 30 seconds on an uphill. There are a few people who pass me when I take my walking breaks, and to amuse myself I keep track of how long it takes me to catch up with them after I start running again, and when in the race they disappear for good. Disappear behind me, that is.
Mile 4 is 9:12, but I don’t worry about it with the hills. I pass some black cattle chomping away in a field, including one very large bull. Good morning, Mr. Bull! I pass some horses, who come running out towards the fence to greet us and I swear they are smiling. Good morning, horses!
Mile 5 is 8:53. Mile 6 is 8:59. I have some more Chomps. We cross over into Indiana. We hit the turnaround. I think about how I always slow down so much in the second half of this race. You are running into the sun and the wind. I wonder what is going to happen today.
Mile 7 is 9:47. I try not to be disheartened. It is still overcast and the temps are holding steady. I try to focus on how good I feel, how if I can just run the next 6 miles in an hour I will have a sub-2:04 at least. I remind myself about how in the middle of this race sometimes the mile markers seem a little off and also there are the hills.
Mile 8 is 8:39 and that's more like it! Mile 9 is 9:30. I'll be done in less than 40 minutes, I tell myself. I'm skipping the Chomps now and sticking with Gatorade.
Mile 10 is 9:32. The horses and the cows all seem to have gone inside. Mile 11 is 9:24. I look forward to the downhill portion of mile 12. The drummers are still out to lend their support. Mile 12 is 9:01.
The last mile is mostly uphill, but once you hit the bricks, you can see the finish line. I try to pick it up. And then I can see the clock and realize that I am going to break two hours for sure. I run a 9:12 for the last 1.1 miles, kicking hard at the end. I don't throw up, but have some problems in the other direction, so to speak. I don't care. I cross the line in 1:59:15 on the clock, 1:59:04 chip time.
I get my medal, catch my breath, check out the food. I'm not too hungry, but I have some more Gatorade, and later I go back for a cheese stick. I hang around a little while, and notice that they are posting the results up on a concrete pillar. I debate looking at the results vs. waiting to find out when I get home. Finally I go to check.
I discover that I have gotten second place in my age group. Yeehah! I am pretty excited about this, because I have never placed in my age group at this race before, never even really come close. Woo! I have to look at it a couple of times, walk away and keep coming back and looking at it to make sure I'm seeing it right.
Now I have to wait for my award to come in the mail. Anti-climactic but better than nothing. Not too bad for an old gal. Not super speedy but respectable, almost local-class time. And faster than last year, by a bunch. The little bits of more serious training I have been doing are working.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Race Back to Clark
This is about a race I did on August 13.
Why this race instead of others going on that day: because the start and finish lines were a mile from my house.
Cause the race benefits/celebrates: Clark Montessori High School is ready to move into its brand new building, after several years of operating out of another building in a bad neighborhood on the other side of town.
How I found out about this race: First I heard of it was when I saw some little road signs set out in the grass across the street from the Kroger the week before. That is not the way I usually find out about races.
The course: 5k start and finishes in front of the school. Covers some streets found in both the Flying Pig and the Hyde Park Blast races, and passes by my old house.
What I did the day before: Went for a little jog along the course. Found two different descriptions of which way we would go, so I picked the one that made most sense to me. My take on it had us running against traffic, and on the busiest and least-scenic streets first. It was a mostly downhill first mile, mostly flat second mile, and a slightly uphill third mile.
I picked up the course at an intersection about a half-mile from home, so it makes a nice little four-mile route that I think I will do again. I already run most of these streets regularly and have for years, but not in this exact configuration.
The weather: was supposed to be overcast but turned quite sunny by the 9 am start. But at least it was cooler and less humid than it had been recently.
What I wore: Black shorts, black shirt, pink cap from Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon, Nike Pegasus shoes. Debated wearing bike shorts instead and also bringing Chomps. I was going to try to make this into a 10-mile run by combining a long warmup and cooldown with the race.
What I was expecting at the race: There were two other well-established 5ks and a 10k event going on at the same time in other parts of town. So I was expecting that most "regular" racers would be doing one of those other events. At this race, I expected students, parents, maybe a few alumni and teachers. And chaos, I expected a bit of chaos. Which is not a big deal if you are ready for it.
What I found at this race: Pretty much as expected! But overall a nice community event with just a few glitches that are easy to fix, and did not prevent me from having a nice time. These little community 5ks are my absolute favorite kind of race.
Pre-race: Left house around 8:20 to jog the mile up to the start line. Picked up my race number at the table on the sidewalk. I had thought we would probably start and finish in the school parking lot, but it looked like maybe it wasn't ready/safe enough for us to do that yet in the construction zone. So the start and finish was out on Erie Ave., offset from each other by about .1 miles.
I know from my jog that the loop is slightly less than 3 miles around, so I figure we are going to have to run past the finish line in the beginning or do something a little different to get it up to 3.1. The web site says the race is USATF-certified---except they spell it USTAF-certified. Ohoh. Harbinger of chaos!
I asked a volunteer which way we were running, and he tells me that it is the opposite direction of the way I jogged yesterday. Oh goody, so the last mile is all uphill. Well, it's not like I haven't run up that hill a few times before. But I was kind of looking forward to running down it.
Well, it's still early and I'm bored, so I jog a little more up and down Erie Ave. I run into Ralph B., an old runner guy I used to work with who lives on the race course, on his way to the start. I don't know if he remembers me or not, but he asks me if it is too late to register and I tell him he has plenty of time.
I wonder where David Jones is. He also lives along the race course. Maybe he is at Newtown.
Lots of teenagers and parents around. Everybody is smiling and happy. Some people are wearing shirts that say things like "it's good to be back home" or something like that on the back. It is a very nice atmosphere.
At the start line: There are some announcements and I can hear them but I can't remember what the guy said. I decide to line up pretty close to the start. Even if these teenagers are on the Clark cross-country team (if Clark has such a thing), I don't expect many to be very fast. And there are not too many potential old lady competitors for me in view. Many of the women are not even wearing running clothes, so we assume they are walkers. This does not seem to stop them from lining up near the front.
For example, there are two older women right behind the start line, and if I don't look like a runner to some people, well, let's say these two women really don't look like runners. They don't even look like walkers, despite wearing running shoes. I guess they want to be close to the start so the race will be as short as possible for them? One of them is wearing a backpack. The other one---get ready, this is amazing---is reading from a Kindle! Well, she does have an earphone in so maybe she is listening to an audiobook. But really! She has a giant shoulder bag and she is holding the Kindle, and she is right up at the start line of the race!
So I make sure I am not right behind these two. Having to throw some elbows or run right over their backs just doesn't seem in the spirit of the day. The announcer does say that walkers should start in the back, but these gals don't move.
I am next to Cindy Moore and her husband, who is pushing their toddler in a jogging stroller. Cindy Moore is younger and much faster than I am. I am wondering if she is maybe going to win the race. I think about telling her she needs to get in front of the lady with the Kindle, but I stay quiet.
The race: starts a couple of minutes late but not too bad. Fortunately it's not too crowded, and unlike at the Kilgour 5k, the kids are older so there is less chance of getting tripped. I feel like Cindy Moore is behind me, and wonder what's up with that.
We run west on Erie and turn right on Paxton for a short, steep climb (but it's very short and early in the race). A pack of three young girls with heavy footfalls are chatting and soon complaining about how tired they are already.
We take the first right onto Victoria. This is a lovely street of homes built mostly around 1920. Our old neighbor when we lived on Marburg used to say that if you had $5000, you built a house on Marburg, if you had $10000, you built one on Portsmouth, and if you had $15000, you built one on Victoria. (Our house on Marburg was where the builder supposedly lived, and where he must have used his leftover windows and doors and all the other mismatched odds and ends. But it is still a nice solid little house).
Anyway, Victoria is a very nice street. There is a water stop a bit past the first half-mile. Kinda early. Doesn't make sense. And the guy manning the water stop is calling out split times. Chaos? Would make make more sense if we were going the other way, close to what would be the two-mile mark.
Victoria ends and we turn left onto Portsmouth, passing Coffee Emporium (one of the race sponsors).
Around this time I realize there are no mile markers. Chaos! Well, I certainly know right where I am, and I'm a pretty good judge of my own pace, so I can deal with it. I would be irritated if I wasn't so familiar with the route.
Portsmouth is a nice street too, just not as nice as Victoria. Both roll just slightly and have plenty of large shade trees. Victoria and Portsmouth find their ways onto all of my neighborhood long runs. When I lived on Marburg, I ran them just about every day.
Portsmouth ends back at Paxton, where we turn right and then make another quick right onto Wasson. This is the "ugly" and "commercial" section of the course. We run by the Kroger and Richards Industries. But the really bad part is that we are running into the sun. Now, if we had my way (and my way is always so much better!) we would have gotten this stretch over early, and we would have had the sun at our backs. Better to run into the sun on Portsmouth. But here we are.
People I am aware of during the race: Okay, the pack of three girls had passed me but then I caught them again and now they are well behind me. There is a young boy and a woman/girl (can't quite tell her age, could be anything) just in front of me for the second mile, and I stay behind and draft off them a bit but then I have to go around them. And I am thinking, what is wrong with you kid that you are letting an old lady "chick" you? Sad.
Another woman comes from behind and passes me. She is tall, and looks to be over 40. I hope she is not in my age group. She puts some distance between us, and I wonder how far behind me she started.
We turn right on Marburg, and we pass my old house and I barely notice, as I am really focused on the race. We make the final turn onto Erie for the last hill, and I just keep telling myself this is my hill, I run it all the time, no big deal. I am running beside a young girl. A woman tells us that we are in the top ten females. I find this motivating but I don't know what happens to the kid, because she drops back.
I would like to pick it up and see if I can catch the tall woman, but I don't want to kick until I see the finish line. She is slowing down. And there it is, so I kick, and I almost catch her.
No finish line clock. Chaos! I look at my watch. No way! I know instantly the course is at least .2 short. Chaos! If we'd had mile markers out there it would be even more obvious. I have not run within two minutes of that time in ten years. Get serious. I did not run a 5k three minutes faster than I did two months ago.
Kinda bummed, because I would have liked to see what my time would be on an accurate course! Oh well.
I grabbed a bottle of water and walked up a little dirt trail to the school’s turf playfield. There was a great potluck spread put out by the parent volunteers, but I wasn’t ready to eat yet. I had some Gatorade and then I went off for a little jog around the neighborhood, then came back and ate some food. There were sandwiches and a great assortment of stuff, but I had some sweet baked goods because that was what seemed most appealing at the moment.
I wanted to hang around for the awards, because there were not that many women in this race and I was pretty sure I was getting something. Also, I was caught up in the warm feeling of the parents and the students and the teachers, who were all so happy to be on the site of their new facility. It felt like leaving early would be dishonoring them.
But, I was just about to leave when the awards started. Well, turns out that not only did I win my age group (1 of 5) but I was also the fourth woman overall (4 of 65). I told you Clark does not have much of a sports program. And I was 36 of 141 runners, and I also beat all but one of the 107 walkers. But many of them were like the woman with the Kindle, so they really can’t be counted!
I beat the trail runner woman again! And most amazingly, I beat Cindy Moore. That has never happened before. Not even close. I wonder if she is sick? Or pregnant? Something definitely weird about that.
Including my jog to the start line, after the race, and then back home, I had a total of 7 miles for the day. Not quite the 10 I had planned on but it would have to do.
Why this race instead of others going on that day: because the start and finish lines were a mile from my house.
Cause the race benefits/celebrates: Clark Montessori High School is ready to move into its brand new building, after several years of operating out of another building in a bad neighborhood on the other side of town.
How I found out about this race: First I heard of it was when I saw some little road signs set out in the grass across the street from the Kroger the week before. That is not the way I usually find out about races.
The course: 5k start and finishes in front of the school. Covers some streets found in both the Flying Pig and the Hyde Park Blast races, and passes by my old house.
What I did the day before: Went for a little jog along the course. Found two different descriptions of which way we would go, so I picked the one that made most sense to me. My take on it had us running against traffic, and on the busiest and least-scenic streets first. It was a mostly downhill first mile, mostly flat second mile, and a slightly uphill third mile.
I picked up the course at an intersection about a half-mile from home, so it makes a nice little four-mile route that I think I will do again. I already run most of these streets regularly and have for years, but not in this exact configuration.
The weather: was supposed to be overcast but turned quite sunny by the 9 am start. But at least it was cooler and less humid than it had been recently.
What I wore: Black shorts, black shirt, pink cap from Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon, Nike Pegasus shoes. Debated wearing bike shorts instead and also bringing Chomps. I was going to try to make this into a 10-mile run by combining a long warmup and cooldown with the race.
What I was expecting at the race: There were two other well-established 5ks and a 10k event going on at the same time in other parts of town. So I was expecting that most "regular" racers would be doing one of those other events. At this race, I expected students, parents, maybe a few alumni and teachers. And chaos, I expected a bit of chaos. Which is not a big deal if you are ready for it.
What I found at this race: Pretty much as expected! But overall a nice community event with just a few glitches that are easy to fix, and did not prevent me from having a nice time. These little community 5ks are my absolute favorite kind of race.
Pre-race: Left house around 8:20 to jog the mile up to the start line. Picked up my race number at the table on the sidewalk. I had thought we would probably start and finish in the school parking lot, but it looked like maybe it wasn't ready/safe enough for us to do that yet in the construction zone. So the start and finish was out on Erie Ave., offset from each other by about .1 miles.
I know from my jog that the loop is slightly less than 3 miles around, so I figure we are going to have to run past the finish line in the beginning or do something a little different to get it up to 3.1. The web site says the race is USATF-certified---except they spell it USTAF-certified. Ohoh. Harbinger of chaos!
I asked a volunteer which way we were running, and he tells me that it is the opposite direction of the way I jogged yesterday. Oh goody, so the last mile is all uphill. Well, it's not like I haven't run up that hill a few times before. But I was kind of looking forward to running down it.
Well, it's still early and I'm bored, so I jog a little more up and down Erie Ave. I run into Ralph B., an old runner guy I used to work with who lives on the race course, on his way to the start. I don't know if he remembers me or not, but he asks me if it is too late to register and I tell him he has plenty of time.
I wonder where David Jones is. He also lives along the race course. Maybe he is at Newtown.
Lots of teenagers and parents around. Everybody is smiling and happy. Some people are wearing shirts that say things like "it's good to be back home" or something like that on the back. It is a very nice atmosphere.
At the start line: There are some announcements and I can hear them but I can't remember what the guy said. I decide to line up pretty close to the start. Even if these teenagers are on the Clark cross-country team (if Clark has such a thing), I don't expect many to be very fast. And there are not too many potential old lady competitors for me in view. Many of the women are not even wearing running clothes, so we assume they are walkers. This does not seem to stop them from lining up near the front.
For example, there are two older women right behind the start line, and if I don't look like a runner to some people, well, let's say these two women really don't look like runners. They don't even look like walkers, despite wearing running shoes. I guess they want to be close to the start so the race will be as short as possible for them? One of them is wearing a backpack. The other one---get ready, this is amazing---is reading from a Kindle! Well, she does have an earphone in so maybe she is listening to an audiobook. But really! She has a giant shoulder bag and she is holding the Kindle, and she is right up at the start line of the race!
So I make sure I am not right behind these two. Having to throw some elbows or run right over their backs just doesn't seem in the spirit of the day. The announcer does say that walkers should start in the back, but these gals don't move.
I am next to Cindy Moore and her husband, who is pushing their toddler in a jogging stroller. Cindy Moore is younger and much faster than I am. I am wondering if she is maybe going to win the race. I think about telling her she needs to get in front of the lady with the Kindle, but I stay quiet.
The race: starts a couple of minutes late but not too bad. Fortunately it's not too crowded, and unlike at the Kilgour 5k, the kids are older so there is less chance of getting tripped. I feel like Cindy Moore is behind me, and wonder what's up with that.
We run west on Erie and turn right on Paxton for a short, steep climb (but it's very short and early in the race). A pack of three young girls with heavy footfalls are chatting and soon complaining about how tired they are already.
We take the first right onto Victoria. This is a lovely street of homes built mostly around 1920. Our old neighbor when we lived on Marburg used to say that if you had $5000, you built a house on Marburg, if you had $10000, you built one on Portsmouth, and if you had $15000, you built one on Victoria. (Our house on Marburg was where the builder supposedly lived, and where he must have used his leftover windows and doors and all the other mismatched odds and ends. But it is still a nice solid little house).
Anyway, Victoria is a very nice street. There is a water stop a bit past the first half-mile. Kinda early. Doesn't make sense. And the guy manning the water stop is calling out split times. Chaos? Would make make more sense if we were going the other way, close to what would be the two-mile mark.
Victoria ends and we turn left onto Portsmouth, passing Coffee Emporium (one of the race sponsors).
Around this time I realize there are no mile markers. Chaos! Well, I certainly know right where I am, and I'm a pretty good judge of my own pace, so I can deal with it. I would be irritated if I wasn't so familiar with the route.
Portsmouth is a nice street too, just not as nice as Victoria. Both roll just slightly and have plenty of large shade trees. Victoria and Portsmouth find their ways onto all of my neighborhood long runs. When I lived on Marburg, I ran them just about every day.
Portsmouth ends back at Paxton, where we turn right and then make another quick right onto Wasson. This is the "ugly" and "commercial" section of the course. We run by the Kroger and Richards Industries. But the really bad part is that we are running into the sun. Now, if we had my way (and my way is always so much better!) we would have gotten this stretch over early, and we would have had the sun at our backs. Better to run into the sun on Portsmouth. But here we are.
People I am aware of during the race: Okay, the pack of three girls had passed me but then I caught them again and now they are well behind me. There is a young boy and a woman/girl (can't quite tell her age, could be anything) just in front of me for the second mile, and I stay behind and draft off them a bit but then I have to go around them. And I am thinking, what is wrong with you kid that you are letting an old lady "chick" you? Sad.
Another woman comes from behind and passes me. She is tall, and looks to be over 40. I hope she is not in my age group. She puts some distance between us, and I wonder how far behind me she started.
We turn right on Marburg, and we pass my old house and I barely notice, as I am really focused on the race. We make the final turn onto Erie for the last hill, and I just keep telling myself this is my hill, I run it all the time, no big deal. I am running beside a young girl. A woman tells us that we are in the top ten females. I find this motivating but I don't know what happens to the kid, because she drops back.
I would like to pick it up and see if I can catch the tall woman, but I don't want to kick until I see the finish line. She is slowing down. And there it is, so I kick, and I almost catch her.
No finish line clock. Chaos! I look at my watch. No way! I know instantly the course is at least .2 short. Chaos! If we'd had mile markers out there it would be even more obvious. I have not run within two minutes of that time in ten years. Get serious. I did not run a 5k three minutes faster than I did two months ago.
Kinda bummed, because I would have liked to see what my time would be on an accurate course! Oh well.
I grabbed a bottle of water and walked up a little dirt trail to the school’s turf playfield. There was a great potluck spread put out by the parent volunteers, but I wasn’t ready to eat yet. I had some Gatorade and then I went off for a little jog around the neighborhood, then came back and ate some food. There were sandwiches and a great assortment of stuff, but I had some sweet baked goods because that was what seemed most appealing at the moment.
I wanted to hang around for the awards, because there were not that many women in this race and I was pretty sure I was getting something. Also, I was caught up in the warm feeling of the parents and the students and the teachers, who were all so happy to be on the site of their new facility. It felt like leaving early would be dishonoring them.
But, I was just about to leave when the awards started. Well, turns out that not only did I win my age group (1 of 5) but I was also the fourth woman overall (4 of 65). I told you Clark does not have much of a sports program. And I was 36 of 141 runners, and I also beat all but one of the 107 walkers. But many of them were like the woman with the Kindle, so they really can’t be counted!
I beat the trail runner woman again! And most amazingly, I beat Cindy Moore. That has never happened before. Not even close. I wonder if she is sick? Or pregnant? Something definitely weird about that.
Including my jog to the start line, after the race, and then back home, I had a total of 7 miles for the day. Not quite the 10 I had planned on but it would have to do.
Lady Distance Classic 2011
Catching up and writing about some recent races.
Thinking about how it’s kind of funny that although I am not really a fan of women-only events, in running or in life in general, two of the races I ran in August were exactly that.
First, about the Fleet Feet Lady Distance Classic, which I ran all the way back on August 7. This is an annual event that I have done every year since its inception. There is a 10k and a 5k. The last few years I have done the 10k.
The good things about this race are:
• They give you a technical top
• There is a great “fitness festival” after the race that is mostly a “food” festival and not even so much about fitness
• It is reasonably well-organized.
Not much that I don’t like about it, really. It starts pretty early but on a hot August day that is not such a bad idea. The course is not too boring even though half of it runs through an office park. I guess the only thing I’m really not crazy about is all the women who know each other and are part of the same training groups or whatever, so when I show up all by myself I have nobody to talk to. But I don’t have time to join those training groups so what can I do?
Last year I ran a 55:15 for 4th in my age group. This year I am a little thinner and a little fitter, so I was hoping to take a chunk off that time and possibly get a placement. But realistically, I should have been expecting a slightly more modest improvement based on my recent 5k times.
It was warmer and more humid than last year, so that didn’t help.
I “warmed up” (as if that were necessary) by jogging to the start from the parking area (half mile? Or less?) and then jogging around some more.
First three miles go mostly around an office park, and then back to the starting area. I went through the first two miles in 17:13. There is a “stroller” division that starts after the regular runners, and each year I gauge my progress by how long it takes the strollers to catch up to me. This year I was almost to mile three before the first stroller passed me, which was better than last year. Mile 3 was 8:56.
I saw Judy Harmony around there somewhere, but she turned off to finish the 5k.
The second half of the 10k is hillier. You run around some subdivisions and then back to the Blue Ash Rec Center. Mile 4 was 9:16 (uphill), mile 5 was 8:08 (downhill), mile 6 was 9:43 (uphill, but at least I didn’t blow up like I did last year) and then 1:41 for the last .2.
My official, chip time was 54:42, which was only 33 seconds better than last year, so I was kind of bummed out about it. But as I said earlier, that was really what I should have reasonably been expecting. I did beat one of the trail running women who always beats me out on the trails, and I beat her by over a minute. I also beat Jennifer Black (sister of my Congresswoman) by about 45 seconds, and it has been a long time since I finished a race ahead of her, so that is something.
Afterwards, it took me awhile before I was ready to eat. They had a sno-cone stand. I had two sno-cones. They were very good. Later I made my way to The Cake by Margo. I told the volunteer that I had been looking forward to The Cake all week long.
Looked like it was going to be awhile before they gave out the age group awards, and I didn’t think I had won anything, so before too long I was jogging back to the car, ending up with about 8 miles for the day. Was 7 of 31 this time around, and 82 of 387 runners overall. Didn’t recognize the names of most of these women, so I wonder where my usual competition went. Numbers are down a bit from previous years, what is up with that? I wouldn’t think the economy would affect entries at this event, and it is the type of race I would expect to keep growing in popularity.
Thinking about how it’s kind of funny that although I am not really a fan of women-only events, in running or in life in general, two of the races I ran in August were exactly that.
First, about the Fleet Feet Lady Distance Classic, which I ran all the way back on August 7. This is an annual event that I have done every year since its inception. There is a 10k and a 5k. The last few years I have done the 10k.
The good things about this race are:
• They give you a technical top
• There is a great “fitness festival” after the race that is mostly a “food” festival and not even so much about fitness
• It is reasonably well-organized.
Not much that I don’t like about it, really. It starts pretty early but on a hot August day that is not such a bad idea. The course is not too boring even though half of it runs through an office park. I guess the only thing I’m really not crazy about is all the women who know each other and are part of the same training groups or whatever, so when I show up all by myself I have nobody to talk to. But I don’t have time to join those training groups so what can I do?
Last year I ran a 55:15 for 4th in my age group. This year I am a little thinner and a little fitter, so I was hoping to take a chunk off that time and possibly get a placement. But realistically, I should have been expecting a slightly more modest improvement based on my recent 5k times.
It was warmer and more humid than last year, so that didn’t help.
I “warmed up” (as if that were necessary) by jogging to the start from the parking area (half mile? Or less?) and then jogging around some more.
First three miles go mostly around an office park, and then back to the starting area. I went through the first two miles in 17:13. There is a “stroller” division that starts after the regular runners, and each year I gauge my progress by how long it takes the strollers to catch up to me. This year I was almost to mile three before the first stroller passed me, which was better than last year. Mile 3 was 8:56.
I saw Judy Harmony around there somewhere, but she turned off to finish the 5k.
The second half of the 10k is hillier. You run around some subdivisions and then back to the Blue Ash Rec Center. Mile 4 was 9:16 (uphill), mile 5 was 8:08 (downhill), mile 6 was 9:43 (uphill, but at least I didn’t blow up like I did last year) and then 1:41 for the last .2.
My official, chip time was 54:42, which was only 33 seconds better than last year, so I was kind of bummed out about it. But as I said earlier, that was really what I should have reasonably been expecting. I did beat one of the trail running women who always beats me out on the trails, and I beat her by over a minute. I also beat Jennifer Black (sister of my Congresswoman) by about 45 seconds, and it has been a long time since I finished a race ahead of her, so that is something.
Afterwards, it took me awhile before I was ready to eat. They had a sno-cone stand. I had two sno-cones. They were very good. Later I made my way to The Cake by Margo. I told the volunteer that I had been looking forward to The Cake all week long.
Looked like it was going to be awhile before they gave out the age group awards, and I didn’t think I had won anything, so before too long I was jogging back to the car, ending up with about 8 miles for the day. Was 7 of 31 this time around, and 82 of 387 runners overall. Didn’t recognize the names of most of these women, so I wonder where my usual competition went. Numbers are down a bit from previous years, what is up with that? I wouldn’t think the economy would affect entries at this event, and it is the type of race I would expect to keep growing in popularity.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Rant of the day
Had a little time so went up to the Fleet Feet store to pick up my shirt and number for Saturday's race. It is a hike from the parking lot to the race start, so it's good to get this done ahead of time. Things I will complain about:
1) They just don't give out all the freebies like they used to. Remember the year when they gave us the full-sized bottles of John Frieda shampoo and conditioner? This year it is just the shirt. Bummer.
2) The shirt as displayed in the recent emails was an olive green color that was sort of interesting. They were raving about how it was the best shirt yet. The shirt as delivered is a neon green. I don't care, but it is funny that it was so different from the picture. It is a little longer than previous editions (is that the style now?) and the sleeves are a little longer too, I think.
3) Nothing worth buying in the store. Nothing on sale, and not much merchandise overall even for browsing through. So it goes these days.
4) And this, of course, is the most irritating thing. The disgustingly skinny woman at the registration table asked me if I was a walker. And then, when I did not pick up any pins---because I do not need any more pins for my race number, thank you, I have a huge collection of them already at home and I am trying to be green---she felt the need to tell me, twice, that I should take four pins and pin all four corners of my race number.
I guess I should have asked her if the number went on the front or the back. Geez.
1) They just don't give out all the freebies like they used to. Remember the year when they gave us the full-sized bottles of John Frieda shampoo and conditioner? This year it is just the shirt. Bummer.
2) The shirt as displayed in the recent emails was an olive green color that was sort of interesting. They were raving about how it was the best shirt yet. The shirt as delivered is a neon green. I don't care, but it is funny that it was so different from the picture. It is a little longer than previous editions (is that the style now?) and the sleeves are a little longer too, I think.
3) Nothing worth buying in the store. Nothing on sale, and not much merchandise overall even for browsing through. So it goes these days.
4) And this, of course, is the most irritating thing. The disgustingly skinny woman at the registration table asked me if I was a walker. And then, when I did not pick up any pins---because I do not need any more pins for my race number, thank you, I have a huge collection of them already at home and I am trying to be green---she felt the need to tell me, twice, that I should take four pins and pin all four corners of my race number.
I guess I should have asked her if the number went on the front or the back. Geez.
Monday, August 01, 2011
How I do an 18-miler
I managed to eke out an 18-mile "run" yesterday (gotta put "run" in quotes because if you saw me out there you really would say I didn't look like a runner!). Actually, it was 18.15. Woohoo for me. But this is the first time since the fall of 2002 (when I qualified for Boston) that I did a "training run" that was over 18 miles. So I'm pleased.
It's true, I have finished a number of marathons since 2002. But since my aim is simply to finish, I really don't need to go over 15 miles on a training run. You do enough marathons, you get to know that completing one is mostly a mental game. Yes, to finish fast or comfortably, you need to train more appropriately. But if you've done enough of them, and you just want to finish, you hardly need to train at all.
Maybe it is not so surprising that I can get by on minimal mileage. I did manage to qualify for Boston while averaging just 25 miles a week. If I can do that, it's not a stretch to aim to merely finish these races with even less mileage.
The knee injury in 2003 forced me into the operating room and was followed by a determined, somewhat frantic rehabilitation that would enable me to finish Boston under the 6-hour cutoff. My longest runs before that one were back-to-back ten milers on a weekend a month before the race, and a horrible half-marathon two weeks before. But one thing I learned is that I could still finish a marathon off that. It would be painful, but I could finish, and actually feel pretty normal the next day, too.
I'd like to do more, of course. But every year, various roadblocks have popped up in the way of me getting those long runs (for me, that would be over 15 miles) accomplished. In 2004, we added a third dog (Maggie). Then Logan got sick. Dog training and dog care began to take up more of my leisure time. And then I started spending more weekends at dog shows---ironically, the cause of the knee injury, and the recurrent bouts of plantar fasciatis---which meant less time to get the long runs done.
I always had the best intentions, and would map out a traditional training schedule that had me building steadily up to a couple of 20 mile runs, even if I did have to fit them in around the dog shows. But my plans never had any margin for recovery if I had a sudden injury flare-up, or caught a cold that kept me from running for a week or more.
Occasionally, I would use a marathon as a long training run for another marathon. The biggest success I had with that was when I ran the Indianapolis Monumental race in the fall of 2009 and two weeks later, ran Chickamauga Battlefield at just about the same pace, to become a member of the Marathon Maniacs club. Since I once again had only managed to get up to about 15 before the Indy race, I started thinking that, wow, imagine if I trained properly, maybe I could qualify for Boston again.
Alas, when my next race (Delaware) rolled around, I was no better trained than I had been since 2002, and I have not been able to get a solid block of training in since. I did get up to 16 while training for Little Rock last March, just before I slipped on the ice while walking the dogs.
And all of this is to say that it is a rare thing for me to get an 18-miler in when I don't have a number pinned on my chest and a finisher's medal waiting at the other end.
Here is how it went Sunday: I got up at 5:30. Had my coffee, used the bathroom, got dressed. Over my vasoline-coated body, I wore royal blue compression shorts, a bright yellow sportsbra, an ancient and rather discolored performance singlet, a fairly thick pair of ankle socks (because my Nike Pegasus shoes are a little big in the toe box) and my black hat from the Milwaukee marathon.
For my route, I had decided on a series of three loops of approximately six miles each. I would wear my old fanny pack with the 20 oz. water bottle, which is just barely enough for me over six miles in this weather. I would stop home after loops one and two, so I could refill the water bottle and take care of whatever else I might need to do to get myself back out there.
Tommy had kindly agreed to feed and walk the dogs for me today. Maybe this is only fair, since he spent all day yesterday shopping at Camp Perry (it's a gun-nut thing). But I am grateful, because I don't think I could get the 18 done if I had to walk the dogs, too.
Ok, first loop: I am out the door about 6:35. It's overcast and very foggy. This loop is my regular 6 mile run, which covers part of the Flying Pig and Hyde Park Blast courses, albeit mostly in the opposite direction of the race. I am doing this loop first so I can run through the square before the farmers' market opens.
I see a surprising number of other people out running. Or maybe it's not so surprising, since this is Hyde Park. I think about how I probably live in the absolute best spot for a runner in Cincinnati, right alongside a park trail, and with multiple pleasant residential routes just outside my front door.
People are friendlier than I've observed lately, as well. It seems like people have gotten out of the habit of saying hello as they pass by on their runs. So many of them stare straight ahead zombie-like, hypnotized by their iPods. But on this morning run, everybody I pass says hello. Even the woman talking on her phone looks at me and says hello. Maybe people are more alert in the morning? It's been a long time since I've run this early on a Sunday morning.
Have a sip of water every mile, and one GU at mile 3.
I finish the first loop, about 6.25 miles, in 1:07-ish. Tommy is just leaving the house to walk the dogs. I wash my face and change clothes, because I can't stand how sweaty I am. I put on black compression shorts, a green sportsbra, a very old performance singlet (maybe one of the first ones ever manfactured?) and a generic white running hat. I don't change my shoes and socks. I have some Chomps and refill my water bottle and am back out the door around 8 am.
It's still foggy, and that is a good thing. For this loop, I head into the park. I follow a hybrid of my regular 3-mile loop around the park and the Kilgour 5k route. Continue sipping water every mile and have another GU at mile 9. As I exit the park and head toward the square, the fog is lifting and it's heating up. I turn away from the square a few blocks before the farmer's market and head back for home. This loop is about 6.5 miles and it takes me about 1:20. I'm slowing down.
Tommy is home and outside working in the yard. I am not looking forward to going back out for this third loop. The good news is I only have to cover 5.25 miles now to get to 18. I don't bother changing clothes or washing my face this time. I have some more water and Chomps. My left achilles is bothering me a bit, so I do change to the Nike Structures, which have a little more stability.
On this loop, I run (using this term very loosely as I am pretty much crawling at this point) down Erie Ave. towards Madisonville. This is a route I use to go anywhere from 3 to 10 miles. I cross Erie Ave. and run down past Hyde Park Country Club. Then I take a little jog uphill through a pleasant residential area (Broadview) for about a half mile. Then I cross back over Erie for an out-and-back on the Murray Ave. bike trail. Well, that is the plan for today. But as I leave Broadview, I remember that there is no shade on the bike trail. It's heating up and I am not feeling so fabulous. I start out on the bike trail anyway but I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm not really doing myself much good any longer. It's mid-morning and I'm worrying about heat stroke, and suddenly it doesn't seem to make sense to keep running farther away from home.
In retrospect, this was a poor choice for the last loop.
So, instead of going out to my regular turnaround point at Settle Ave., I turn early at Germania and start heading home. It's uphill, but at least there is plenty of shade along Erie. Have one last GU at mile 15. When I get home, I do the last mile on the treadmill. It isn't going to benefit me much physically, but psychologically I know it will help me to be able to tell myself that I did 18.
This little misadventure up and down the hill takes me almost 58 minutes, so I really was crawling. I hop on the treadmill in the nice, cool basement and very slowly bring it up to jogging speed, where I stay for a couple of minutes before hitting the cool down button for a nice slow five minute walk. That's a total of 17 minutes to cover less than a mile.
Final total is 18.15 miles in 3:41:44. When I was finishing up outside, I was thinking about taking an ice bath, but after the cool down in the basement I can't bring myself to climb in the tub for that. I don't stretch, I don't ice. I eat. And I eat some more. I don't accomplish a whole lot the rest of the day, but by evening I am feeling pretty much okay, and this morning I was ready for a 3-miler around the park. But I had to switch to my New Balance 1064s, because both pairs of Nikes are still damp from running in the humidity yesterday!
It's true, I have finished a number of marathons since 2002. But since my aim is simply to finish, I really don't need to go over 15 miles on a training run. You do enough marathons, you get to know that completing one is mostly a mental game. Yes, to finish fast or comfortably, you need to train more appropriately. But if you've done enough of them, and you just want to finish, you hardly need to train at all.
Maybe it is not so surprising that I can get by on minimal mileage. I did manage to qualify for Boston while averaging just 25 miles a week. If I can do that, it's not a stretch to aim to merely finish these races with even less mileage.
The knee injury in 2003 forced me into the operating room and was followed by a determined, somewhat frantic rehabilitation that would enable me to finish Boston under the 6-hour cutoff. My longest runs before that one were back-to-back ten milers on a weekend a month before the race, and a horrible half-marathon two weeks before. But one thing I learned is that I could still finish a marathon off that. It would be painful, but I could finish, and actually feel pretty normal the next day, too.
I'd like to do more, of course. But every year, various roadblocks have popped up in the way of me getting those long runs (for me, that would be over 15 miles) accomplished. In 2004, we added a third dog (Maggie). Then Logan got sick. Dog training and dog care began to take up more of my leisure time. And then I started spending more weekends at dog shows---ironically, the cause of the knee injury, and the recurrent bouts of plantar fasciatis---which meant less time to get the long runs done.
I always had the best intentions, and would map out a traditional training schedule that had me building steadily up to a couple of 20 mile runs, even if I did have to fit them in around the dog shows. But my plans never had any margin for recovery if I had a sudden injury flare-up, or caught a cold that kept me from running for a week or more.
Occasionally, I would use a marathon as a long training run for another marathon. The biggest success I had with that was when I ran the Indianapolis Monumental race in the fall of 2009 and two weeks later, ran Chickamauga Battlefield at just about the same pace, to become a member of the Marathon Maniacs club. Since I once again had only managed to get up to about 15 before the Indy race, I started thinking that, wow, imagine if I trained properly, maybe I could qualify for Boston again.
Alas, when my next race (Delaware) rolled around, I was no better trained than I had been since 2002, and I have not been able to get a solid block of training in since. I did get up to 16 while training for Little Rock last March, just before I slipped on the ice while walking the dogs.
And all of this is to say that it is a rare thing for me to get an 18-miler in when I don't have a number pinned on my chest and a finisher's medal waiting at the other end.
Here is how it went Sunday: I got up at 5:30. Had my coffee, used the bathroom, got dressed. Over my vasoline-coated body, I wore royal blue compression shorts, a bright yellow sportsbra, an ancient and rather discolored performance singlet, a fairly thick pair of ankle socks (because my Nike Pegasus shoes are a little big in the toe box) and my black hat from the Milwaukee marathon.
For my route, I had decided on a series of three loops of approximately six miles each. I would wear my old fanny pack with the 20 oz. water bottle, which is just barely enough for me over six miles in this weather. I would stop home after loops one and two, so I could refill the water bottle and take care of whatever else I might need to do to get myself back out there.
Tommy had kindly agreed to feed and walk the dogs for me today. Maybe this is only fair, since he spent all day yesterday shopping at Camp Perry (it's a gun-nut thing). But I am grateful, because I don't think I could get the 18 done if I had to walk the dogs, too.
Ok, first loop: I am out the door about 6:35. It's overcast and very foggy. This loop is my regular 6 mile run, which covers part of the Flying Pig and Hyde Park Blast courses, albeit mostly in the opposite direction of the race. I am doing this loop first so I can run through the square before the farmers' market opens.
I see a surprising number of other people out running. Or maybe it's not so surprising, since this is Hyde Park. I think about how I probably live in the absolute best spot for a runner in Cincinnati, right alongside a park trail, and with multiple pleasant residential routes just outside my front door.
People are friendlier than I've observed lately, as well. It seems like people have gotten out of the habit of saying hello as they pass by on their runs. So many of them stare straight ahead zombie-like, hypnotized by their iPods. But on this morning run, everybody I pass says hello. Even the woman talking on her phone looks at me and says hello. Maybe people are more alert in the morning? It's been a long time since I've run this early on a Sunday morning.
Have a sip of water every mile, and one GU at mile 3.
I finish the first loop, about 6.25 miles, in 1:07-ish. Tommy is just leaving the house to walk the dogs. I wash my face and change clothes, because I can't stand how sweaty I am. I put on black compression shorts, a green sportsbra, a very old performance singlet (maybe one of the first ones ever manfactured?) and a generic white running hat. I don't change my shoes and socks. I have some Chomps and refill my water bottle and am back out the door around 8 am.
It's still foggy, and that is a good thing. For this loop, I head into the park. I follow a hybrid of my regular 3-mile loop around the park and the Kilgour 5k route. Continue sipping water every mile and have another GU at mile 9. As I exit the park and head toward the square, the fog is lifting and it's heating up. I turn away from the square a few blocks before the farmer's market and head back for home. This loop is about 6.5 miles and it takes me about 1:20. I'm slowing down.
Tommy is home and outside working in the yard. I am not looking forward to going back out for this third loop. The good news is I only have to cover 5.25 miles now to get to 18. I don't bother changing clothes or washing my face this time. I have some more water and Chomps. My left achilles is bothering me a bit, so I do change to the Nike Structures, which have a little more stability.
On this loop, I run (using this term very loosely as I am pretty much crawling at this point) down Erie Ave. towards Madisonville. This is a route I use to go anywhere from 3 to 10 miles. I cross Erie Ave. and run down past Hyde Park Country Club. Then I take a little jog uphill through a pleasant residential area (Broadview) for about a half mile. Then I cross back over Erie for an out-and-back on the Murray Ave. bike trail. Well, that is the plan for today. But as I leave Broadview, I remember that there is no shade on the bike trail. It's heating up and I am not feeling so fabulous. I start out on the bike trail anyway but I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm not really doing myself much good any longer. It's mid-morning and I'm worrying about heat stroke, and suddenly it doesn't seem to make sense to keep running farther away from home.
In retrospect, this was a poor choice for the last loop.
So, instead of going out to my regular turnaround point at Settle Ave., I turn early at Germania and start heading home. It's uphill, but at least there is plenty of shade along Erie. Have one last GU at mile 15. When I get home, I do the last mile on the treadmill. It isn't going to benefit me much physically, but psychologically I know it will help me to be able to tell myself that I did 18.
This little misadventure up and down the hill takes me almost 58 minutes, so I really was crawling. I hop on the treadmill in the nice, cool basement and very slowly bring it up to jogging speed, where I stay for a couple of minutes before hitting the cool down button for a nice slow five minute walk. That's a total of 17 minutes to cover less than a mile.
Final total is 18.15 miles in 3:41:44. When I was finishing up outside, I was thinking about taking an ice bath, but after the cool down in the basement I can't bring myself to climb in the tub for that. I don't stretch, I don't ice. I eat. And I eat some more. I don't accomplish a whole lot the rest of the day, but by evening I am feeling pretty much okay, and this morning I was ready for a 3-miler around the park. But I had to switch to my New Balance 1064s, because both pairs of Nikes are still damp from running in the humidity yesterday!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
East Fork Backpack Trail Run
This one was last Sunday, July 17. It's another race in the Dirt Days series. For many years, this was the only trail race held in the Cincinnati area. I have done it a couple of times before but it was like 10 years ago, maybe longer.
East Fork State Park lies between St. Rt. 32 and 125, east of Cincinnati. The lake is a popular site for triathlons. The Backpack Trail is a well-established route, supposedly about 14 miles long in its entirety. This race used to be about 4 miles or a little over. Now it is a 5.6 mile and a 10.8 mile. You can use either race to count towards Dirt Days series points and Dirty Dozen standings, but the formats of the race are slightly different. The longer race is just a "normal" race with everybody starting at the same time. The shorter race has a handicapped start. Back in the day, they used to give out special shirts to the top 25 finishers in the handicapped race, but I think they've stopped that.now. I wasn't 100% sure about that so I still wanted to try to finish in the top 25.
I was doing the shorter race. I was just not up for 10 miles in the woods in this heat and humidity. The shorter race was going to be hard enough for me. I had spent the previous two days running the dogs in agility, and I was tired. And I really wasn't much in the mood for this race, but I had to go and get a finish time if I wanted to get those Dirt Days series points.
One of the things about it that I really wasn't looking forward to was getting passed by all those younger and faster people, due to the handicapped start. I had some unpleasant memories from the previous races of getting passed by almost everybody who started behind me, and only passing a couple of people myself. And now I would be starting earlier since I am much older, so maybe even more people were going to pass me, and there really weren't many people starting ahead of me that I could pass. I would have preferred a traditional mass start, like they were having in the longer race.
But East Fork Lake is so pretty that it immediately put me in a better mood. So even though it was muggy and miserable, once I got there I was ready to race. I picked up my numbers (front and back for this thing!), and the volunteers helped me pin the one on my back. I did a little 10 minute warm-up jog around the parking lot. I visited the portapotties, twice. I asked Bob Roncker why the race was so much longer than it used to be. He said that over the years people have cleared out more area for the trails, so it has just gradually gotten longer.
I debated wearing a fanny pack with a GU and a bottle of water. I wouldn't need that for a 5 mile road race but I was anticipating being out there for well over an hour on the trails. Bob said that there was just one water stop, in a parking lot in the middle of the race. Or maybe it was a little before the middle. Or a little after. I decided to wear the fanny pack.
The first runner went off at 8 am with a 30-minute handicap. So, the "open" runners started at 8:30. The rest of us were distributed across that 30 minute period based on age, sex, and "previous performances" (whatever that means, as Bob was doing the handicapping). I had a 24 minute handicap, so I started at 8:06. The first runner was an older guy (he ultimately wins the race), and then there were a few women after him, so there were about 6 people ahead of me. Two of the women I thought I might be able to pass, but probably not the others.
What is Up with This?
I thought I was to start by myself based on the pre-race info I had seen, but to my surprise there was another woman lined up next to me at the start. She had apparently been a late registrant, which wasn't supposed to be allowed but I guess Bob let her in anyway.
No big deal, except I looked at this woman and there was just no way she was 52 years old. She looked like maybe somewhere in her late 20s, early 30s and certainly no older than 35. I'm a poor judge of age, but this woman was way younger than I am!
Even 52-year-old movie stars do not look as good as this chick. Fit, tan, long blond hair, no wrinkles. I hated her immediately.
So, I can't help myself, I have to say to her that I think she should be starting at least 10 minutes behind me, maybe 15. I do mean it as a compliment, sort of, and that is how she takes it.
I was interested to see how fast she would take off. If Bob had done the handicapping properly, this much younger woman has to be very slow. Otherwise, he really should have put her further back.
Well, off we go and guess what, she takes off up the hill---you have to run up a steep hill for a couple tenths of a mile or so before you hit the trail---and it is obvious that either she does not know what she is doing or she is much faster than I am. I catch up a little when we first hit the trail but that does not last long, and soon she is out of sight, and I am alone. For awhile. Ultimately, she beats me by 9 minutes. So much for Bob's handicapping. Now if she had started ten minutes behind me where she should have been, maybe I could have held her off. But mostly, it wasn't fair to the other women her age, who had to start far behind her.
Alone in the Woods, for Awhile
I did not have much memory of what the trails were like at East Fork. Basically, they are less technical than at some of the other races, but fairly narrow. Although it had been dry for awhile in the days leading up to the race, there was a bit of rain the day before, so there were a few slippery spots. The problem was, it was hard to tell where the slippery spots were. When it's all slippery, it's somewhat easier because you just know it and deal with it. When you never know where you might fall, it's a little more dangerous. That's my opinion, anyway.
I found the first part of the race to be the most difficult. That part of the trail was very narrow, and on the edge of a hill. I was glad the whole thing wasn't like that. In this early section of the race, I also heard a tree fall down somewhere close to me, which was a bit unsettling. The tree cover was very dense, so the woods were very shady. Despite the shade, it was still plenty hot and humid. Worse, I was wearing sunglasses. Even worse, they kept fogging up. But since I wear prescription lenses, I couldn't take them off. I am almost blind without my glasses.
It took me about 15 minutes or so to catch the two women that I thought I would pass. We discussed how much faster the other woman who started with me was. They said she was really flying, and I said there was no way she was 52 years old.
(I have been obsessing about this since the race. From the results, it looks like she was actually 43. An extremely well-preserved 43. Bob says he put her where he did based on her previous performances. I still think he made a calculation error.)
About 24 minutes into the race, I was passed by an older (well, he's also in his 50s) guy, somebody I knew was going to pass me at some point, even though he started 9 minutes after me. He went on to finish second overall.
I don't remember it all too clearly anymore and it's only been a week and a half.
I was really glad I had that water bottle. I took a sip from it every ten minutes or so. After about 30 minutes, I was wondering where the little parking lot area with the water stop was. It used to be the middle of the race and now was supposed to be two miles in, or two and a half miles in. I heard a guy fall down somewhere behind me, and then there was some cursing.
Finally we hit the parking lot, and the guy who had fallen came up behind me and he was whining about how awful the race was. I didn't understand what his problem was because it really wasn't that bad, as trail races go. Well-marked course, trails in reasonable shape. And here was an aid station with water. What was he whining about? We passed a volunteer and she radioed in to Bob that # 709 (me) had just come through and was "looking strong." I thanked her for that because it gave me a little lift.
And on and on and on. I think it was flatter after this point. Mostly. More people were passing me now. Lots of guys and a few women. I had thought about counting them but gave up on that. Just wanted to finish and not be last. One of the guys who went by was really fast and I wondered if he was the last to start.
Since I didn't really know where I was and how much was left to run, it was all a bit disconcerting. Around 47 minutes into the race I had the GU. What the heck. At least I was managing to stay on course, which is always a challenge for me in these things. The race was for me a weird mix of lonely stretches, punctuated by having to step off the trail to let faster runners go by. It was hard to stay motivated. I walked a few times, then woke up and started running again. The trail was narrower and the tree cover denser than the trails I run on at home. I found it a little spooky and claustrophobic when nobody else was around. I would not like to run those trails all by myself for very long.
I started to feel a blister forming on my big left bunion. Or maybe it was when it popped that I started to feel it. I was wearing my Salomon trail shoes, that are light and breatheable, but I had pulled the laces a little too tight in the toes.
Bob had said that when we passed by the clearing with the little backpack huts, there was around a mile to go. Maybe. The details are always a bit vague. Finally we hit something that looked like that description. And then there was some uphill. I thought I remembered the uphill from the race years ago. On the last hill, I got passed by a twelve year old boy. And then, just coming out of the woods and back to the road that led to the parking lot, I got passed by a 35 yr. old guy. Later I was wishing I had tried harder to stay ahead of them both. But who am I kidding? They started long after me and they caught me, so it is unlikely I could have stayed ahead once they caught up to me.
I did run fairly hard down that last hill towards the beach, anyway.
Official time was 1:07:43, or just a little slower than I had expected. I was thinking 1:06, so I was close. Maybe if I hadn't walked in a few spots. For Dirty Dozen scoring purposes, I was 13th of 25 women. In terms of my actual finish spot, however, I was 26 of 61 runners (and was thinking that wow, if they still gave out those shirts to the top 25 I would have just missed one!) and 9 of 25 women. My age-graded time was also not so hot, 31 of 61. At least I did not get lapped by any of the 10 milers, the first of whom finished just behind me.
I stayed around for a little bit after the race, anyway, and had a cinnamon crunch bagel and a banana. Took off my wet, nasty shoes and socks, and found the first aid kit in my car to treat the blister.
I am going to miss the next two races in this series, one for a dog show and one for the Leading Ladies marathon. My next race, however, is the Lady Distance Classic 10k on August 6.
East Fork State Park lies between St. Rt. 32 and 125, east of Cincinnati. The lake is a popular site for triathlons. The Backpack Trail is a well-established route, supposedly about 14 miles long in its entirety. This race used to be about 4 miles or a little over. Now it is a 5.6 mile and a 10.8 mile. You can use either race to count towards Dirt Days series points and Dirty Dozen standings, but the formats of the race are slightly different. The longer race is just a "normal" race with everybody starting at the same time. The shorter race has a handicapped start. Back in the day, they used to give out special shirts to the top 25 finishers in the handicapped race, but I think they've stopped that.now. I wasn't 100% sure about that so I still wanted to try to finish in the top 25.
I was doing the shorter race. I was just not up for 10 miles in the woods in this heat and humidity. The shorter race was going to be hard enough for me. I had spent the previous two days running the dogs in agility, and I was tired. And I really wasn't much in the mood for this race, but I had to go and get a finish time if I wanted to get those Dirt Days series points.
One of the things about it that I really wasn't looking forward to was getting passed by all those younger and faster people, due to the handicapped start. I had some unpleasant memories from the previous races of getting passed by almost everybody who started behind me, and only passing a couple of people myself. And now I would be starting earlier since I am much older, so maybe even more people were going to pass me, and there really weren't many people starting ahead of me that I could pass. I would have preferred a traditional mass start, like they were having in the longer race.
But East Fork Lake is so pretty that it immediately put me in a better mood. So even though it was muggy and miserable, once I got there I was ready to race. I picked up my numbers (front and back for this thing!), and the volunteers helped me pin the one on my back. I did a little 10 minute warm-up jog around the parking lot. I visited the portapotties, twice. I asked Bob Roncker why the race was so much longer than it used to be. He said that over the years people have cleared out more area for the trails, so it has just gradually gotten longer.
I debated wearing a fanny pack with a GU and a bottle of water. I wouldn't need that for a 5 mile road race but I was anticipating being out there for well over an hour on the trails. Bob said that there was just one water stop, in a parking lot in the middle of the race. Or maybe it was a little before the middle. Or a little after. I decided to wear the fanny pack.
The first runner went off at 8 am with a 30-minute handicap. So, the "open" runners started at 8:30. The rest of us were distributed across that 30 minute period based on age, sex, and "previous performances" (whatever that means, as Bob was doing the handicapping). I had a 24 minute handicap, so I started at 8:06. The first runner was an older guy (he ultimately wins the race), and then there were a few women after him, so there were about 6 people ahead of me. Two of the women I thought I might be able to pass, but probably not the others.
What is Up with This?
I thought I was to start by myself based on the pre-race info I had seen, but to my surprise there was another woman lined up next to me at the start. She had apparently been a late registrant, which wasn't supposed to be allowed but I guess Bob let her in anyway.
No big deal, except I looked at this woman and there was just no way she was 52 years old. She looked like maybe somewhere in her late 20s, early 30s and certainly no older than 35. I'm a poor judge of age, but this woman was way younger than I am!
Even 52-year-old movie stars do not look as good as this chick. Fit, tan, long blond hair, no wrinkles. I hated her immediately.
So, I can't help myself, I have to say to her that I think she should be starting at least 10 minutes behind me, maybe 15. I do mean it as a compliment, sort of, and that is how she takes it.
I was interested to see how fast she would take off. If Bob had done the handicapping properly, this much younger woman has to be very slow. Otherwise, he really should have put her further back.
Well, off we go and guess what, she takes off up the hill---you have to run up a steep hill for a couple tenths of a mile or so before you hit the trail---and it is obvious that either she does not know what she is doing or she is much faster than I am. I catch up a little when we first hit the trail but that does not last long, and soon she is out of sight, and I am alone. For awhile. Ultimately, she beats me by 9 minutes. So much for Bob's handicapping. Now if she had started ten minutes behind me where she should have been, maybe I could have held her off. But mostly, it wasn't fair to the other women her age, who had to start far behind her.
Alone in the Woods, for Awhile
I did not have much memory of what the trails were like at East Fork. Basically, they are less technical than at some of the other races, but fairly narrow. Although it had been dry for awhile in the days leading up to the race, there was a bit of rain the day before, so there were a few slippery spots. The problem was, it was hard to tell where the slippery spots were. When it's all slippery, it's somewhat easier because you just know it and deal with it. When you never know where you might fall, it's a little more dangerous. That's my opinion, anyway.
I found the first part of the race to be the most difficult. That part of the trail was very narrow, and on the edge of a hill. I was glad the whole thing wasn't like that. In this early section of the race, I also heard a tree fall down somewhere close to me, which was a bit unsettling. The tree cover was very dense, so the woods were very shady. Despite the shade, it was still plenty hot and humid. Worse, I was wearing sunglasses. Even worse, they kept fogging up. But since I wear prescription lenses, I couldn't take them off. I am almost blind without my glasses.
It took me about 15 minutes or so to catch the two women that I thought I would pass. We discussed how much faster the other woman who started with me was. They said she was really flying, and I said there was no way she was 52 years old.
(I have been obsessing about this since the race. From the results, it looks like she was actually 43. An extremely well-preserved 43. Bob says he put her where he did based on her previous performances. I still think he made a calculation error.)
About 24 minutes into the race, I was passed by an older (well, he's also in his 50s) guy, somebody I knew was going to pass me at some point, even though he started 9 minutes after me. He went on to finish second overall.
I don't remember it all too clearly anymore and it's only been a week and a half.
I was really glad I had that water bottle. I took a sip from it every ten minutes or so. After about 30 minutes, I was wondering where the little parking lot area with the water stop was. It used to be the middle of the race and now was supposed to be two miles in, or two and a half miles in. I heard a guy fall down somewhere behind me, and then there was some cursing.
Finally we hit the parking lot, and the guy who had fallen came up behind me and he was whining about how awful the race was. I didn't understand what his problem was because it really wasn't that bad, as trail races go. Well-marked course, trails in reasonable shape. And here was an aid station with water. What was he whining about? We passed a volunteer and she radioed in to Bob that # 709 (me) had just come through and was "looking strong." I thanked her for that because it gave me a little lift.
And on and on and on. I think it was flatter after this point. Mostly. More people were passing me now. Lots of guys and a few women. I had thought about counting them but gave up on that. Just wanted to finish and not be last. One of the guys who went by was really fast and I wondered if he was the last to start.
Since I didn't really know where I was and how much was left to run, it was all a bit disconcerting. Around 47 minutes into the race I had the GU. What the heck. At least I was managing to stay on course, which is always a challenge for me in these things. The race was for me a weird mix of lonely stretches, punctuated by having to step off the trail to let faster runners go by. It was hard to stay motivated. I walked a few times, then woke up and started running again. The trail was narrower and the tree cover denser than the trails I run on at home. I found it a little spooky and claustrophobic when nobody else was around. I would not like to run those trails all by myself for very long.
I started to feel a blister forming on my big left bunion. Or maybe it was when it popped that I started to feel it. I was wearing my Salomon trail shoes, that are light and breatheable, but I had pulled the laces a little too tight in the toes.
Bob had said that when we passed by the clearing with the little backpack huts, there was around a mile to go. Maybe. The details are always a bit vague. Finally we hit something that looked like that description. And then there was some uphill. I thought I remembered the uphill from the race years ago. On the last hill, I got passed by a twelve year old boy. And then, just coming out of the woods and back to the road that led to the parking lot, I got passed by a 35 yr. old guy. Later I was wishing I had tried harder to stay ahead of them both. But who am I kidding? They started long after me and they caught me, so it is unlikely I could have stayed ahead once they caught up to me.
I did run fairly hard down that last hill towards the beach, anyway.
Official time was 1:07:43, or just a little slower than I had expected. I was thinking 1:06, so I was close. Maybe if I hadn't walked in a few spots. For Dirty Dozen scoring purposes, I was 13th of 25 women. In terms of my actual finish spot, however, I was 26 of 61 runners (and was thinking that wow, if they still gave out those shirts to the top 25 I would have just missed one!) and 9 of 25 women. My age-graded time was also not so hot, 31 of 61. At least I did not get lapped by any of the 10 milers, the first of whom finished just behind me.
I stayed around for a little bit after the race, anyway, and had a cinnamon crunch bagel and a banana. Took off my wet, nasty shoes and socks, and found the first aid kit in my car to treat the blister.
I am going to miss the next two races in this series, one for a dog show and one for the Leading Ladies marathon. My next race, however, is the Lady Distance Classic 10k on August 6.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Hyde Park Blast 2011
Saturday June 25 was the 10th anniversary running of the Hyde Park Blast four-mile road race. Although it has never been one of my favorites, I have nevertheless shown up to run it for nine of those ten years.
Why is it not one of my favorites, even though it takes place in my neighborhood? One reason is that from the outset it seemed to be organized by people who did not really understand what runners wanted in an ideal race. For example, the first few years when we had to wear those ridiculous ankle straps with the gigantic timing chips. And the screw ups with the results, and the aid stations, and the start time, that they had the first couple of years. But things have gradually improved, and there isn't so much for me to find fault with any more---which will not stop me from dissing it!
Why Don't I Like This Race?
So now, mostly, the problem I have with it is just that even though it takes place in my neighborhood, it is not the kind of friendly neighborhood race that I love. It's too big and there is too much hoopla surrounding it. In addition to the race, there is the block party, the cycling race, the 5k “elite” race.
And when there is hoopla, I have higher standards of perfection. If you are going to make me big promises, you have to deliver. And this race consistently fails on that score.
But I am probably being too harsh. Anyway, this year it was mostly okay.
The event is a fundraiser for various charities involved with cancer, and they say they have donated over $220k since 2001. I am surprised that the figure isn't a lot higher, considering the number of participants in all the events and the level of corporate sponsorship. Seriously, I would be less critical if I thought they were giving more money to charity. Do the math: 3000 entrants in the 4-mile race this year at $30 a head? And all they've been able to donate in ten years is $220k? There are single individuals who have raised more than that running for charity (I think the TNT record is close to $650k by one man over 20 years). I know there are a lot of costs associated with putting on a race, but isn't that what the sponsors are for?
Anyway, I picked up my race shirt, number and chip at The Running Spot on Friday afternoon. One nice thing this year is that we got our chips at packet pickup. In previous years, we had to pick them up at the start, which made for a lot of chaos on race morning. One not so nice thing is that they wanted us to pick up our goodie bags (which have always been quite well-stocked at this race) AFTER the race. For me, the issue is that I am jogging to and from the race, so if I have to lug a bag home I probably won't be jogging.
A Bit of Shopping and More Whining
Used the opportunity to take a little look around the store merchandise to see if there was anything I wanted to buy. After all, I had to pay $1 to park in the lot across the street, and my hour wasn't up yet. They had a sale on Merrill sandals, and I picked up a pair. They were all out on a table so I was able to try them on myself without any assistance. Which was a good thing because all the clerks were occupied with other customers.
After I found my sandals, I stood for a few minutes at the cash register and waited for someone to come check me out. After a bit of waiting, I began to ask myself whether or not I really wanted these sandals. I looked down at my watch and decided I would give them one more minute before I left empty handed.
This is a great store. A couple of years ago it was named the #1 Specialty Running Store in America, or some such thing. The owner and founder of the store does a tremendous job supporting running in our community. But I don't shop there as much as I used to, since the universe created Zappos and Amazon and Road Runner Sports. I don't want to shop online, necessarily. I would prefer to give my business to local merchants. But if I have to pay to park across the street from the store, and then wait around for someone to notice that I am ready to make a purchase (after I have already waited on myself by selecting and trying on the item without any assistance), well, sorry brick and mortar store, but you are going to lose me.
Perhaps I am not really their target market? This is, after all, one of the first places that someone said to me that I didn't look like a runner. This is the place where the sales clerk asked me if I was going to wear the shoes I was trying on "for running." (Yes, it has been years now and I am still not over it.)
Anyway, before the minute was up, someone did come to wait on me. She said they were extra busy because of all the traffic from the race. I thought that was probably the point of having packet pickup in the store, but whatever. The good thing is that she let me use the coupon for an extra $10 off that I had picked up with my race number. But I am whining here on the Internet about it anyway. That is just how it goes.
But I digress.
What's Good About this Race
There are some things that I do like about this race. As I mentioned, they usually provide pretty good swag. Over the years, they have handed out assorted and occasionally useful small tote bags, various hot and cold beverage containers, little covered canisters that I still use to store dog treats and nuts, a key chain (I still use that, too), and socks. Lots of good stuff.
This year there was to be a cold beverage container and an insulated tote bag. But we weren't getting them until after the race.
They also have better race t-shirts than average. The last couple of years, we've gotten technical tops. This year, the women's shirts are hot pink.
And, for me, oh yeah, the start and finish is about a mile and a half from my house.
The Race
On Saturday morning, I left the house around 7:30 am. The race was to start at 8, so that would give me plenty of time to jog down there, and I wouldn't have to hang out for too long waiting. It was a pleasant morning, a bit cooler than usual, but sunny.
I got to the start just as they were beginning to encourage people to line up. There was a good crowd---about 3000 people registered, and ultimately, 2517 finishers. And as is often the case at the bigger local races, I didn't see anybody I recognized! It is kind of funny how at a 200-person 5k I can look around and recognize almost everybody there, but at a 2500 person race I don't see anybody who looks familiar.
There were a lot of people wearing the race shirt. What is up with that? Don't they know it's bad luck to wear it before the race?
Found a good spot on the left side of the street, not too far back. There is chip timing but I didn't want to get stuck behind a bunch of walkers.
Still, it takes me 30 seconds to reach the start line. Good thing we are using the chip!
My goal is 35 minutes, or about an 8:45 pace. That will be a few minutes faster than last year, and is a little slower than predicted by my recent 5k. I am a little lighter than last year and in a little better shape. OTOH, this race is hilly and that 5k a few weeks ago was flat. So 35 minutes sounds just about right.
The race starts with a gradual climb, followed by a shorter, steeper hill but you also get to go down the other side. The second mile is a long uphill. The third mile is mostly downhill. And the last mile starts with about a quarter mile up hill, and then it is mostly downhill to the finish.
So my race strategy based on my experience at this race is to run comfortably hard for the first two miles---but not to flip out if I am over my goal pace, especially in the second mile. Then I make up time in the third mile, try not to push too hard on the last hill, and run hard to the finish.
And that is about how it goes. Mile one takes me 9:12, which still manages to get me worried until I remember the 30 seconds at the start. So it's more like 8:42, or right on pace. In the second mile, we pass by my old house. The new residents are maintaining it well but I do wish they would paint the tool shed. Mile 2 is 8:57. No worries, this is the uphill mile.
In mile 3, I come upon someone I recognize for the first time in this race. It is Judy Harmony, whom I know from dog agility. She used to run a Miniature Poodle. She put a MACH on it. I have not seen her at a dog event in several years, but I still see her at the occasional road race. She used to be faster than me but she is slowing down. But she is still fast for her age---she will win her age group. On an age-graded basis, she is still faster than me.
Later, I will see in the results that my friend David Jones was also at the race, and will win his age group, but I did not see him at the start. Also a couple of other dog training friends were there, but I didn't see them either. That makes just four people I knew in a crowd of over 2500 runners and assorted hangers-on. At a race that takes place a mile and a half from my house. Amazing.
I think about saying hello to Judy but I don't have that much energy. I pass Judy somewhere near the three mile mark. Mile 3 took me 8:38.
Now we're climbing the hill. There is always a lot of whining about this hill, but it is really no big deal. It is steeper than the hill in mile two, but not that long. I decide to time myself going up the hill. It takes me just about two minutes. I'm not even that fast, and I get up it in two minutes. Everybody quit the whining!
Now I am starting to regret the feta stuffed olives I had the night before, however.
I run down the hill and back out to Erie Ave. I decide I will not start to "kick" until I can actually see the finish line. When you turn the corner onto Erie, there is just a little rise for a block or so until you start downhill.
I accelerate and start passing people. I do not understand these people who slow down when they are approaching the finish line. It is a race, people! So at the finish, I do have to slow down because there are all these people around me just coming to a dead stop and I don't want to run them over.
Fourth mile time was 8:31. I let them cut my chip off my shoe, and I grab some water and Powerade. I am thinking about picking up the promised swag---the drink bottle and the little lunch bag---but then I see a big long line for them, same deal with the food. I just can't stand this waiting on line thing after a race. So I just start walking home with my water and Powerade. I don't really need another plastic drink bottle and I certainly don't need another tote bag of any kind.
I was not sure of my official time because I didn't know exactly how long I took to cross the start, and I did not stop my watch as soon as I crossed the finish line. But later in the afternoon I saw in the results that my chip time was 34:49, or just about what I expected as a reasonable goal, 8:43 pace.
My time put me 4 of 98 in my age group (sounds better than it is), 252 of 1501 women, and 686 of 2517 finishers. My age group placement sounds better than it is because a lot of those 98 women were walkers, and it looks like most of the fast women in my age group weren't there. Remember, I didn't see anybody I recognized at the start line. Where they went, I am not sure. I checked the results of a 5k that was happening the same day, and I didn't recognize the names of anybody who ran that one either. And, get this, I would have been the FIRST overall female in that race. Seriously. So are all the fast old ladies on vacation?
Fourth out of 98 would surely win you some sort of prize in most road races. But not in this one. They don't do age group awards. They give prizes to the top 50 men and top 50 women. This unfairly penalizes us older folk. Unfair! I guess that is another reason I don't like this race. I would feel better about it if they actually gave more money to charity, instead of promoting themselves as a charitable event and yet spending most of the money, on what, I am not entirely sure. I would hope that most of the swag and all of the food was donated by the many corporate sponsors.
But I will show up and run it again next year anyway if I do not have anyplace else to be that day!
Why is it not one of my favorites, even though it takes place in my neighborhood? One reason is that from the outset it seemed to be organized by people who did not really understand what runners wanted in an ideal race. For example, the first few years when we had to wear those ridiculous ankle straps with the gigantic timing chips. And the screw ups with the results, and the aid stations, and the start time, that they had the first couple of years. But things have gradually improved, and there isn't so much for me to find fault with any more---which will not stop me from dissing it!
Why Don't I Like This Race?
So now, mostly, the problem I have with it is just that even though it takes place in my neighborhood, it is not the kind of friendly neighborhood race that I love. It's too big and there is too much hoopla surrounding it. In addition to the race, there is the block party, the cycling race, the 5k “elite” race.
And when there is hoopla, I have higher standards of perfection. If you are going to make me big promises, you have to deliver. And this race consistently fails on that score.
But I am probably being too harsh. Anyway, this year it was mostly okay.
The event is a fundraiser for various charities involved with cancer, and they say they have donated over $220k since 2001. I am surprised that the figure isn't a lot higher, considering the number of participants in all the events and the level of corporate sponsorship. Seriously, I would be less critical if I thought they were giving more money to charity. Do the math: 3000 entrants in the 4-mile race this year at $30 a head? And all they've been able to donate in ten years is $220k? There are single individuals who have raised more than that running for charity (I think the TNT record is close to $650k by one man over 20 years). I know there are a lot of costs associated with putting on a race, but isn't that what the sponsors are for?
Anyway, I picked up my race shirt, number and chip at The Running Spot on Friday afternoon. One nice thing this year is that we got our chips at packet pickup. In previous years, we had to pick them up at the start, which made for a lot of chaos on race morning. One not so nice thing is that they wanted us to pick up our goodie bags (which have always been quite well-stocked at this race) AFTER the race. For me, the issue is that I am jogging to and from the race, so if I have to lug a bag home I probably won't be jogging.
A Bit of Shopping and More Whining
Used the opportunity to take a little look around the store merchandise to see if there was anything I wanted to buy. After all, I had to pay $1 to park in the lot across the street, and my hour wasn't up yet. They had a sale on Merrill sandals, and I picked up a pair. They were all out on a table so I was able to try them on myself without any assistance. Which was a good thing because all the clerks were occupied with other customers.
After I found my sandals, I stood for a few minutes at the cash register and waited for someone to come check me out. After a bit of waiting, I began to ask myself whether or not I really wanted these sandals. I looked down at my watch and decided I would give them one more minute before I left empty handed.
This is a great store. A couple of years ago it was named the #1 Specialty Running Store in America, or some such thing. The owner and founder of the store does a tremendous job supporting running in our community. But I don't shop there as much as I used to, since the universe created Zappos and Amazon and Road Runner Sports. I don't want to shop online, necessarily. I would prefer to give my business to local merchants. But if I have to pay to park across the street from the store, and then wait around for someone to notice that I am ready to make a purchase (after I have already waited on myself by selecting and trying on the item without any assistance), well, sorry brick and mortar store, but you are going to lose me.
Perhaps I am not really their target market? This is, after all, one of the first places that someone said to me that I didn't look like a runner. This is the place where the sales clerk asked me if I was going to wear the shoes I was trying on "for running." (Yes, it has been years now and I am still not over it.)
Anyway, before the minute was up, someone did come to wait on me. She said they were extra busy because of all the traffic from the race. I thought that was probably the point of having packet pickup in the store, but whatever. The good thing is that she let me use the coupon for an extra $10 off that I had picked up with my race number. But I am whining here on the Internet about it anyway. That is just how it goes.
But I digress.
What's Good About this Race
There are some things that I do like about this race. As I mentioned, they usually provide pretty good swag. Over the years, they have handed out assorted and occasionally useful small tote bags, various hot and cold beverage containers, little covered canisters that I still use to store dog treats and nuts, a key chain (I still use that, too), and socks. Lots of good stuff.
This year there was to be a cold beverage container and an insulated tote bag. But we weren't getting them until after the race.
They also have better race t-shirts than average. The last couple of years, we've gotten technical tops. This year, the women's shirts are hot pink.
And, for me, oh yeah, the start and finish is about a mile and a half from my house.
The Race
On Saturday morning, I left the house around 7:30 am. The race was to start at 8, so that would give me plenty of time to jog down there, and I wouldn't have to hang out for too long waiting. It was a pleasant morning, a bit cooler than usual, but sunny.
I got to the start just as they were beginning to encourage people to line up. There was a good crowd---about 3000 people registered, and ultimately, 2517 finishers. And as is often the case at the bigger local races, I didn't see anybody I recognized! It is kind of funny how at a 200-person 5k I can look around and recognize almost everybody there, but at a 2500 person race I don't see anybody who looks familiar.
There were a lot of people wearing the race shirt. What is up with that? Don't they know it's bad luck to wear it before the race?
Found a good spot on the left side of the street, not too far back. There is chip timing but I didn't want to get stuck behind a bunch of walkers.
Still, it takes me 30 seconds to reach the start line. Good thing we are using the chip!
My goal is 35 minutes, or about an 8:45 pace. That will be a few minutes faster than last year, and is a little slower than predicted by my recent 5k. I am a little lighter than last year and in a little better shape. OTOH, this race is hilly and that 5k a few weeks ago was flat. So 35 minutes sounds just about right.
The race starts with a gradual climb, followed by a shorter, steeper hill but you also get to go down the other side. The second mile is a long uphill. The third mile is mostly downhill. And the last mile starts with about a quarter mile up hill, and then it is mostly downhill to the finish.
So my race strategy based on my experience at this race is to run comfortably hard for the first two miles---but not to flip out if I am over my goal pace, especially in the second mile. Then I make up time in the third mile, try not to push too hard on the last hill, and run hard to the finish.
And that is about how it goes. Mile one takes me 9:12, which still manages to get me worried until I remember the 30 seconds at the start. So it's more like 8:42, or right on pace. In the second mile, we pass by my old house. The new residents are maintaining it well but I do wish they would paint the tool shed. Mile 2 is 8:57. No worries, this is the uphill mile.
In mile 3, I come upon someone I recognize for the first time in this race. It is Judy Harmony, whom I know from dog agility. She used to run a Miniature Poodle. She put a MACH on it. I have not seen her at a dog event in several years, but I still see her at the occasional road race. She used to be faster than me but she is slowing down. But she is still fast for her age---she will win her age group. On an age-graded basis, she is still faster than me.
Later, I will see in the results that my friend David Jones was also at the race, and will win his age group, but I did not see him at the start. Also a couple of other dog training friends were there, but I didn't see them either. That makes just four people I knew in a crowd of over 2500 runners and assorted hangers-on. At a race that takes place a mile and a half from my house. Amazing.
I think about saying hello to Judy but I don't have that much energy. I pass Judy somewhere near the three mile mark. Mile 3 took me 8:38.
Now we're climbing the hill. There is always a lot of whining about this hill, but it is really no big deal. It is steeper than the hill in mile two, but not that long. I decide to time myself going up the hill. It takes me just about two minutes. I'm not even that fast, and I get up it in two minutes. Everybody quit the whining!
Now I am starting to regret the feta stuffed olives I had the night before, however.
I run down the hill and back out to Erie Ave. I decide I will not start to "kick" until I can actually see the finish line. When you turn the corner onto Erie, there is just a little rise for a block or so until you start downhill.
I accelerate and start passing people. I do not understand these people who slow down when they are approaching the finish line. It is a race, people! So at the finish, I do have to slow down because there are all these people around me just coming to a dead stop and I don't want to run them over.
Fourth mile time was 8:31. I let them cut my chip off my shoe, and I grab some water and Powerade. I am thinking about picking up the promised swag---the drink bottle and the little lunch bag---but then I see a big long line for them, same deal with the food. I just can't stand this waiting on line thing after a race. So I just start walking home with my water and Powerade. I don't really need another plastic drink bottle and I certainly don't need another tote bag of any kind.
I was not sure of my official time because I didn't know exactly how long I took to cross the start, and I did not stop my watch as soon as I crossed the finish line. But later in the afternoon I saw in the results that my chip time was 34:49, or just about what I expected as a reasonable goal, 8:43 pace.
My time put me 4 of 98 in my age group (sounds better than it is), 252 of 1501 women, and 686 of 2517 finishers. My age group placement sounds better than it is because a lot of those 98 women were walkers, and it looks like most of the fast women in my age group weren't there. Remember, I didn't see anybody I recognized at the start line. Where they went, I am not sure. I checked the results of a 5k that was happening the same day, and I didn't recognize the names of anybody who ran that one either. And, get this, I would have been the FIRST overall female in that race. Seriously. So are all the fast old ladies on vacation?
Fourth out of 98 would surely win you some sort of prize in most road races. But not in this one. They don't do age group awards. They give prizes to the top 50 men and top 50 women. This unfairly penalizes us older folk. Unfair! I guess that is another reason I don't like this race. I would feel better about it if they actually gave more money to charity, instead of promoting themselves as a charitable event and yet spending most of the money, on what, I am not entirely sure. I would hope that most of the swag and all of the food was donated by the many corporate sponsors.
But I will show up and run it again next year anyway if I do not have anyplace else to be that day!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A Tale of Two Races
Time to write about the two races I did recently, one on the road and one on the trails:
Racing to Read 5k
June 4, Covington, KY
When I figured out that I wasn't leaving for the FCR Specialty until Sunday morning, I realized I could fit a 5k race in that weekend. Of the half-dozen or so races scheduled in the Greater Cincinnati area for that day, this one sounded like the best combination of close-to-home and good amenities. The web site promised a relatively flat course, technical race shirt, and a pancake breakfast---all for $20. What a deal!
Only negative I saw was that the age-group awards went just to the winners---not the top 3 or top 5 or top 15 %. Kinda stingy.
The race is a benefit for the Kenton County Library to promote early childhood literacy efforts. The start and finish was outside Gateway Community College in Covington, across the street from the Covington library. There was free parking in the garage next to Gateway.
My GPS led me astray enroute to the race, but I still arrived in plenty of time to pick up my shirt, get a good warm up in, and scope out the competition. I recognized one woman who used to be fast but whom I haven't seen racing in awhile. There was a pretty good crowd, but it seemed like most of the people doing it were not the regular 5k race crowd. Well, with the number of other races taking place at the same time, I guess that was not too surprising. Maybe they were all at some other race that was more generous with the hardware.
The race shirt was nothing too exciting: white with a blue logo on the front in a tech fabric. Still, it's nice to get a technical shirt. Lots of people were wearing them for the race :-). They were also selling shirts from last year's race for $3.
Finished my warm up and took a spot in the middle of the pack, ahead of two guys who said their goal was to beat the Two Men and a Truck mascot. Those black tights did look hot!
It was a warm morning but the streets of Covington are pleasantly shady. I liked the course. It WAS fairly flat. Some slight changes in elevation along the way, but not bad at all.
Who Are These People and Can I Beat Them?
For the first half of the race, I found myself "competing" with a woman in gray, and another woman who was running with a German Shorthaired Pointer. The woman in gray looked like she might be in my age group, or a bit younger. GSP woman was definitely younger. Woman in Gray would pull ahead on the "uphills" but fall behind on the "downhills." I was going to let her go, when she inexplicably faded.
My goal was something in the low 26s, or about an 8:30 pace. Hit the first mile in 8:28. Normally I like the first mile to be significantly under my goal pace, so this could have been a little disheartening, but I just told myself, "right on pace," which is a very positive thought to have.
The GSP and his "handler" looked strong. I would not have minded running this race with Ed, but it was much too warm for him. The GSP seemed to be handling it okay, though. That is, until we got to about the halfway mark, down a slight hill towards the river. Here I noticed that the GSP was walking down the hill, so the woman attached to his leash had to do the same. I don't know if the heat got him or if it was her, or what, but that was the point where I left them behind. And that is why I was not running this race with my dog!
There was a water station at the bottom of this "hill" and I would have liked a cup, but the volunteers were not moving fast enough and there was actually nothing set out. I did not want to wait for them to pour me some, so I just kept running. It was getting hot, and the river looked tempting also, but I resisted the urge to bail on the race and jump in.
Mile 2 took me 8:35. That was a little over my goal pace, but close enough that I did not feel bad about it. I tried to focus. I started my countdown: 9 more minutes, 8 more minutes, 7 more minutes...
I got a little over-excited in here somewhere and almost puked, but managed to recover.
And before too long we were back on the road that led to the finish line. I kicked and passed a couple of people. Mile 3 was 8:27 and it was 48 seconds for the last .1. I did not kick hard enough to throw up. Official time was 26:13, which is 8:27 pace. Yay!
Too Late for Pancakes
I was not ready for pancakes. I walked around, got some water, went to my car to get my change of clothes, decided to go into the bathroom to change rather than the car, etc. By the time I came back out, I was hungry for the pancakes but now there a huge long line stretching around the block. I needed to get home to walk the dogs, so no pancakes for me. Bummer. There were some cool door prizes from the sponsors too, but oh well. I might have stayed if I really thought I had a chance at an age group award, but with the number of people entered it was hard to tell.
In the results, I was 4 of 10 in my age group, 17 of 145 women (not too shabby) and 72 of 279 runners. There were also 123 walkers, and a stroller division with awards to the top 3 men and top 3 women who competed pushing strollers.
Overall, this was a nice community event. I loved the course, and the atmosphere. I will return to this one again. Hopefully with time to stay for pancakes.
French Park Creek Crossings, 3.4 mile trail race
June 12, 9 am
This is another race in the Dirt Days trail series. I did this one last year and I think it was my favorite in the series. French Park is only a couple of miles from my house, but I had never been there before I did this race last year. It is a lovely park, and the trails are less challenging than those in some of the other races.
Sunday morning was a little cooler than the previous few days and a bit overcast. For me, having just returned from 100 degree heat in Maryland, it felt wonderful. I left the house a little after 8 am, and got a good parking spot in the lot near the start/finish area. Picked up my number and sat in the car for a few minutes reading a book.
I remembered that the race started with the long downhill on the grass, so I included that in my 10-minute warm up. I felt really good during the warm up. I was tired from my week at the FCR Specialty and all the driving, but physically it was shaping up to be a good day.
Back at the starting area, chatted for a few minutes with Andy Jones. Andy is (still) the world record holder for 100 miles on the roads. He is not as fast as he used to be but he's still fast.
I looked around at the other women and tried to count them up. For the Dirty Dozen placements, all that matters is how high up you place. So if there are not many women there, it might be okay even if I finish last. What's important is that there are not too many women ahead of me. In this case, it is better to finish last in a small race versus mid-pack in a large race.
My age group nemesis, Brenda W., did not seem to be in attendance.
Last year, I took it deliberately easy in this race. This time I was going to put more effort into it. And being familiar with the course sure didn't hurt, either. I did manage to get lost for a bit in the second half of the race last year, and that probably cost me a little time.
Basically, you run down the hill on the grass (a quarter mile or so, maybe more), then you hit the trails. It's a lot flatter than the Ault Park and Mt. Airy Forest races. The creek crossings don't come into play until the last mile or so. There's an uphill climb to the finish but nothing as bad as in the other races.
As we ran down the hill, it seemed to me like everybody passed me immediately. But looking at the results, that can't be true. Once we hit the trails, I may have passed a couple of people, and been passed by a couple of others, but mostly I just maintained the same position---which was a little further ahead than I thought.
While it was a relatively cool morning, it didn't take me long to heat up, and I was looking forward to splashing in the creek.
The trails were mostly dry, with just a couple of slick spots. This was a big improvement from last month in Mt. Airy!
No Mercy for the Young
During much of the race, I was exchanging places with a tall, young, skinny girl in red. She had a very heavy footstrike for someone who looked so lithe. In the second half of the race, we came out of the woods into a little clearing where there was a water station set up. Skinny Girl got there ahead of me and stopped to run in place at the spot where we returned to the woods. I guess she was waiting for someone. I found this to be just a little irritating.
I knew at this point we were more than half done with the race but I did not know how much there was to go. Kept trading places with Skinny Girl. I was wishing she would just take off, or give up, so it would be settled one way or the other because I was tired of listening to her feet slapping the ground.
And then we hit the first creek crossing. Seems like Skinny Girl did not want to get her feet wet. So I could pick up a few paces on her as she carefully stepped around the shallow edges and I just plowed right through the middle. And she was getting wet anyway, because I was making a big splash. Too bad, Skinny Girl, but we are racing!
So I would overtake her each time we crossed the creek, and then she would pass me again a little later.
Finally, we were running along the bank of the creek, and I remembered Bob Roncker saying that when we got to that point, we only had about 3/4s of a mile or so to go. So I knew when we crossed the creek for the last time and headed up the wooden steps on the other side, there wasn't a whole lot left. I think Skinny Girl was still ahead of me at that point. I heard a volunteer yelling to the woman behind me that "you can catch her" and I don't know if he meant catch me or catch Skinny Girl (who was maybe her daughter or sister?) but it made me mad and I thought, no way you are catching me, whomever you are.
When we came out of the woods, it was just a short run uphill on grass to the finish. I caught Skinny Girl at the top of the steps (where she again seemed to have stopped) and I kicked hard, finishing three seconds ahead of her. It's a race! And I had to stay ahead of every woman that I could. So what if it is a 13 year old girl? And her mother?
I was really happy with my finish time of 36:07, which was more than six minutes faster than last year. I drank some sports drink and water and ate a banana and hung around for the awards. In addition to the top three men and women, they also give out awards to the 10 fastest age-graded times. I couldn't remember if that was ten fastest men and ten fastest women or just ten fastest period. If they separated the women and the men, I thought I might have a shot. The prize was a pair of sports socks. Alas, they did not, so I went home empty handed.
In the results, I was 15 of 44 women and 71 of 119 runners, which was much better than last year. I was also 5th woman based on my age-graded time. This was probably my best performance yet in one of these trail races.
Next trail race is the East Fork Backpack run on July 17, but I'll probably manage to work a few other road races in before that.
Racing to Read 5k
June 4, Covington, KY
When I figured out that I wasn't leaving for the FCR Specialty until Sunday morning, I realized I could fit a 5k race in that weekend. Of the half-dozen or so races scheduled in the Greater Cincinnati area for that day, this one sounded like the best combination of close-to-home and good amenities. The web site promised a relatively flat course, technical race shirt, and a pancake breakfast---all for $20. What a deal!
Performance shirt from Brooks
The race is a benefit for the Kenton County Library to promote early childhood literacy efforts. The start and finish was outside Gateway Community College in Covington, across the street from the Covington library. There was free parking in the garage next to Gateway.
My GPS led me astray enroute to the race, but I still arrived in plenty of time to pick up my shirt, get a good warm up in, and scope out the competition. I recognized one woman who used to be fast but whom I haven't seen racing in awhile. There was a pretty good crowd, but it seemed like most of the people doing it were not the regular 5k race crowd. Well, with the number of other races taking place at the same time, I guess that was not too surprising. Maybe they were all at some other race that was more generous with the hardware.
The race shirt was nothing too exciting: white with a blue logo on the front in a tech fabric. Still, it's nice to get a technical shirt. Lots of people were wearing them for the race :-). They were also selling shirts from last year's race for $3.
Finished my warm up and took a spot in the middle of the pack, ahead of two guys who said their goal was to beat the Two Men and a Truck mascot. Those black tights did look hot!
It was a warm morning but the streets of Covington are pleasantly shady. I liked the course. It WAS fairly flat. Some slight changes in elevation along the way, but not bad at all.
Who Are These People and Can I Beat Them?
For the first half of the race, I found myself "competing" with a woman in gray, and another woman who was running with a German Shorthaired Pointer. The woman in gray looked like she might be in my age group, or a bit younger. GSP woman was definitely younger. Woman in Gray would pull ahead on the "uphills" but fall behind on the "downhills." I was going to let her go, when she inexplicably faded.
My goal was something in the low 26s, or about an 8:30 pace. Hit the first mile in 8:28. Normally I like the first mile to be significantly under my goal pace, so this could have been a little disheartening, but I just told myself, "right on pace," which is a very positive thought to have.
The GSP and his "handler" looked strong. I would not have minded running this race with Ed, but it was much too warm for him. The GSP seemed to be handling it okay, though. That is, until we got to about the halfway mark, down a slight hill towards the river. Here I noticed that the GSP was walking down the hill, so the woman attached to his leash had to do the same. I don't know if the heat got him or if it was her, or what, but that was the point where I left them behind. And that is why I was not running this race with my dog!
There was a water station at the bottom of this "hill" and I would have liked a cup, but the volunteers were not moving fast enough and there was actually nothing set out. I did not want to wait for them to pour me some, so I just kept running. It was getting hot, and the river looked tempting also, but I resisted the urge to bail on the race and jump in.
Mile 2 took me 8:35. That was a little over my goal pace, but close enough that I did not feel bad about it. I tried to focus. I started my countdown: 9 more minutes, 8 more minutes, 7 more minutes...
I got a little over-excited in here somewhere and almost puked, but managed to recover.
And before too long we were back on the road that led to the finish line. I kicked and passed a couple of people. Mile 3 was 8:27 and it was 48 seconds for the last .1. I did not kick hard enough to throw up. Official time was 26:13, which is 8:27 pace. Yay!
Too Late for Pancakes
I was not ready for pancakes. I walked around, got some water, went to my car to get my change of clothes, decided to go into the bathroom to change rather than the car, etc. By the time I came back out, I was hungry for the pancakes but now there a huge long line stretching around the block. I needed to get home to walk the dogs, so no pancakes for me. Bummer. There were some cool door prizes from the sponsors too, but oh well. I might have stayed if I really thought I had a chance at an age group award, but with the number of people entered it was hard to tell.
In the results, I was 4 of 10 in my age group, 17 of 145 women (not too shabby) and 72 of 279 runners. There were also 123 walkers, and a stroller division with awards to the top 3 men and top 3 women who competed pushing strollers.
Overall, this was a nice community event. I loved the course, and the atmosphere. I will return to this one again. Hopefully with time to stay for pancakes.
French Park Creek Crossings, 3.4 mile trail race
June 12, 9 am
This is another race in the Dirt Days trail series. I did this one last year and I think it was my favorite in the series. French Park is only a couple of miles from my house, but I had never been there before I did this race last year. It is a lovely park, and the trails are less challenging than those in some of the other races.
Sunday morning was a little cooler than the previous few days and a bit overcast. For me, having just returned from 100 degree heat in Maryland, it felt wonderful. I left the house a little after 8 am, and got a good parking spot in the lot near the start/finish area. Picked up my number and sat in the car for a few minutes reading a book.
I remembered that the race started with the long downhill on the grass, so I included that in my 10-minute warm up. I felt really good during the warm up. I was tired from my week at the FCR Specialty and all the driving, but physically it was shaping up to be a good day.
Back at the starting area, chatted for a few minutes with Andy Jones. Andy is (still) the world record holder for 100 miles on the roads. He is not as fast as he used to be but he's still fast.
I looked around at the other women and tried to count them up. For the Dirty Dozen placements, all that matters is how high up you place. So if there are not many women there, it might be okay even if I finish last. What's important is that there are not too many women ahead of me. In this case, it is better to finish last in a small race versus mid-pack in a large race.
My age group nemesis, Brenda W., did not seem to be in attendance.
Last year, I took it deliberately easy in this race. This time I was going to put more effort into it. And being familiar with the course sure didn't hurt, either. I did manage to get lost for a bit in the second half of the race last year, and that probably cost me a little time.
Basically, you run down the hill on the grass (a quarter mile or so, maybe more), then you hit the trails. It's a lot flatter than the Ault Park and Mt. Airy Forest races. The creek crossings don't come into play until the last mile or so. There's an uphill climb to the finish but nothing as bad as in the other races.
As we ran down the hill, it seemed to me like everybody passed me immediately. But looking at the results, that can't be true. Once we hit the trails, I may have passed a couple of people, and been passed by a couple of others, but mostly I just maintained the same position---which was a little further ahead than I thought.
While it was a relatively cool morning, it didn't take me long to heat up, and I was looking forward to splashing in the creek.
The trails were mostly dry, with just a couple of slick spots. This was a big improvement from last month in Mt. Airy!
Dry trails + creek crossings = clean trail shoes!
No Mercy for the Young
During much of the race, I was exchanging places with a tall, young, skinny girl in red. She had a very heavy footstrike for someone who looked so lithe. In the second half of the race, we came out of the woods into a little clearing where there was a water station set up. Skinny Girl got there ahead of me and stopped to run in place at the spot where we returned to the woods. I guess she was waiting for someone. I found this to be just a little irritating.
I knew at this point we were more than half done with the race but I did not know how much there was to go. Kept trading places with Skinny Girl. I was wishing she would just take off, or give up, so it would be settled one way or the other because I was tired of listening to her feet slapping the ground.
And then we hit the first creek crossing. Seems like Skinny Girl did not want to get her feet wet. So I could pick up a few paces on her as she carefully stepped around the shallow edges and I just plowed right through the middle. And she was getting wet anyway, because I was making a big splash. Too bad, Skinny Girl, but we are racing!
So I would overtake her each time we crossed the creek, and then she would pass me again a little later.
Finally, we were running along the bank of the creek, and I remembered Bob Roncker saying that when we got to that point, we only had about 3/4s of a mile or so to go. So I knew when we crossed the creek for the last time and headed up the wooden steps on the other side, there wasn't a whole lot left. I think Skinny Girl was still ahead of me at that point. I heard a volunteer yelling to the woman behind me that "you can catch her" and I don't know if he meant catch me or catch Skinny Girl (who was maybe her daughter or sister?) but it made me mad and I thought, no way you are catching me, whomever you are.
When we came out of the woods, it was just a short run uphill on grass to the finish. I caught Skinny Girl at the top of the steps (where she again seemed to have stopped) and I kicked hard, finishing three seconds ahead of her. It's a race! And I had to stay ahead of every woman that I could. So what if it is a 13 year old girl? And her mother?
I was really happy with my finish time of 36:07, which was more than six minutes faster than last year. I drank some sports drink and water and ate a banana and hung around for the awards. In addition to the top three men and women, they also give out awards to the 10 fastest age-graded times. I couldn't remember if that was ten fastest men and ten fastest women or just ten fastest period. If they separated the women and the men, I thought I might have a shot. The prize was a pair of sports socks. Alas, they did not, so I went home empty handed.
In the results, I was 15 of 44 women and 71 of 119 runners, which was much better than last year. I was also 5th woman based on my age-graded time. This was probably my best performance yet in one of these trail races.
Next trail race is the East Fork Backpack run on July 17, but I'll probably manage to work a few other road races in before that.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
2011 Mt. Airy Trail Race
This was my race from Sunday morning. It is the third race in the Dirt Days trail series. They have a 5.4 and a 10.8 mile (2 loops) option. The race takes place in Mt. Airy Forest, which is the largest park entirely within a city limits in the country. Mt. Airy is also the site of the Stone Steps 27k and 50k trail runs that take place in October.
So, to refresh, the deal is if you do 6 of the 9 trail races you get a participation award, and they take your top 5 times and use the rankings to give "Dirty Dozen" awards to the top 12 men and top 12 women. Last year I was # 7.
It was a dreary day and a bit on the chilly side. With all the rain we've had, I knew the trails were going to be a mess. It didn't rain much during the race but it did rain off and on the day before.
I'm not a serious trail runner, obviously. I like trail running, on a nice, sunny and mild fall or spring day, with dry trails and good footing. The slippery mud is not my idea of a good time.
Last year I finished the 5.4 mile race in a little over an hour, and was the 23rd woman. I was hoping to improve on that a bit this year. Of course, if I wanted a better place in the standings, I should have done the 10.8 mile race, since not as many women run that (this year, just 18 women) and even if I finished last I would get a better ranking than I could in the 5.4 mile race. But I just wasn't up for 10.8 miles of slogging around in the mud. This race course is relatively easier than the Ault Park trail race. The hills are not as steep. But it's a lot muddier this year than it was last year. So my biggest goal was as usual just to finish without doing any damage to myself.
Wore my CW-X capri tights and my shirt from Friday's Kilgour 5k, and my hat from Milwaukee. Added a long-sleeved shirt (from Chickamauga Memorial marathon) which I removed after my warmup and tied around my waist. On my feet, went with the Salomon trail shoes. No more indoor agility going to take place in these babies.
Got to the park about 30 minutes before the race start. Picked up my number and went for a jog around the oval. Watched the 10.8 mile race go off (they start 15 minutes early) while I waited on line for the bathroom. Soon it was time. Brenda W., my age group competitor from last year, was off on the other side of the field. We were pretending not to see each other. I think. At least, I was.
My quads were a little tight from the Friday night race, and my knee felt a little swollen.
The race starts with a little out and back on the grass, to spread us out a bit before we hit the singletrack. I felt good once I got moving, stronger than I remembered from last year. As we hit the first section of the trail, a slight downhill that was relatively wide and dry, it seemed like I was running better than last year, and not getting quickly overtaken by faster runners as usual. Or maybe I just lined up in the right place for a change. Brenda was behind me as we headed into the woods.
I don't know the trails in Mt. Airy very well. I only go over there when we have these races, and I haven't been doing that for very long. So I have only a vague idea of where we were in the park. I think we pretty much stayed just in one section of the park, whereas in the much longer Stone Steps race you cross over into another area. I think that we enter the woods and come back out the same way, but I'm not even entirely sure about that. But the course was well marked and I did not get lost the way I always seem to in the Stone Steps.
It didn't take too long until we hit the shoe-sucking mud. Most of the race for me was just a careful trudge through patches of ankle deep mud. Downhill was the worst. I began to just assume that it was slippery everywhere, and had to really take it easy. I wasn't even breathing hard, except when I got scared that I was going to fall down!
Camelbak Guy & Wheezy Girl
I had to let a few people go past me in the first few miles, but not many. The mud was slowing everybody down. There was supposed to be a water stop about halfway through, but it came a little sooner than that. I really wasn't thirsty but I grabbed a cup and took a sip. At this point, I was right behind a guy wearing a Camelbak (really overhill for a 5.4 mile race on a 50 degree day!) and a young woman who was wheezing really hard. He stopped to let the volunteer refill his Camelbak. I'm not kidding. Overkill.
Camelbak guy and wheezy girl seemed to be a couple, since he kept turning around and trying to offer her encouragement. I had the impression that the race was something he had talked her into doing without her really understanding what was involved.
Camelbak guy pulled away, and wheezy girl and I continued through the woods, with her right behind me. At one point, I asked her if she wanted to go around me---not because she was faster, but just because the wheezing was driving me crazy---but she declined. At that point I managed to pick it up a bit and before too long I couldn't hear her.
About halfway through the race, some other women came up behind me, and on the scary (to me) downhills I let them pass. One of them was Brenda W. After that I stayed right behind her. Aerobically I felt fine, I just was too afraid to really open it up in all the mud. So I hung out right behind Brenda, figuring that when we came out of the woods at the end I could outkick her if I had to.
One of my other goals for this race was that I was not going to quit at the end like I did last year, when I let a bunch of people pass me after we came out of the woods. I was going to finish strong.
The problem with running right behind Brenda was that I couldn't see the trail all that well with her just in front of me, and I couldn't judge it well by following her footing, because she was making some choices that were not the best for me and my knees. So after a bit I tried to put a little more space between us, without letting any other women pass me.
There was one section where the trail was quite narrow on the side of the hill, and there was just a string of 2 x 4s serving as a ledge to keep us from sliding down the hill. That was the worst.
At some point, a guy on the side of the trail told us that there was about a mile and a quarter to go, which was not good news if true because it meant I was not going to break an hour this year.
I Try to Finish Strong & Pass Some People
The last stretch coming out of the woods is uphill, and I swear that was the muddiest part of the race. We were getting tired, and the pace was pretty much reduced to a crawl. But just before we left the woods, the trail dried out again (which makes sense if we were going back out the same way we came in), and I wanted to pick it up, so I went around Brenda (who sounded like she was pretty cooked at this point).
I caught up with Camelbak guy. I'm not sure if I passed him or not. I pushed myself a little harder on the last stretch uphill through the grass. This is where I gave up last year. I felt like I was running through sand, but I kept running. I passed a couple of women who had stopped to walk. It seemed like it was taking forever. Where was the damn finish line? And then I could see it up ahead in the same area where we started.
I crossed the line in 1:04:36, almost 4 minutes slower than last year, which disappointed me but I guess I will blame it on the mud, which seemed to slow down everybody's times. More disappointing is that I finished 25 of 53 women, whereas last year I was 23rd. There were more women entered this year, and it was my bad luck that a few more of them were faster than I am. I was 77 of 120 runners overall, and my age-graded time was 55:37 (42 of 120 and 11th woman by age-graded time but that doesn't get me anything).
I walked up the hill to the shelter area and had about 3 cups of Gatorade while I walked around. I skipped the bagels and had just a banana. Brenda finished about a minute behind me. She reintroduced herself and we exchanged pleasantries. She asked me if I was going to do the next one (June 12 in French Park, right after I get back from the FCR National) and I guess I will see her there. That one includes a couple of stream crossings, so my shoes will get cleaned off.
So, to refresh, the deal is if you do 6 of the 9 trail races you get a participation award, and they take your top 5 times and use the rankings to give "Dirty Dozen" awards to the top 12 men and top 12 women. Last year I was # 7.
It was a dreary day and a bit on the chilly side. With all the rain we've had, I knew the trails were going to be a mess. It didn't rain much during the race but it did rain off and on the day before.
I'm not a serious trail runner, obviously. I like trail running, on a nice, sunny and mild fall or spring day, with dry trails and good footing. The slippery mud is not my idea of a good time.
Last year I finished the 5.4 mile race in a little over an hour, and was the 23rd woman. I was hoping to improve on that a bit this year. Of course, if I wanted a better place in the standings, I should have done the 10.8 mile race, since not as many women run that (this year, just 18 women) and even if I finished last I would get a better ranking than I could in the 5.4 mile race. But I just wasn't up for 10.8 miles of slogging around in the mud. This race course is relatively easier than the Ault Park trail race. The hills are not as steep. But it's a lot muddier this year than it was last year. So my biggest goal was as usual just to finish without doing any damage to myself.
Wore my CW-X capri tights and my shirt from Friday's Kilgour 5k, and my hat from Milwaukee. Added a long-sleeved shirt (from Chickamauga Memorial marathon) which I removed after my warmup and tied around my waist. On my feet, went with the Salomon trail shoes. No more indoor agility going to take place in these babies.
Got to the park about 30 minutes before the race start. Picked up my number and went for a jog around the oval. Watched the 10.8 mile race go off (they start 15 minutes early) while I waited on line for the bathroom. Soon it was time. Brenda W., my age group competitor from last year, was off on the other side of the field. We were pretending not to see each other. I think. At least, I was.
My quads were a little tight from the Friday night race, and my knee felt a little swollen.
The race starts with a little out and back on the grass, to spread us out a bit before we hit the singletrack. I felt good once I got moving, stronger than I remembered from last year. As we hit the first section of the trail, a slight downhill that was relatively wide and dry, it seemed like I was running better than last year, and not getting quickly overtaken by faster runners as usual. Or maybe I just lined up in the right place for a change. Brenda was behind me as we headed into the woods.
I don't know the trails in Mt. Airy very well. I only go over there when we have these races, and I haven't been doing that for very long. So I have only a vague idea of where we were in the park. I think we pretty much stayed just in one section of the park, whereas in the much longer Stone Steps race you cross over into another area. I think that we enter the woods and come back out the same way, but I'm not even entirely sure about that. But the course was well marked and I did not get lost the way I always seem to in the Stone Steps.
It didn't take too long until we hit the shoe-sucking mud. Most of the race for me was just a careful trudge through patches of ankle deep mud. Downhill was the worst. I began to just assume that it was slippery everywhere, and had to really take it easy. I wasn't even breathing hard, except when I got scared that I was going to fall down!
Camelbak Guy & Wheezy Girl
I had to let a few people go past me in the first few miles, but not many. The mud was slowing everybody down. There was supposed to be a water stop about halfway through, but it came a little sooner than that. I really wasn't thirsty but I grabbed a cup and took a sip. At this point, I was right behind a guy wearing a Camelbak (really overhill for a 5.4 mile race on a 50 degree day!) and a young woman who was wheezing really hard. He stopped to let the volunteer refill his Camelbak. I'm not kidding. Overkill.
Camelbak guy and wheezy girl seemed to be a couple, since he kept turning around and trying to offer her encouragement. I had the impression that the race was something he had talked her into doing without her really understanding what was involved.
Camelbak guy pulled away, and wheezy girl and I continued through the woods, with her right behind me. At one point, I asked her if she wanted to go around me---not because she was faster, but just because the wheezing was driving me crazy---but she declined. At that point I managed to pick it up a bit and before too long I couldn't hear her.
About halfway through the race, some other women came up behind me, and on the scary (to me) downhills I let them pass. One of them was Brenda W. After that I stayed right behind her. Aerobically I felt fine, I just was too afraid to really open it up in all the mud. So I hung out right behind Brenda, figuring that when we came out of the woods at the end I could outkick her if I had to.
One of my other goals for this race was that I was not going to quit at the end like I did last year, when I let a bunch of people pass me after we came out of the woods. I was going to finish strong.
The problem with running right behind Brenda was that I couldn't see the trail all that well with her just in front of me, and I couldn't judge it well by following her footing, because she was making some choices that were not the best for me and my knees. So after a bit I tried to put a little more space between us, without letting any other women pass me.
There was one section where the trail was quite narrow on the side of the hill, and there was just a string of 2 x 4s serving as a ledge to keep us from sliding down the hill. That was the worst.
At some point, a guy on the side of the trail told us that there was about a mile and a quarter to go, which was not good news if true because it meant I was not going to break an hour this year.
I Try to Finish Strong & Pass Some People
The last stretch coming out of the woods is uphill, and I swear that was the muddiest part of the race. We were getting tired, and the pace was pretty much reduced to a crawl. But just before we left the woods, the trail dried out again (which makes sense if we were going back out the same way we came in), and I wanted to pick it up, so I went around Brenda (who sounded like she was pretty cooked at this point).
I caught up with Camelbak guy. I'm not sure if I passed him or not. I pushed myself a little harder on the last stretch uphill through the grass. This is where I gave up last year. I felt like I was running through sand, but I kept running. I passed a couple of women who had stopped to walk. It seemed like it was taking forever. Where was the damn finish line? And then I could see it up ahead in the same area where we started.
I crossed the line in 1:04:36, almost 4 minutes slower than last year, which disappointed me but I guess I will blame it on the mud, which seemed to slow down everybody's times. More disappointing is that I finished 25 of 53 women, whereas last year I was 23rd. There were more women entered this year, and it was my bad luck that a few more of them were faster than I am. I was 77 of 120 runners overall, and my age-graded time was 55:37 (42 of 120 and 11th woman by age-graded time but that doesn't get me anything).
I walked up the hill to the shelter area and had about 3 cups of Gatorade while I walked around. I skipped the bagels and had just a banana. Brenda finished about a minute behind me. She reintroduced herself and we exchanged pleasantries. She asked me if I was going to do the next one (June 12 in French Park, right after I get back from the FCR National) and I guess I will see her there. That one includes a couple of stream crossings, so my shoes will get cleaned off.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
2011 Kilgour 5k
Friday night I did this little neighborhood 5k, which is a benefit for our local elementary school's sports program. I've done it for the past seven years now, and maybe even before that but I don't have a record of it. This year I forgot to pre-register in time so I had to hustle up there when registration opened to make sure I got a t-shirt, since this year they were going to have technical tops for the first time. They even used timing chips this year, which I think it pretty funny for this little race. So high-tech.
Some years I have had to rush home from an agility trial to make this race, and my legs have felt pretty flat after a long day of agility, but that was not the case this year.
Well, it's less than 3/4s of a mile from my house, so I jogged up there and got my shirt, jogged home again, hung out for awhile, and jogged back to the start. Glad I got the shirt. It's in a woman's cut in black with the race logo in white.
It had been a hot and humid afternoon, but some showers before the race made for a slight dip in the temperature and all in all it wasn't a bad night for a run.
The course follows residential streets in Mt. Lookout before heading into Ault Park, then back out down a nice, long hill before making the turn back to the street in front of the school. Post-race, there is a little party in back of the school, where they usually serve hot dogs and chocolate chip cookies, and some band composed of parents whose kids attend the schools usually plays classic rock. I haven't hung around post-race the last few years so these details may have changed. The day after the race is the annual school carnival. This was all a big deal for us back when my daughter went to school there, but now I am old enough to be a grandparent of the Kilgour kids and I've lost my connection to the place.
You Have to Know Your Place
Saw my old friend David warming up pre-race but no chance to say hello. Finished my warmup and took a spot in the crowd near other people who looked like they are going to run. Positioning myself is tough in a race like this. I am not fast enough to start in the front, but I also don't want to get stuck behind a bunch of walkers (even though the official walker start was supposed to be after the runners, some people get confused or think it doesn't matter). And you have to watch out for the little kids, many of whom go out too fast with arms and legs flying about erratically, and whom are prone to sudden stops and/or changes of direction. You don't want to trip over or step on a kid.
There was a somewhat less-tha-fit woman just behind me with a stroller---maybe not even a running stroller---and I wondered if I was really in the right place. But everybody else nearby looked right. A very fit young woman standing next to me turned around and looked disdainfully at the stroller and said "that shouldn't be here," which was what I was of course also thinking but I didn't want to say it. The stroller was pushing right up against the back of the fit-looking woman's legs. I'd be pissed, too.
They changed the course this year. We started a little farther downhill from the school (for a slightly more uphill start) but then later, instead of running behind the Ault Park Pavillion, we made an early right turn to take us out of the park. This took out some of the uphill in mile 2-3. But then at the end we had to run past the finish line in front of the school (about where the mile 3 mark was now) a little way up the street before turning around and heading back to the finish. I'm not sure I liked that part, but at least the last .05 miles was slightly downhill.
Around 7 pm, we were off. My goal was about a 27:30, or about an 8:50 pace. Turned out to pretty realistic. At a minimum, I wanted to be faster than last year, which was probably the slowest 5k I've ever run. I'm a couple pounds lighter and I've been doing a little bit of speedwork. I've never broken 26 minutes in this race, even when I was a bit more fit. It's not as hard as the Reggae Run but it's plenty hard enough.
For once I was in the right place at the start, and I didn't have to do too much running around people or worrying about being tripped by a kid. What I did need to worry about were potholes. Turns out the street in front of the school really needs to be repaved. I don't drive on it very often so didn't know. It's a mess.
The Competition: Little Kids and People with Dogs
Mile 1 took me 8:25. It is the easiest mile of the race---closest to "flat"---and it is always my fastest mile but I was still happy to be so far ahead of last year (9:00 for first mile).
Around this time I noticed a woman running with a Standard Poodle, and I was thinking about how it would have been fun to run this with Ed, but it was a little too warm and he is a little too out of condition, plus he had the agility trial on Saturday so it was no time to take him for a 3 mile run that he was not trained for. On the long uphill heading into the park, the woman and the Poodle pulled away, and I thought more about agility and Cork Sterling with his dog Max, and now Casey. Beaten by a Standard Poodle, story of my life.
In the second mile, I exchange snippets of conversation with a young boy who was complaining about the hill and wondering if there are any flat 5ks in Cincinnati. He said he thought he would like something flat and straight. I told him there were are few flat races but not many. Maybe he would enjoy the Jim Sauls 5k, basically an out and back along a flat stretch of road in Batavia. Too bad they stopped having that one. It was a great time trial course.
One nice thing I've noticed in this race over the years is that the kids are getting more fit, and also better educated about racing. There is far less cutting of the course and cheating than there used to be. I think this is a sign that the race has become a tradition for the neighborhood, and we are building a culture of fitness here. When some of those little kids look like they are going out too fast, it isn't always a given anymore, and some them can really kick your butt. Little tiny kids totally kicking my butt, I love it!
Mile 2 took me 9:12. It is the hardest mile of the race, more uphill than down.
And finally we are flying down Principio, my favorite part of the course. I am hurting but I spend the time and energy to high five a few little kids. I know when we reach the bottom there will just be a couple minutes more uphill, just a few more minutes of torture and it will be over. But since we have to run past the finish line before turning around to come back, it's a little bit more torturous than previous years. Mile 3 takes me 8:53. I don't like having to run past the finish line. I see the finish line, I want to stop.
I push and finish the last .1 in 49.5 seconds, for a finish time of 27:19. And I don't throw up, which means I had something left in the tank. But there were no women I could catch in the last stretch so I didn't have to absolutely kill myself.
Grabbed a cup of water and started walking up the street. Decided not to stay for the awards because I didn't want to stiffen up while standing around in the cold. It's a Steve Prescott race and generally his awards processing is more chaotic than some of the other race directors in town. I don't know why but that is the way it always is. Ran into David walking to his car. He said that this had been his slowest 5k ever (even slower than last year for him) but he considered it a triumph just to be out there at all because he had been very ill this past winter and was even in the hospital for a while with pneumonia/flu/etc. David used to be one of those sub-20 minute guys back when I first met him, and I realize that I have known David for close to 25 years now. We used to work for the same company and I met him when we did one of those corporate challenge races, which was one of my very first 5ks.
We are getting old, but as Tommy says, it beats the alternative. I have slowed down a bit since that race years ago, but not as much as David has. Anyway, slower though we may be, we are still fast enough to win our respective geezer age groups. The results show me 1 of 4 in the age group, 19 of 162 women, and 80 of 250 runners. There were also 87 walkers and I beat all of them (which is not always a given).
Some years I have had to rush home from an agility trial to make this race, and my legs have felt pretty flat after a long day of agility, but that was not the case this year.
Well, it's less than 3/4s of a mile from my house, so I jogged up there and got my shirt, jogged home again, hung out for awhile, and jogged back to the start. Glad I got the shirt. It's in a woman's cut in black with the race logo in white.
It had been a hot and humid afternoon, but some showers before the race made for a slight dip in the temperature and all in all it wasn't a bad night for a run.
The course follows residential streets in Mt. Lookout before heading into Ault Park, then back out down a nice, long hill before making the turn back to the street in front of the school. Post-race, there is a little party in back of the school, where they usually serve hot dogs and chocolate chip cookies, and some band composed of parents whose kids attend the schools usually plays classic rock. I haven't hung around post-race the last few years so these details may have changed. The day after the race is the annual school carnival. This was all a big deal for us back when my daughter went to school there, but now I am old enough to be a grandparent of the Kilgour kids and I've lost my connection to the place.
You Have to Know Your Place
Saw my old friend David warming up pre-race but no chance to say hello. Finished my warmup and took a spot in the crowd near other people who looked like they are going to run. Positioning myself is tough in a race like this. I am not fast enough to start in the front, but I also don't want to get stuck behind a bunch of walkers (even though the official walker start was supposed to be after the runners, some people get confused or think it doesn't matter). And you have to watch out for the little kids, many of whom go out too fast with arms and legs flying about erratically, and whom are prone to sudden stops and/or changes of direction. You don't want to trip over or step on a kid.
There was a somewhat less-tha-fit woman just behind me with a stroller---maybe not even a running stroller---and I wondered if I was really in the right place. But everybody else nearby looked right. A very fit young woman standing next to me turned around and looked disdainfully at the stroller and said "that shouldn't be here," which was what I was of course also thinking but I didn't want to say it. The stroller was pushing right up against the back of the fit-looking woman's legs. I'd be pissed, too.
They changed the course this year. We started a little farther downhill from the school (for a slightly more uphill start) but then later, instead of running behind the Ault Park Pavillion, we made an early right turn to take us out of the park. This took out some of the uphill in mile 2-3. But then at the end we had to run past the finish line in front of the school (about where the mile 3 mark was now) a little way up the street before turning around and heading back to the finish. I'm not sure I liked that part, but at least the last .05 miles was slightly downhill.
Around 7 pm, we were off. My goal was about a 27:30, or about an 8:50 pace. Turned out to pretty realistic. At a minimum, I wanted to be faster than last year, which was probably the slowest 5k I've ever run. I'm a couple pounds lighter and I've been doing a little bit of speedwork. I've never broken 26 minutes in this race, even when I was a bit more fit. It's not as hard as the Reggae Run but it's plenty hard enough.
For once I was in the right place at the start, and I didn't have to do too much running around people or worrying about being tripped by a kid. What I did need to worry about were potholes. Turns out the street in front of the school really needs to be repaved. I don't drive on it very often so didn't know. It's a mess.
The Competition: Little Kids and People with Dogs
Mile 1 took me 8:25. It is the easiest mile of the race---closest to "flat"---and it is always my fastest mile but I was still happy to be so far ahead of last year (9:00 for first mile).
Around this time I noticed a woman running with a Standard Poodle, and I was thinking about how it would have been fun to run this with Ed, but it was a little too warm and he is a little too out of condition, plus he had the agility trial on Saturday so it was no time to take him for a 3 mile run that he was not trained for. On the long uphill heading into the park, the woman and the Poodle pulled away, and I thought more about agility and Cork Sterling with his dog Max, and now Casey. Beaten by a Standard Poodle, story of my life.
In the second mile, I exchange snippets of conversation with a young boy who was complaining about the hill and wondering if there are any flat 5ks in Cincinnati. He said he thought he would like something flat and straight. I told him there were are few flat races but not many. Maybe he would enjoy the Jim Sauls 5k, basically an out and back along a flat stretch of road in Batavia. Too bad they stopped having that one. It was a great time trial course.
One nice thing I've noticed in this race over the years is that the kids are getting more fit, and also better educated about racing. There is far less cutting of the course and cheating than there used to be. I think this is a sign that the race has become a tradition for the neighborhood, and we are building a culture of fitness here. When some of those little kids look like they are going out too fast, it isn't always a given anymore, and some them can really kick your butt. Little tiny kids totally kicking my butt, I love it!
Mile 2 took me 9:12. It is the hardest mile of the race, more uphill than down.
And finally we are flying down Principio, my favorite part of the course. I am hurting but I spend the time and energy to high five a few little kids. I know when we reach the bottom there will just be a couple minutes more uphill, just a few more minutes of torture and it will be over. But since we have to run past the finish line before turning around to come back, it's a little bit more torturous than previous years. Mile 3 takes me 8:53. I don't like having to run past the finish line. I see the finish line, I want to stop.
I push and finish the last .1 in 49.5 seconds, for a finish time of 27:19. And I don't throw up, which means I had something left in the tank. But there were no women I could catch in the last stretch so I didn't have to absolutely kill myself.
Grabbed a cup of water and started walking up the street. Decided not to stay for the awards because I didn't want to stiffen up while standing around in the cold. It's a Steve Prescott race and generally his awards processing is more chaotic than some of the other race directors in town. I don't know why but that is the way it always is. Ran into David walking to his car. He said that this had been his slowest 5k ever (even slower than last year for him) but he considered it a triumph just to be out there at all because he had been very ill this past winter and was even in the hospital for a while with pneumonia/flu/etc. David used to be one of those sub-20 minute guys back when I first met him, and I realize that I have known David for close to 25 years now. We used to work for the same company and I met him when we did one of those corporate challenge races, which was one of my very first 5ks.
We are getting old, but as Tommy says, it beats the alternative. I have slowed down a bit since that race years ago, but not as much as David has. Anyway, slower though we may be, we are still fast enough to win our respective geezer age groups. The results show me 1 of 4 in the age group, 19 of 162 women, and 80 of 250 runners. There were also 87 walkers and I beat all of them (which is not always a given).
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