Little Miami Half-Marathon 2013

On a roll now, i am going to write about yesterday's race today!

This was my second year doing this race. Last year I did the 10k, but this year the half-marathon fit nicely into my schedule as a training run.

Last year I had a pretty good run and even won a coffee mug for second place in my age group. This year I am not in as good shape, and I was not planning to push so hard. I did a tempo run on Friday and did not exactly take it that easy on Saturday. If I were rested, I figured I would be capable of a 2:03 - 2:05, which is still quite slow, even for an old lady like me. But given the circumstances I expected to be much slower than that.

The afternoon before the race I went up to Buckeye Running Company in Mason to pick up my packet. They were having a big sale, so I thought I could grab some deals and also avoid having to rush so much in the morning. Did find some good buys at the store. A lot of stuff was 40% off. I even got some new shorts for Tommy.

The race stars and finishes in Phegley Park in Morrow, on the Little Miami Scenic Trail. This Blogger app I'm using won't let me insert links easily but here is a link with info on the race: http://ohiorunning.com/LittleMiamiHalf/ .

One thing I want to note about Phegley Park. Neither Google Maps nor Mapquest nor Garmin seem to be able to locate it. If Google Maps can't find it, does it really exist? Anyway, even though I had been there last year, I had really just a vague idea of where it was. So I spent the night before the race haunted by anxiety dreams about getting lost on the way to the race. And in the morning I decided to follow the instructions printed in my confirmation email, which unfortunately assumed you were coming from the north and caused me to drive about 5-6 miles out of the way.

I made it to Morrow by 7 am, and followed a line of cars into a parking lot about a quarter mile from the start. I was glad I had picked up my race number and shirt the day before.

I headed over to the start area, and got on a portapotty line. The line moved very slowly. But I didn't have anything else to do unless I wanted to do a warmup jog, and I wasn't feeling ambitious enough for that. I counted the number of people ahead of me and divided it by the minutes left before the start, and it looked like I was going to be cutting it close. The guy in front of me decided it was too close, and he bailed. But I did make it inside with 5 minutes to spare.

I jogged to the start line and tried to find a place among the joggers, which is the pace I wanted to start out at. Only had to wait about a minute for the gun to go off.

Took about 25 seconds to cross the start line. This year, the first mile took us on a loop around "downtown" Morrow. Not much to see. What is the primary commercial business in Morrow? Is it canoe rental? Anyway, like the rest of the race, this little loop was flat and shady.

Soon we were back to Phegley Park and on the trail. Mile 1 was a 9:52, but I wanted to be even slower so I tried to dial it back a little more. I felt good.

I took 30 second walk breaks at each mile marker, and through each aid station.

The next three miles were 10:04, 10:02 and 10:04, just about right. I had Gatorade at the first aid station (around mile 2-ish) and a GU at the second (around mile 4). The aid stations were located at intersections where a road crossed the trail.

It is a very pretty place to run although somewhat boring.  But after so many summer runs on the treadmill I am not going to complain about miles of lush shady greenery on smooth, flat pavement.

I had a little knee twinge in the early miles but fortunately it went away and didn't bother me later in the race. I did feel like my right hamstring was a little tight late in the race but I wasn't sure if that was real or just psychological since that is the injury that destroyed my spring marathon, and it was about at that point in the marathon that it flared up. It hasn't bothered me in months and hasn't been a problem on any of my long training runs this summer. The slight tightness never really became an issue during the race. It was more like something I started thinking about, asking myself if it was real or imaginary.

The 10k runners turned around somewhere near this point, but there were still plenty of people around me. I think they actually get more finishers in the half-marathon than in the 10k. I had already been seeing the 10k leaders coming back the other way, and soon I could see the leaders of the half.

Mile 5 was a 9:45 and 6 was a 9:53. I was starting to pick it up a little, still feeling good. Had another GU around the mile 7 mark at that aid station. Mile 7 was a 9:30.

I knew I wasn't going to be under 2:05, but maybe I could still break 2:10.

People I saw and recognized during the race: not too many. Saw my former Congresswoman Jean Schmidt and her sister, who are both older than me but still kick my butt. After the turnaround, I saw my FB friend Lisa, whom I met at the Xenia marathon and who ran a pretty strong race for someone who is 15 weeks pregnant. I was impressed.

I found myself passing people the whole way back. Miles 8-10 were 9:47, 9:49 and 9:44. Pretty easy to keep a steady pace on a nice, flat trail. Had another GU at mile 11. Mile 11 was a 10:02, not sure what happened there except maybe I walked a little longer than previously.

Mile 12 was a 9:38. Now even though I was having a good race with no real issues to speak of, I wanted it to be over. Tried to pick it up a little more and pass as many people as I could. Mile 13 was an 8:57, and then 45 seconds for the last .1. i passed a bunch of people in that last mile.

Finished feeling like I'd had a decent workout, but with no desire to add on a few extra miles to give me the total of 16 that I was supposed to run yesterday. Oh well. At least I ran faster than I would have if I had done it on my own.

They gave out medals to the half-marathoners. One nice thing they did at this race was that they had an engraver there so if you wanted, you could get your medal engraved right after the race for $10. That would be nice if it was your first half or you ran a PR or there was something special about it for you. In my case there was no reason so I skipped it.

There was not much in the way of food, unfortunately. I had a couple of orange slices and a banana. There were bagels but I wasn't in the mood. I walked over to look at the results they were posting on a board, but they hadn't gotten down to me yet. I walked around for another minute and realized they were announcing the half-marathon age group winners, so all I had to do was listen.

I was not too surprised to find out that I was not among the top three in my age group. I think my time would have made it last year, but it was warmer last year. So it was time to go home! I had not brought ice for my knee but it was just as well because the car was in that lot a quarter mile away.

In the final results I was 7 of 26 in my age group, 128 of 310 women and 357 of 623 runners. No wonder it was hard to find a parking place near the start. That is a pretty good-sized race.

East Fork Backpack Trail Run 2013

Finally going to write about this before I forget the entire thing. Okay this was back on July 21. It is my least favorite race in the local trail series. The format is a handicapped start. Bob Roncker handicaps you by age, sex, and his own impression of how fast you are based on recent performances in the series. The handicapped race is 5.6 miles and it changes direction in alternate years.

What don't I like about it? Well, the handicapped thing means that instead of starting off in the back of the pack and finishing there relatively uneventfully, I have to start out early and get passed eventually by almost everybody else in the race. And that is unpleasant.

There is also a 10 mile race that is not handicapped but who wants to be out there that long? Not me.

But, after those sucky early races, I needed a better finishing position to improve my standings in the trail series. So I registered for this one as usual. The advantage is that I would know ahead of time how many other women were in the race, so i would have an idea ahead of time whether it would be worth showing up for it. When I saw that there were just a couple of dozen women entered, that meant even if I finished last it would be better than some of my finishes in the earlier races.

But if it had been raining and the trail conditions were going to be muddy, I was still going to stay home. I've had enough slogging through the slippery mud for awhlle.

The trails were dry so I had to go.

I am having a hard time writing this. Zen is driving me nuts today.

So, I got there and it was a nice day, not too horribly hot. Starting position was # 10, six minutes after the first runner. Chatted with Brenda W. at the start line. She usually does the 10 mile but she was doing the shorter race this time. She was starting one minute ahead of me, so I got to watch her and another woman take off up the hill. At the start line, Bob pointed to them and said to me "somebody for you to chase!" Haha, Bob, you are not supposed to know about that! I am trying to act like I don't care how i do or whether I beat Brenda.

Now, I don't remember a whole lot about the race at this point. The trails were in pretty good shape There was only a little bit of mud in a couple of places. I felt good and strong the whole way. I actually caught up to Brenda and the other woman about a mile in. I did not really want to pass them because all I needed to do was finish within one minute of Brenda to come out ahead of her in the results. And I wanted to take things as easy as possible. But i guess I was just having a stronger day, and I had to go around her and the other gal.

I somehow managed to pass all the people who started ahead of me and did not get passed by all of the people who started behind me. My time of 1:04:17 was slower than last year but faster than two years ago. I was 10 of 25 women, 34 of 58 runners overall, 20 of 58 by handicap, and 22 of 58 age-graded.

One smart thing I did this year was to bring along a cooler with ice and a plastic baggie, so I could ice my knee before driving home. So after I finished and got some orange slices and bagel and banana, I sat on the grass watching the rest of the field come in while I iced my knee. i have to remember to start doing that for all of my races, because it made a big difference in my recovery. 

Conquer the Hill

I went back to Evendale as I do most years for the traditional 4th of July 10k race. I can remember when this was basically it if you wanted to do a 4th of July race around here, but now there is a lot of competition, mostly from 5ks. This race features a challenging 10k course with two significant hills, and a separate 4-mile walk course that avoids the first big hill.

The race starts and finishes at the Evendale rec center. The event is a fundraiser for the community youth group. For your entry fee, you get a tee-shirt, a marked course with several water stops (Gatorade at half way, too), lots of cut-up cold fruit and bagels at the finish, prizes for age group winners (I've never come close because there's always some fast chick in my age group) and a chance at a door prize if you stick around.

Last year was a miserably hot one and i finished about five minutes slower than I expected. This year we had about as good weather as I can remember, cool and overcast at the start. Still, I expected to be slower than last time because I am significantly heavier and not in as good shape as last year.

Did my warmup mile up and down the first big hill. On the way down, my knee started bothering me and I began to wonder if it was even worth running. Wished I had brought along a cooler of ice for after the race.

One nice thing at the start is they have little pace signs set up to give you a suggestion of where to start. it doesn't matter much in this race with just a couple hundred people, but it's something that more races should do.

I was thinking that I would be lucky to break an hour, so I put myself in the 9:00 group. Saw only two people I recognized in the crowd---a couple of the old geezer guys (older than me, that is). Stood next to a couple of thirty-something women having an annoying, but impossible to ignore, conversation about how to persuade your parents to get serious about estate planning.

Instead of the cannon that I remembered from previous years, there was just a starting pistol fired to get us going. There were probably just a couple of hundred people so it didn't take me long to get across the start line. I took it easy for the first mile, which is basically all uphill coming out behind the rec center and up Glendale-Milford Rd. I hit the first mile marker in 10 flat. I knew it would be my slowest mile of the race so i was not worried.

The second mile is mostly downhill through a pleasant subdivision. People are always out on their lawns, some with hoses if it is a hot day. That is one of the things that makes this a nice community event. What it lacks in excitement and hoopla it makes up for in genuine good feeling.

I grabbed a cup of water at the aid station, and my watch said 8:43 for the second mile. That seemed just about right.

The third mile is mostly flat and straight down Reading Rd. through the commercial section of Evendale. I grabbed a little more water at the next aid station but I didn't drink it. Just poured it on my arms. I was starting to heat up. Mile three was an 8:44.

The fourth mile takes us up and around another subdivision. It's not as steep as the hill in the first mile but it is long, and it hits you when you are getting fatigued from the previous miles. At this point on the course I tend to hook up with the walkers, so it can be falsely encouraging to suddenly be passing a bunch of people until you realize that they are walkers! Also saw the race leaders on their way down the hill. Mile 4 was a 9:39. Felt better than last year at this point in the race. It had started raining but that felt good and the roads were not getting slippery (which is always a concern for me when it begins raining during a race).

I had some Gatorade at the aid station, and I was grateful that it was there. Mile 5 was an 8:42. i was pleased with the consistency of my pace. The last mile is back up Reading Rd. towards the rec center. I felt good and wanted to get the race over with so i picked it up and tried to see how many people I could pass. First up I had to pass those two irritating women from the start. That was the main thing. Passed a few others along the way as well. Mile 6 was an 8:23.

The last .2 is through the parking lot of the rec center and there is just a slight incline before you reach the finish. I pushed hard (even though my time was not spectacularly fast) and crossed the line just before what was apparently a teenage girl running with her dad (I realized after I passed them). It's hard to tell sometimes how old people are when you're running behind them. All I knew was that she was a woman and what if she was in my age group. I had to cross the line ahead of her! Anyway 1:52 for the last .2.

They still go really old school with the results at this race, by handing out the little place cards that you fill in with your time if you know it. And then you put the card in a little plastic bin for your age group. Newbie road racers, this is the way all our local races did it twenty years ago. The cards are aso color coded so maybe the top fifty or something get one color, and then it switches to something else. i assume this makes it easier to sort out the awards. Anyway i saw right away that there was already at least one card in my age group box and it was a different color from mine so there was one fast old lady there and I didn't need to stay around for the awards unless I really cared about a chance at a door prize.

And by now it was starting to rain harder. By the time I left the parking lot it was pouring. So the best thing for me was to head home to ice my knee. It hadn't bothered me during the race but I knew that ice would be a good idea.

Final results: my time was 56:02 (8:53 pace). I was 3rd of 9 in the age group and 15 of 80 women. But I was almost three minutes faster than last year, which did please me since I had expected to be slower despite having better weather to race in.

Next race will be the East Fork Backpack Trail run, assuming there are not many woman entered in the 5.6 mile handicapped event, and assuming that the trails have a chance to dry out a little before race day. I'm not going if it won't help me improve my Dirty Dozen standings or if there is a risk I'll get hurt trying to run on another ridiculously muddy course.

A Few Little Race Reports

I have been bad about writing these lately so I am going to do a few short ones from my last few races.

May 17: Kilgour 5k

A Love-Hate Relationship

This is the little 5k that raises money for the sports program at Kilgour elementary school. The course is through the neighborhood around the school and Ault Park. It's an evening race and always on the first day of the Hamilton agility trial, so I end up rushing to get home, then I jog up to the race to get my shirt, jog back home, and then finally back to the school for an extended warmup.  This year got to chat with my old friend/former co-worker David Jones and we discussed our love-hate relationship with this race. It's a tough course and often hot so we generally run worse than we expect to.

This year I thought it would be great if I could break 28 minutes and that is just about what happened. Splits were 8:44,8:41, 9:25 (not sure what happened) and 53 seconds for the last .1 for a final time of 27:43, which was enough to win my age group but as usual I did not stick around for the awards. They did have some Yagoot frozen yogurt after the race and that was really nice. I was 80 of 421 runners and 16th women overall.

May 19: Mt. Airy Trail Race

Should Have Taken the Offer

It rained a lot in the days leading up to this race so the trails were a mess. In previous years I have run relatively faster on this course because the hills are not as steep and it's less technical. Before the race began Bob Roncker warned us about the rough trail conditions and offered free entry to another race to anyone who wished to withdraw.

I should have taken him up on the offer. I started off okay in the grass but as soon as we hit the trails it was deep, solid mud the entire way. Mud scares me lots so I had to slow way down. I actually ended up getting passed by a woman who generally finishes quite far behind me, and I ran most of the second half of the race behind her. it was nice to have somebody to chat with but disheartening to finish 25 minutes slower than last year. I did manage to pull ahead of her over the last half mile or so. Final time was 1:20:58, and place was 30 of 46 women, 87 of 112 runners and 66 of 112 age-graded. I had to ice my knee and my butt before getting in the car to drive home.

June 16: French Park Creek Crossings Trail Race

I Get Out-Kicked

My knee has continued to bother me ever since the stupid Mt. Airy outing in the mud. But this is my favorite trail race and I didn't want to miss it. I thought the trails would be in decent shape because the weather had been drier recently.

I chatted some with Brenda W. pre-race. I was ahead of her until about halfway, where there was some mud and I got scared and had to ease up. After that I probably was babying myself a little but better safe than sorry. I was surprised to see Brenda not far ahead of me coming up the steps near the end. I caught up to her and said "Now we're racing." This tunred out to be a fatal error. At first, she gave up and told me to go on. Then somehow she found her second wind, and she kicked past me to beat me by two seconds! The photographer got some great pictures of what I look like when I am getting outkicked.

Final time was 41:33 (last year was more like 35 minutes), 46 of 73 women, 153 of 189 runners, and 101 of 189 age-graded.

June 22: Heel to Heal 5k

Third Place Woman Wins a Real Prize

Signed up for this first time event to get a time to base my speed training paces off as I got ready to begin speed work the following week. This little race was a benefit for Healing Touch. Healing Touch is an energy healing technique. I attended a seminar on healing touch with Libby years ago. I think, bottom line, is that it is a bunch of hooey, but the practitioners are nice people and sincere.

I did not expect the race to be very big, but they did have a somewhat professional web site that made it sound like there could be a good sized crowd. I picked up my technical shirt and race number the day before at Mojo Running in West Chester. There's a running shoe store in West Chester? Who knew? Anyway, it didn't look like they had very many packets to give out .

The race course was on a paved path around the lake in Voice of America Park. We did a lap of the small parking lot, then two laps of the trail. it was a hot, sunny morning and there was no shade on the course. But the field was a tiny one. I guessed about 50 people (there were actually a total of 57, including the walkers). This was one of the smallest races I've ever done.

I didn't recognize anybody there. They told us that we should line up in front only if we thought we would break 20 minutes. In fact, nobody in the race broke 20 minutes! Not even they guy who won!  I lined up next to a woman who looked to be about my age, and tried to suss out if she was competition for me. Figured out that she was not. The race began, and as we left the parking lot I counted just 10 people ahead of me, including a couple of women.

I ran the first mile in 8:01, which was proabably too fast. I did manage to pass one of the women. We got passed by an old man, though, so there were still ten ahead of me. Mile two was an 8:49. There was a water stop about half way around the lake so we hit it twice. I didn't drink the water but I swished it around and dumped it on my arms.

In the last half mile or so I passed a guy, but he passed me back right before the finish. Whatever. But I ran most of the way by myself.

There were no mile markers so I was glad to have my GPS watch. Second and third miles were each 8:49. The course was fairly flat with a couple of small hills and some twisty turns.

Post race they had bananas, trail mix, granola bars and water (not cold, it was sitting out in the sun).  

I wasn't going to stay around for the awards unless I thought it was something good like a coffee mug, but I decided to stay anyway out of respect for the people putting on the race. I felt bad that it was not better attended, because overall it was a nice little race. In the meantime, I had a healing touch session. This took about 15 minutes and required me to lay flat on my back on a massage table. This turned out to be a mistake because I didn't get a chance to stretch. I almost fainted when I finally sat up. The Healing Touch did not do anything for me. What i really needed was a healing bag of ice. There was an EMT van there but they did not have any ice. If you had a heart attack they could help you, but if you sprained an ankle you were SOL.

It took them awhile to figure out the awards since they were doing it all by hand. I actually heard a couple people complain about not having chip time! Seriously. They could have handed out popsicle sticks. They could have had a chimpanzee handing out popsicle sticks and another chimpanzee recording our times.

Anyway, they got it done, and turned out I was 1 of 2 in my age group (no surprise there) but also third woman overall. This last was a bit of a surprise because I thought there was another woman ahead of me. Even better my prize was a $20 gift card to Roncker's. This was actually better than the second place prize which was a sportsbag and I definitely don't need any more of those. So I was glad I stuck around.

Final time was 26:35. Three of 14 women 11 of 28 runners overall. Final funny thing, a few days later in the mail they sent me the prize for 3rd place MALE and another $20 gift card, which I am returning to them. Not sure why the cards were for Roncker's instead of Mojo, another mystery.

June 29: Hyde Park Blast

Another Love Hate Relationship

I have only missed this race one time, but most years I have spent a lot of verbiage dissing it. I think I'm finally through with that because it has evolved into a nice race. And they are finally starting to contribute what I consider to be a respectable amount to charity, considering what they must bring in.

i expected to be slower than last year because I am so much fatter and have been slower lately. I have come to terms with that. It is what it is. The rest of this training cycle, I will just try to do my best and not have overly ambitious goals.

The weather was nicer than usual this year (just a little cooler) and they moved the start up to 7:30 am which helps a lot. I jogged to the Square from home as my warmup. At the last minute before leaving the house I decided to try wearing my iFitness belt so I could carry my phone to take some pics and log in a post-race beer to Untappd (sadly, that was the real reason).

The ifitness belt felt okay even though you it is designed so the phone rides on your belly rather than your backside, although I did have some bad cramps later when I got home and I wonder if it was from the belt.

Jogged down to the start, snapped a couple pics, tried to line up in an appropriate spot not too far back. Almost 2300 runners and I only saw three people the whole way that I recognized (Jean Schmidt and Jennifer Black at the start, Judy Harmony as I passed her at mile 3).

Splits were fairly consistent: 8:32, 9:05 (uphill), 8:31, and 8:29, for a final time of 34:37. This was better than I expected but I guess in line with the 5k from last week. Actually just 29 seconds slower than last year, so that's not too horrible. The race results site only has times listed by actual age (not group) but I think I was 11th in my age group, 280 of 1322 women, and 721 of 2292 runners.

Post race I did have a few sips of a Coors Light so I could make strides toward my All-American Badge on Untappd. It was very cold and actually didn't taste bad, but it didn't seem like a good idea to finish it.

Feeling Crappy

Have felt sort of bad in the second half of my last few runs. Not sure what is up. Monday on the six-miler, I had to walk most of the last two miles. Tuesday i was out late in the day and i really struggled to make it through the four-miler in the park. Of course, my encounter with the creep who said I shouldn't be running did not help. Wait, maybe that was Wednesday? No, Wednesday was five miles on the treadmill, and okay, that was the fairly typical five miles on the treadmill.

Yesterday was four miles through the park, trying to get back on that horse.Had that kind of weird vision aura, dizzy thing that happens sometimes in the heat and glare. And then today, I just got back from five miles on the Madison route, which went a little better than the rest of the week but was still very slow.

And I'm fat. Fatter than I've let myself get in a couple of years. Doesn't help.

Anyway, I'm sitting out on the porch right now with my frozen peas and chocolate milk, feeling that good relaxed post-run feeling but also feeling a little bad about myself because I am so slow and fat and I have that race on Sunday where I am going to suck.

Felt Excellent Today, What is Up With That?

Today I am posting directly from Google Chrome/Web vs. the blogging app I have been using recently. Like the regular interface better. For one thing, I can have my ipad horizontal instead of vertical.

So anyway, it is beautiful weather today. I did my scheduled four miler on the route I call "Settle," which includes the Murray Ave. bike/hike trail. I felt great. Ran faster than I have in months for a training run. Probably fastest I've gone since the marathon in March on a training run.

I'm fatter than I've been for awhile, too. So it's not like I'm suddenly more fit. I think it is the weather. After getting acclimated to heat and humidity---at least somewhat---it is a nice change to have the temps drop into the low 60s and have relatively low humidity. So that must be it.

Also, was wearing the Newtons which do seem to give me a little more speed. Although, I was relatively fast yesterday, too, and that was in the clunky old Vomeros. So I think it is mostly the weather.

Noticed that more people say hello on the bike trail. Is it the better weather or is it the bike trail? Or the type of people who are on the bike trail vs. the street?

Never did find those supposedly for sale Newtons on The Clymb, but I got an email today from Gearbuzz offering them at a discount. They have them for $111 to $130. I do seem to be liking the ones I am running in. But I only paid $55 for them, so...even $111 is more than I like to pay for a pair of running shoes. Plus these Newtons I have seem to be wearing out really fast. I am kind of amazed at how the tread is disappearing after just 30 miles or so.

I might stop by Roncker's and see if they have any of those $55 Newtons left in my size. Of course, that was back in March that I bought them so its doubtful.

What else to say about running today? Well, I was making a list of stuff I need to bring for CPE nationals, and what I need to shop for and whatever and what I need to think about, and I was thinking about how am I going to get a run in, and I have these ideas. First, I could get up really early on Thursday and do a 4 miler before I leave. That takes care of Thursday. Then for Friday & Saturday I could just try to do a mile, maybe even on the hotel treadmill since there does seem to be one. Highly unlikely I will run into any fellow dog owners in the hotel gym! Or I could get out for a little run on Friday after I am done showing. Probably not too hard to get in 3-4 miles outside the hotel.

On Sunday, depending on what I did on Friday, I could either do a mile when I get home or do 4-6 if I have the energy and it is not too late. And with all of that, I will still be on schedule and also keep the streak going.

The PITA about using Chrome with the iPad is that I really miss my mouse.

Just Another Manic Monday

Not really. If it was a manic Monday I'd probably be trying to write a novel again. As it is, I did post in my journal and now I am actually showing up here again.

Today, after the dog walk around the park, I headed out for the scheduled 5 miler. I wore the Vomeros, and they were okay once again. I would not want to race in them or do a really long run, but they are okay for this. I did the Madison route, except I started out down the path to avoid the guys working on the construction project down the street, and then when I came back I had to do a loop around the block to get it over five. It was 5.23, not bad. Actually the fastest pace I've managed on a training run in many months, also.

I iced the knee when I got home. Don't know about the knee. Feel it catching some when i get up from sitting, in the morning when I am just doing things around the house. Wonder if it is going to hold up to the rigors of the coming training and all those marathons. Wonder how it is going to make it through the CPE trial and 18 runs over 3 days if I run Eddy in all of them. Actually, it would be 22 runs if you count the run throughs on Thursday. But I am really not expecting to do all the runs with Eddy. I will be lucky if we make it through any of them.

Thinking some more about the charity fundraiser thing. Have not heard yet from Cheryl. Trying to decide how many weeks I will give them before I pick something else or do nothing at all. Maybe a month to be fair.

I'm kinda starting to lose interest in the whole idea.

Now would be a good time to groom the dogs but I want to wait until tomorrow so I can groom them and Frontline them at the same time. I think I should frontline them before we go up to Springfield because who knows what we will find up there

Saturday 6 Miler

Would have liked to head out to Williamsburg for the 10k they were having, but Tommy has an all-day match and I didn't think it was fair to the dogs to leave them alone that long. So after dog walk (a little later start than we should have gotten but at least it was mostly overcast and a bit cooler after yesterday's rain), went out for a six mile run as per the schedule.

I had done the Observatory walk with the dogs and didn't want to retrace my steps, but ended up doing that a bit anyway. I did my loop of the park plus the Kilgour race route, then added on the Observatory loop. It was just a little short of six miles so i had to add a loop around the block at the end. Being a runner and being obsessive go together so well.

Even though I did not start out until 10:45, it wasn't too miserable. It almost started raining in the last two miles but the rain is still holding off, even now. Glad I didn't chicken out and try to do it on the treadmill.

The top of my right foot has been irritating me, since, I think, the other night in obedience class. I was wearing the tan Addictions and I think I had them tied too tight or had the tongue in the wrong place or something. I'm pretty sure that was when it started. Bothered me some yesterday but I still got the dog walk and run in. Then I wore my new Ghosts around th house for a few hours and it was really bothering me then.

Was going to give the Ghosts a try for a couple of miles today but not with that foot pain. Was also afraid to go with the Newtons because I'm not 100% sure that they didn't cause the problem. So i ran in the Vomeros. Surprise, surprise, they felt pretty good. Guess I won't give up on them quite yet.

Not sure if I am keeping the Ghosts or not. They feel a tad bit big in the toe box, maybe a little too sloppy. I know that I have been complaining about the Newtons being too snug but there is a happy medium somewhere. Oh the other thing bothering me about the Ghosts, and this is trivial, is that I thought I was ordering the white ones with pink trim, and instead they sent me those (I think) kind of ugly denim-ish ones with the teal trim. Not worth sending them back over that. I guess I just went back and forth to the page so m much that I lost track of which pair I was ordering.

Also wore my new running shorts and bra for this run. All was well. Thinking about ordering another couple pairs of those shorts, because I need them.

Tomorrow I am just going to do a little unsheduled three miler, I think. Still waiting to hear back from Cheryl about the fundraiser. Still can't think of a better cause than the Foundation.

Four Miles Around the 'Hood

'm sitting out on the porch again and having a hard time typing because my eyes are itching. Not sure if it is allergies or from sweat, but it's driving me crazy.

Ok, so, today the schedule says four miles. i got a later start than yesterday and I think it's even hotter and muggier. For sure, its muggier. They're saying we might have a thunderstorm soon.

Anyway, I would normally start out by running up the street, but the neighbors' landscapers had arrived and I didn't want to have to run by them. had thought about going on the trails agin but that would also involve having to run by the landscapers.

So instead I went out the patios door and down the trail to Pape Ave. and then out to Erie. i went down Erie, up and around the Broadviewsubdivision, back up Erie and around the Chestnut Hill subdivision, and then back up Erie and around the neighborhood. I had to cross the street early after Broadview to avoid some construction, so it wouldn't quite work out to four until I did a loop around the block at the end.

I had forgotten how steep the hills are in Chestnut Hill. Steeper than I remembered. Wow.

I wore the Newtons. They are still feeling okay. One odd thing about thtem is that they feel fine when you're running but a little weird when you first put them on. A bit snug when I put them on, for example, but it doesn't bother me when I am running. At least on these 4-6 mile runs I've been doing.

A bad thing I am noticing about them is how quick the tread seems to wear out. Kinda surprising on shoes that cost $175 retail. Glad I only paid $55 for them!

I ordered a pair of Brooks Ghosts from RRS yesterday (along with a couple of pairs of shots and bras and socks, and a pair of shoes for Tommy).

My friend Charlene was wearing them at the agility trial last weekend, and we tend to like the same model of shoes. i had considered them before, but I've been in Nikes and doing so well the past few years that I was just sticking with those. I stuck with the Nike also because I like the ability to put the little shoe pod right inside the sole of the shoe rather than having to stick it in a velcro attachment outside. But with the new Pegasus not coming out until August and no guarantee that I will even like it...well, I needed something now, couldn't wait any longer. i don't think the Newtons are going to cut it as marathon shoes for me.

Which reminds me I guess I need to order a new shoe pod holder for the Ghosts.

Its nice out here, except for the allergy part.

In other news, I am corresponding with Cheryl K. at the FCR Foundation about my idea to run my four fall marathons as a fundraiser for the Foundation. It sounds like it will work out and not be very complicated to do. If it doesn't work out, I guess I will look around for another charity but honestly there is nothing that i am feeling all that passionate about or connected to right now.

Longish Trail Run

Today I was supposed to do five miles. It's even hotter than yesterday, and I'm getting a little worried about how much time I am sending out in the sun during the peak times, so I opted for a trail run.

Hasn't rained for a few days so I figured the trails should be pretty dry. My shoes are dry now, too, but they were pretty mud-caked from the last trail race. I managed to get them on without having to clean them off. I'm so lazy.

I have a trail route that I figured would work out to about 2.5 miles, so i decided to just do that twice. While I was out there, I decided a good way to do it would be to run it in reverse for the second half. i don't know why I never thought of that before for the trail runs. It's what I always do when I am out running multiple laps of Lunken.

The first lap worked out to be 2.44 miles, which was not bad. I did not see a soul in the park. The trails were very dry. Just a tiny bit of mud in a couple of spots. Not like you'd even notice. Even the creek was bone dry.

I'm sitting out on the porch now icing my knee and hip, and I forgot to turn my stopwatch on. Oh well. 

I liked going in reverse for the second lap. I don't know if I would prefer that way over my normal route. it did mean downhill on the gravel trail, which is nice, and also uphill on the switchbacks, which is also preferable. I should like it better but I am such a creature of habit.

I saw a couple of old guys with a couple of fairly mellow Viszlas near the end of the second lap. The total distance worked out to be 4.88 miles. Trail running is so hard for me and it takes so much time that I am satisfied with that number.

There's a pic of my trail shoes on the floor of the side porch, where I guess they are just going to have to live from now on most of the time. Today's run did manage to shake most of the mud off them. I should have taken a before picture. These are great shoes, by the way. I wish I could get another pair when they wear out but this model is from two years ago.

That reminds me, I was maybe going to do some shoe shopping today..

 

Today's 4 miler

Gonna get back to writing about my daily run and rambling a bit.

Today there was a 4-miler on the schedule. It is going to be hot and humid, with temperatures climbing into the 80s, which is a bit warmer than we're used to after this cool spring. I walked the dogs a little earlier than usual. We did the Observatory walk, adjusted a little to avoid the rabbit on the stairs. Survived the walk with just one chipmunk and lizard encounter when we made the turn on Brentwood near the end.

I was out for the run a bit after 9. I decided to do the Park + Kilgour route, and I was even able to start out by going up the street because the new neighbor and her many landscapers and contractors were not out there yet. I think she's overdoing things but that is just me.

There was still plenty of shade going up the hill into the park, so I tried to relax and enjoy it. I don't care right now how slow I am. I do feel kind of like a bloated water buffalo, though. I really need to cut back on the beer and the ice cream and the chocolate.

Near the top of the hill, I saw David Dallas out with their dog, Pushkin. I said hello and told him I liked the new color of their house. I didn't stop to chat because I wanted to get the run over with before it got any hotter, and I hadn't even gone a mile yet. Plus i was embarrassed to be seen by someone I knew in this relatively small amount of clothes  (lightweight Sugoi running shorts and Skirtsports bra top) in my current water buffalo condition. That's the problemw ith running in the neighborhood---you are likely to run into people you know.

My knee had been bothering me a bit before I started out but it was okay during the run. I'm icing it now. i wore the Vomeros today even though I swore I was done with them. Didn't want to wear the Newtons two days in a row. I need some new shoes but I don't know what I'm going to get. Not sure I an wait for the Pegasus 30 to come out in August.

The rest of the run proceeded uneventfully even thought it was godawful slow. I didn't try to push it at all so even though it was slow, it was relatively comfortable.   

The Running Curmudgeon Back Again!

Today I saw a FB post from a local running shoe store that asked a question---they called it a poll---about whether customers would prefer shoes that fit great but are not so good looking vs. shoes that looked really cool but didn't fit as well. For reals. They were asking this. A few people responded basically that fit was more important (duh) or maybe that they used to be more into fashion but now that they were buying shoes to actually run in they had decided they cared more about fit.

I could not believe this was a serious question from a RUNNING SHOE STORE so I asked them if this was a serious question and said I had a question for them: do you want to be a fashion store or a running store?

And they answered back that of course it was a serious question and they really care what their customers think and blah, blah, blah.

This is the same store in which the last time I was in there shopping, I forget what for, maybe just picking up a race packet, the clerk had somehow engaged me in conversation enough that I was mentioning the marathon that I had run the week before and he tried to get me to sign up for their couch to 5k program.

So anyway, it seemed like it was time to unlike them on Facebook. The only time I shop there is when they are having a big sale and/or I happen to go there to pick up a race packet. Or if they host a special event in the store that interests me, like a seminar or clinic. And it's one time less often now since they have stopped putting on that Lady Distance Classic 5k/10k event each year.

If they want to be more about fashion that's fine with me. I can get everything I need online. I don't have a reason to shop at their store.

How can that be a serious question? If they got a bunch of people saying they cared more about fashion than how the shoes fit, would they switch their merchandising to focus on that?

I heard a statistic recently that the vast majority of running shoes are purchased by consumers in department stores for non-running purposes. A very small percentage of shoes are actually purchased at specialty running shoe stores, and these are mostly to new runners just starting out who have been told they need to be fitted for shoes by "experts." People who have been running regularly for years tend to make their purchases from catalogs or online.

So I'm wondering what they are thinking at this little running shoe store. Do they think they should be competing with the department stores? 

The Running Curmudgeon

I am turning into the running curmudgeon. I mean to say, when I encounter or am forced to interact with, "newbies," I find it hard to resist reminiscing about the good old days. For me, that is just prior to the invention of GoreTex and polar fleece. When $100 was an unheard of amount to spend  on a pair of running shoes. When people who wanted to listen to music during their runs had to carry a CD player or even a cassette player. When malt Power Bars and lemon lime Gatorade was all there was.

And today, confronted by an irritating post on the Women's Running Community Facebook page, I responded in a perhaps unbecoming and curmudgeonly way.

The person said she had been running for 2 years ( what I would consider a newbie) and had done a couple of 5ks and a 10k, and wanted to train for a half-marathon. But she had a friend who wanted her to sign up for a 5k with her, and she felt like that was a waste of time, with her vast experience and big goal and all (this last part is me interpolating a bit). So she was asking if it was wrong to feel this way. And if she was being a running snob.

My reply was that I thought it was sad she felt that way about the 5k, and if she thought 5k was too easy, maybe she wasn't running fast enough. I thought about asking if she won those 5ks she had entered before, or even placed in her age group, and if so.were there other people in her age group?

So who is the real running snob?

In fact, I might have to unsubscribe from those posts, because a lot of them are just too stupid and irritating. And I am just a curmudgeon.

Flying Pig 10k

 You know, I rely do try to keep up with the blogging about my running and racing, but the dogs are making it pretty damn near impossible. And the ipad is actually harder to write on than the damn netbook. Who would have thought? Even with the bluetooth keyboard, it is hard.

One of the things I am really not liking is what a pain it is to switch between the blogging app and the web. And I need to go to the web to look up thing like what the route was like and what actually are the names f those bridges that we ran across.

Anyway, I ran the Flying Pig 10k on the day before the Pig. After a couple weeks of therapy with Dr. Donna, I thought I was up to it.

I have to admit, I was more than a little jealous of all the people doing the Four Way. That's what they call it when you do the 10k, the 5k (an hour later!) and then the marathon the next day. I seriously want to do it next year. Heck, it will be good training for the double I want to do next summer.

Anyway, I got down there about an hour before the race. I parked in the lot under the Westin. It was just a couple blocks to the start down in The Banks area. The weather was pleasant enough. Geez, I don't even really remember any more what it was like. Not as hot as it is today, that's for sure

I went for a little warmup jog part way across the pedestrian bridge. Not too many people warming up, considering the size of the crowd. I don't recognize anybody! I don't know exactly how many people but there were a couple thousand maybe.

The race starts on Pete Rose Way (and can I just say that I love that Second St. is still called that?) and finishes in Yeatman's Cove.

I was kind of hoping for some pace signs but didn't see any so I just tried to put myself with people who looked about my speed. I guessed right because a few of those people were right there with me at the end.

It took me about 33 seconds to cross the start line. I wanted to run 9s, but my pace was up and down with the hills. There were a few walkers to maneuver around in the early going but really not too bad. The first mile took us around the corner and pretty quickly headed over the Taylor Southgate Bridge to Newport. Mile 1 is near the bottom of the bridge. Then you do a loop of Newport before heading across the Licking River to Covington, a bit past the two mile marker.

Just past the three mile mark, from Covington, you cross back over the Ohio River via the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge. Mile 4 is around the corner on the other side of the bridge. You run up Third St., , then there is about another mile around downtown----mostly a tour of the Eggleston parking lots this time--- before coming back down Pete Rose Way to the finish.

Here's a link to the race map.

So it was not a super hilly race. There were a few little inclines in the downtown section moving away from the river, and then there were the two bridge crossings which are also not very steep.

I can't remember a whole lot about this race. I felt okay and there was nothing too remarkable about it. I was glad to be out there doing it, but wishing I could do more.

My splits were 9:22, 8:55, 9:25 9:14, 9:13, 8:46 and 1:38 for the last .2, for a finish time of 56:34/9:08 average pace. This was significantly slower than what I was able to run back in March, but the hip held up and that was the main thing. I was 11 of 196 in my age group, 248 of 2184 women, and 641 of I do not know how many people in the race.

I did not linger too long at the finish, because I needed to get home for breakfast with Tommy and the Chesteks. Next year when I do the 4-Way (notice how I say that as if it were a certainty) I will have about an hour to kill in between the 10k and the 5k. I guess the strategy will be to refuel with food that is very easy to digest, and then truly just jog the 5k. Probably won't push it too hard in the 10k either, if I want to recover for the marathon the next day!

Still Trying the Newtons

Today called for 5 miles, so to continue with my gradual tryout of the Newtons, I split the run in half, more or less. First I went around the park in the Newtons for about 2.7 miles. Then I came home and switched to the old Nike trail shoes for a loop on the trails, about 2.5 miles.

It got hot today all of a sudden, so it was good to do the second half of the run on the trails. Even though it was still morning when I finished, it's heating up pretty quick.

Am wondering what this weekend's racing will feel like. Will I be ready to try the Newtons in the 5k race on Friday night? I think not. Will I be able to run the trail race on Sunday as fast as I did last year? Also doubtful.

Trail Run in the Woods

Did one this afternoon. Found a way to get i over 4 miles without repeating too much of it. Go down the Burr Oak Trail, up the Valley Trail, up the Cliff Trail to the Overlook, up and around behind the playground to the Kid's Trail, across the street through the Friendship Park and across the soccer field to the hole in the woods and the trail that leads back down to Valley Trail, up the switchbacks to the small trail that connects to the Ridge Trail, down the Ridge Trail, and back up the Burr Oak Trail to home.

Had kind of an unpleasant morning and a not especially productive early afternoon, so I really needed this to clear out my head.

Boston

Yesterday morning I tried to watch the live stream of the elite woman's start before I headed off to the chiropractor. Actually, I got to see the wheelchair start before that, and the men's start after. Then I struggled through a bit of the very spotty live feed with the horrendous commentary. I thought it was just as well that I had to leave.

I could have predicted that Rita Jeptoo or Sharon Cherop would win, just from watching the ladies on the start line. Shalane and Kara were fidgeting with their outfits, doing some nervous stretches. Shalane bent down to re-tie her shoes. The Kenyans on either side of them just should there, all loosey goosey and cool as cucumbers, in the zone.

By the time I got home from the chiropractor, the race was over. I had given up trying to get into the wifi network at the chiro's office. And of course, I could learn nothing about the results from listening to my car radio.

Back home, I guess I could have done a Google search but that would've just been too easy. What I really wanted was to watch a race video. Or read a mile by mile account. I didn't really want to know the results too soon. The Let's Run servers were down. I went to the Runner's World web site and read their live blog of the event, which is where I found out I had been right about the results of the woman's race. It seemed like Shalane's race plan wasn't so bad---staying in the pack with the eventual winner---but she made a mental error by waiting too long to make a move. Instead of reacting to the Kenyan move, she should have made her own move, and sooner.

But what do I know?

Anyway, felt kinda bummed about no American win yet again. Headed up to the vet with Maggie, and while we were at the vet's office the bombs went off at the Boston finish line. The first I heard of it was in the car driving home, and from the way NPR was barely interupting their coverage, it didn't sound like it was any big deal.

I mean, I have a kid living in Boston with her husband, and I wasn't even worried because NPR was more concerned with continuing to run its program about exonerated prisoners. An important topic, but  kind of a fail on a big news story, NPR.

Back home, I texted my daughter and verified that she was fine, her husband was fine, they were no where near the site of the bombing, and she didn't know anything more than I did.

Watched the news and found out it was a big deal, after all. Still, the implications of it hadn't really hit me yet. I had acquaintances running but no close friends. Can you count someone who has unfriended you on Facebook?

Kept watching the news---not the best idea---and managed to let it get me all agitated. Tried to text daughter, who clearly wanted to be left alone. Switched TV coverage from MSNBC to CNN because MSNBC persisted in trying to connect the bombing to gun violence. Yes, Americans, if we took away all the guns, those bombs would not have gone off in Boston! Or MSNBC would like us to believe. I suppose on FOX they were telling people that it was all Obama's fault.

Gradually it began to dawn on me that the timing of the bombs going off, around 4:09 into the race, coincided with what might have been my finish time on a good day. In fact, it was my goal time from two weeks ago. So I could then readily imagine myself finishing the race in the midst of this nightmare, or being stopped somewhere just before, with my husband and maybe even my daughter and her husband waiting on the sidewalk where the bombs went off.

And then I started thinking about how this could ruin marathons, ruin the things we love about them. Make it harder for people to casually spectate from the sidelines, Make it harder for our loved ones to join us on the way to the start and meet us just past the finish line. Make us nervous and suspicious as we line up to start (where lots of people are discarding random items) and approach the finish (where there are people everywhere carrying backpacks and lots of drop bags just laying on the ground).

And I thought about the families who had lost loved ones, and the people whose lives had been changed forever by this horrible tragedy. And how it doesn't matter anymore about the results of this race. And that's a little sad, too, because that's another thing the terrorist(s) have taken from us. And how there was almost no coverage of the Boston Marathon in the mainstream media until the bombing, and this morning that was almost all the coverage was about.

I wore my Heartbreak Hill socks today, but it was too warm to wear any of my other Boston gear. The year I ran was, I think, the only year that the gear was not designed in the iconic blue and yellow. Instead, my stuff is red, white and blue. More patriotic but most people probably wouldn't even know what it was about.

Now I wait with the rest of the world to find out who was behind this horrible act. Debating whether or not to go ahead and enter the Flying Pig Marathon. (Current thinking: no). Hoping it doesn't change my beloved sport too much. Wondering if it will now be even harder for me to gain entry into Boston again. (Current thinking: yes). Wishing peace and recovery to all those directly affected by the tragedy. Glad that all my acquaintances are safe, even the ones who have unfriended me on Facebook.

Run for the Green 2013

Run for the Green is the first race in our now annual series of local trail races (Dirt Days). I did it for the first time two years ago but skipped it last year, I think because I was sick at the time. This year it again fell on the Saturday of the Louisville Cluster of dog shows, which helped me decide to only enter the first two days of that show so I would be home for this race.

What I remembered from the first time was a lot of mud. Not particularly hilly but very messy. And last time I was nursing an injury to my upper left thigh that I got when I slipped on some ice while walking the dogs, and it was a week after I limped around the Little Rock Marathon, and the goal was just to finish.

Again this year the goal was mostly just to finish but since I am neither injured (unless you count the knee that has not been quite right since I fell on it a couple of weeks ago) nor ill at the moment (knock on wood) I expected to be a bit faster. But mostly I just wanted an official finish time to count towards the participation awards for the trail series. Had a bit of trouble with that two years ago, when I initially did not show up in the results.

Didn't want to push too hard this year, because I do have that marathon coming up in a couple of weeks.

(I'm trying to finish this up now after starting it a week or so ago! Scary how much I have forgotten about this race already!)

Ok, so, the race started at 9 am so I drove up there around 8. It was pouring down rain during the drive and I got a little lost because the park was not quite where I remembered it being. Also, it did not help that my GPS thought the park was called "Camden-Deerfield Park" instead of "Landen-Deerfield Park." It made it a little harder to look it up since I was spelling it correctly and the GPS had it wrong!

Anyway, by the time I closed in on it the rain had stopped, thank goodness. The parking lot was filling up, so I had a little bit of a warmup jog back and forth getting my goodie bag. Yes, there was actually a goodie bag. It contained a green plastic cup and a bag of peanuts and a coupon for Dick's Sporting Goods. The shirts (I had ordered one because I'm running a little low on long sleeved cotton tees for winter dog walks) were bright green.

Here's a couple of funny memories from the packet pickup:

1) There was a chunky woman (not to be too judgmental) in front of me on line who was kind of snippy and rude when I asked her if she was on line, and then when she got up to the front of the line turned out she was on the WRONG line because she had not pre-registered. Ha.

2) After I got my bib and the goodie bag and was heading back to the car, a kind of goofy, chunky guy shoved his goodie bag at me and asked me if I would take it because he was "running." I had to explain to him that I was running, too. Did I not look like I was running? Ah, but that is the title of this blog, after all. I really don't look like a runner! Anyway, it was a half hour until the race start, and I can understand wanting to go do a warmup as I was about to get going on that myself but that didn't mean that you should expect me to take your goodie bag for you, weirdo. He said he didn't want it to go to waste. So I just said, well, why don't we put your bag here on this table and then if someone wants it they can have it?

I want to emphasize this guy was not a contender to win the race. But he seemed to think that I needed his peanuts. He was in a hurry to go running.

People who live in the Cincinnati suburbs: idiots?

There were also a number of people wearing shirts from the Spartan races, Warrior Dash, and that other thing, Muddy whatever it is called. Tough Mudder, that's it. I have a negative impression of these races, since I have heard and read that the courses are not really timed and you can even finish them without completing all of the obstacles. I don't think of them as real races. A couple of people were comparing whether running through fire (Warrior Dash?) or getting shocked (the Muddy thing?) was harder. I've seen pictures of the obstacles and the competitors and I would say neither is really such a big deal. But these fools like to delude themselves that they are accomplishing the ultimate athletic achievement. When I race, I want to pass as many of these people as I can.

Lots of people wearing green, many wearing the race shirt. I guess I should have tried a little harder to find something green to wear. I do have a couple of green tech shirts.

I headed back to my car, where I sat for a minute while I attached my bib to my little waist belt, which I have grown quite fond of for racing. No more dealing with pins for me!

After a bit, I headed out for some loops of the parking lot, which I knew would not prepare me for the muddy mess ahead. When I felt warm enough, I joined the rest of the participants near the start line. A guy in Vibrams asked me about which way we were starting. I told him what I remembered about the lap of the grassy field that they make us do before we head into the woods.

I looked, as usual, for a spot near people who looked like me. But nobody looks quite like me anymore. They are all so much younger and dressed in more fashionable running attire. I was wearing navy tights, a technical top from the State-to-State race (soon this will constitute half my running clothes since I do that race every year!) and an old nylon jacket which I had already take off and tied around my waist.

I saw one woman whom I recognized from previous trail races. She is slower than I am, so I just put myself a bit in front of her, and that seemed about right.

We started running, and immediately I felt that unpleasant cold wet feeling in my shoes that I remembered from last time as we splashed through the puddles in the field. I reminded myself that I just wanted to get a finish time and not get injured. As we made our loop of the field, the most irritating thing was the back kick and muddy splashes from the large men (Tough Mudders, no doubt).

There was a little bit of undulation that I remembered, a short but steep little downhill and then a little climb uphill, before we headed into the woods. I noticed a woman I had seen at the start whom I thought looked fast, but I was closing in on her. I would pass her before we got in the woods and she would finish quite a bit behind me.

Here's a pic from that early section of the race:

There I am in my black hat from the Delaware Marathon, # 411.

And then we were in the woods. My GPS wasn't going to get a signal, and I didn't want to wear my foot pod because of the creek crossings, so I was making do with just the stopwatch function of my watch. Two years ago I finished in 50 minutes, which included a lot of walking. This time I figured to be closer to 40 minutes even without trying very hard.

The trails in this park are pretty smooth without a lot of rocks and limbs. But the miserable weather had left them very muddy. So the riskiest thing was slipping in the mud. Early in the race there is a little stretch where you are on a narrow singletrack with the Little Miami River rushing by just below you to your right. So if you take a misstep to your right at all you are going to roll down the hill and into the river. That part was a little scary.

Unlike some of the trail races from the first few years of my trail running experience, I was able to hold my position most of the way without having to stop and let people go by. The only way to pass people on these trails is if they let you. I was moving at a comfortable pace, and since the most important thing was to finish uninjured and I didn't want to push it very hard, I just stayed where I was in the pack and didn't try to pass anybody in the woods.

At one point I did let a woman and a little boy go by, because she was making a big deal to him about how now they were going to pass people. Immediately I knew I had made a mistake because they really didn't pass anybody else except me. The woman was fast but the kid really wasn't.

Here's a pic from somewhere in the middle of the race:

You can see how muddy my feet are.

We had to slow down for the creek crossings. The water really was about knee-high on me, and it was deeper if you stepped off to the sides. It actually felt kind of good, because I was a little warm in the tights.

I just kept looking at my watch and guestimating how much more was left. Near the end, it seemed like we just kept going back and forth in the area behind the grassy field. I remembered that part from last time, too. It goes on for a long time like that. You think you're almost done, and at one point you even pop out of the woods but immediately have to go back again, and on and on and on.

(I'm trying to finish this up now because it is the night before my marathon!)
(OMG, now it is after the marathon, days later, and still I am trying to finish this one up!)

Ok, so we snake back and forth through the woods with the grassy field above us just out of reach. Finally we come out and basically make a circle around the outside of the field as we head for the finish line. It's about a quarter mile, maybe less. Now I am no longer afraid of falling down, so I pick up the pace and kick past several groups of runners who are ahead of me, which enables me to move up several places among the women.

Post race, they don't seem to have as much or as good quality of food as I remembered. I got my stuff out of the car and changed in the rest room. My shoes and tights were well-coated with mud, and it was nice to get into something dry. They had posted the results, so I checked to make sure I was on the list. And since I had not won my age group, there was no reason to stick around.

I was 168 of 275 runners, and 47 of 112 women. My time was 42:19, almost 8 minutes faster than two years ago, when I had that nasty hip flexor problem, but I was a bit disappointed because I had hoped to be even faster, and to finish a little higher up in the results. But since I was basically just jogging most of the way and trying to finish the race without hurting myself, I can't complain too much.

As I finish writing this report, I am injured once again, and am thinking that I really should not have been complaining at all!

Food on the Run 2013

Food on the Run is an annual 5k/10k put on by a local Cincinnati organization known as The Nutrition Council. The Nutrition Council's stated mission is to advance child health through nutrition education. I'm always hoping this will mean there will be plenty of good stuff to eat after the race but I'm always a little disappointed!

This year they had added on Chipotle as a sponsor, which isn't especially healthy if you are thinking about chips and guacamole and flour torillas. But I would not have minded if there was some Chipotle at the finish line. Instead, they had coupons for buy one, get one free. That's nice, but I'll just shove it in some corner of the car and forget about it. I'd rather have something I could have eaten immediately after the race.

They did have food after, just nothing terribly exciting. But more about that later.

So, last Saturday morning I did this race for the second year in a row. Both times I had hoped it would give me good news about how my training was progressing, and be a confidence builder for the upcoming marathon. It didn't work out that way last year. In retrospect, last year's goal was too ambitious and the training wasn't there.

This year my goal time for the marathon is slower, and I'm telling myself the training is better (well, I did compare the training logs this afternoon and I really think it is true---at least the mileage is higher).

My goal for this particular race was around 53 minutes or about 8:30 pace. That's about where I should be if I want to be able to run the marathon under 4:10. But I told myself that since I was not tapering for this race, just training through it, and even ran 6 miles the day before which I don't usually do the day before a race, it wouldn't be the end of the world if I ran slower than 53 minutes. I was trying to take the pressure off.

Arguably, I shouldn't even have been doing this race, at least, according to the Hanson's training program. But I like to race. I adjusted the schedule by skipping my tempo run last week.

The race started at 9 so I left the house around 8 am. The start and finish of the race are in Sawyer Point Park. The parking lot was fuller than last year, and this year they were charging $4. That's ridiculous, so I guess I won't be doing this race next year, unless they move it to a venue where we don't have to pay to park.

I jogged to the registration table, picked up my bib and shirt, and jogged back to the car, where I hung out  for ten minutes or so. It was colder downtown along the river than it was at my house. And it had started snowing. I started looking forward to the race being over.

I headed out for my warmup jog, which I did at a faster pace than usual because it was so cold. But by the time I finished, I didn't feel too uncomfortable. Seemed like my attire was going to work. I was wearing my technical top from State-to-State, thick black tights, white hat from Fargo, and the blue plastic pullover top from the 2000 FCR Nationals. And a pair of gloves.

Now that I've seen myself in this photo, I am wondering what happened to my resolution never again to appear in public unless I was wearing a turtleneck. I am hideous.

The first mile of the race takes you away from the river and out of downtown and up Gilbert Ave. (hill!). My watch said 8:35. Okay, just about right and felt okay. The course continues up Gilbert to a turnaround on Eden Park Drive. There was an aid station just past the turnaround on the downhill side of Gilbert, but I didn't want to stop on the downhill so I skipped it.

Mile 2 was another 8:35.We continued downhill and turned back onto the trail in the park. Mile 3 was an 8:28. So far, so good. I started trying to do math in my head to figure out what I needed to run in order to meet my goal.

You run out east along the river, then turn around and head back west towards the start and past it, before you turn around again and finally head back to the finish. So the last 3 miles are a fairly flat loop.

I took my gloves off and carried them in my hands. I remembered how last year I had tucked my gloves into the waistband of my fanny pack and ended up losing one. It was colder this year, so I took them on and off a couple of times.

Mile 4 was 8:07. Things were looking pretty good. There was another aid station around mile 4, and this time I grabbed a cup of water and drank a little.

I missed the mile 5 marker, but miles 5 and 6 were 16:46. We turned down towards the finish and I realized what had made me go off course last year. There was a woman standing in the middle of the path telling people to turn left for the 5k and right for the 10k. Last year I got confused and turned the wrong way before figuring out my mistake and getting back on the course.

Approaching the finish, I managed to kick past a bunch of people. Final .2 was a 1:32, for a final time of 52:16, about 8:26 average pace. So, I went a little faster last year, and well under my goal, which is a great confidence builder for the marathon to come.

After crossing the finish line, I started looking for the food. There was a slow moving line for the following items:

• Very hard assorted half-bagels
• Little packets of Cabot cheese, some kind of white cheddar?
• Boxes and boxes of KIND bars in various flavors (grabbed a bunch of these)
• Scary looking processed cookie snack of graham crackers and grape jelly
• Frozen bananas
• Very cold orange slices

There was another line, actually shorter, with hot (well, lukewarm) soup. They had two kinds: black bean and tomato basil. I didn't realize it was tomato basil for awhile because I swear the volunteers kept calling it "tomato base," which sounded gross, so I went with the black bean. Tomato base soup, what is that? Tomato is just the base for something else? What is it the base for?

So it was better than after most small local races but not by that much. I think they could do a little better. Why not some chips and guacamole? Huh? How about some little mini or cut up burritos? How about that, Chipotle?

While I finished my soup I stood around with a bunch of other obsessives staring at a couple of big video monitors that were scrolling the finish times. One monitor just had finish times. We were not interested in that one. The other had the age group placements. Unfortunately, at that point they only had the 5k results, so we had to wait a little while. Standing there in my wet and now cold running clothes, the only thing that kept me from feeling completely ridiculous was that I was not the only one doing it.

Finally we got the 10k results and I found out that I had indeed finished 3rd in my age group, so I went over to the awards table to pick up my award. Later on I wondered if they had given me the wrong thing, since it says 5k on it, and they did have some nicer looking items that maybe were intended for people who had placed in the 10k. Oh well. This was just a very generic medal that looks like something recycled from last year, with a new sticker on the front for this year. It truly was not worth waiting around in the cold for. The placement was important to me in itself but this piece of crap award was not.

I was 3 of 30 (compared to 4 of 45 last year) and 222 of 966 runners overall, but this is not especially impressive because it is a slow person's race. I did not recognize the names of any of the 27 women who finished in my age group behind me. Did recognize the first two as people I have never beaten!

Something unusual was that there was another race going on downtown on the same morning, a new event called the Bock Fest 5k.  This is part of a three race series that also includes a one mile race on Flying Pig weekend, and the old 14k race that was revived a couple of years ago. I wondered if some of the fast women in my age group had gone there instead since I didn't see them in the Food on the Run results. Turns out they did not, because I didn't recognize many of those names either.

There was one woman who did both the 5k at Food on the Run and then the Bock Fest 5k (10 am start). There was definitely enough time to finish Food on the Run and then jog over to Bock Fest. She won the 55-59 age group at Food on the Run, and then she also won the 50-55 group (not sure why they didn't use standard age groups except maybe they just didn't know any better) at Bock Fest.

Anyway, if it turns out that next year there is free parking at Bock Fest or if it is less than Food on the Run, I might do that one instead.

Just a Few Random Thoughts

The Streak Ends Again

I am so mad at myself. I started again on December 2 and was doing great until I forgot to get the mile in yesterday. I even found a way to get those miles in last weekend while I was in Indy for a dog show. I did laps in the parking lot Saturday afternoon! And then, yesterday, when I easily could have found time to hop on the treadmill for a mile (it was an off-day from my training schedule and I had two agility classes with the dogs), I simply forgot.

I was debating whether to start once again or just bow to the inevitability of never being able to continue a long-term running streak, but I think I've decided that the discipline of trying is good for me.

Oscar Pistorius

I could really see how it might have been an accident, this shooting and killing the girlfriend thing. South Africa sounds like a scary place, and this guy was known to be a little reactive and loose with his shooting. So I could see how if he were surprised he would shoot first and ask questions later. Plus, they'd only been together as a couple since November. I don't get how anybody who is still in the honeymoon phase of the relationship could possibly get so angry that they would want to shoot the other person. Unless you were crazy. Which, apparently, he is.

Training and How It's Going Generally

Not so bad. I like the Hanson's program I am following. I've missed a couple of workouts due to the dog shows but otherwise I am logging a lot more miles than usual. I really like not having the burden of facing those 18-22 mile long runs. This Monday I will do 16, which is as long as you go in this program. I don't have any problem getting my head around 16.

I'm done with the speed segment of the program and now we're into the strength segment. That means longer intervals at slightly faster than marathon goal pace. Now, the only hitch I have is that the tempo runs are also supposed to be at marathon goal pace, and since I always incorporate walk breaks in my training and in my racing, that means that the tempo runs end up being kind of like the strength interval runs also. Or maybe even faster running than during the strength intervals because I am trying to compensate for the walk breaks.

For example, on Wednesday I did the first strength workout. Supposed to be 6 x 1 mile at 9:20 pace, with 400 meter recoveries. On the TM, I end up doing the repeats at 9:22 pace because that is 6.4 mph. 6.5 is too fast. I do quarter mile recoveries, with a 30 second walk at 3.5 mph, then jogging at 5.0 pace until I hit a quarter mile.

And today, I went out for what was supposed to be the tempo run. Schedule is 8 miles, with 5 miles at marathon pace. So, I did a mile and a half warmup, then I started running fast but took at 30 second walk break every mile (1 minute break in the middle to have a GU). When I hit 6.5 miles, I walked for a minute and then did the cooldown jog for a total of 8.23 miles. I did average goal pace for the tempo segment, finishing 4.99 miles in 47:24 (goal would be 5 miles in 47:30). But I didn't get it by running 9:30 pace continuously for 5 miles. A good part of it was much faster in order to average out to the 9:30-ish pace. That makes it more like an interval workout, I guess.

So, does that mean I am not getting the benefit of a true marathon pace/tempo workout? OTOH, I am not going to run at a continuous pace for 26.2 miles, either. That's not how I do it. So what is the point of practicing that way? I think what I am doing makes more sense, since it is practicing what I am actually going to do in the race.

I am pretty exhausted lately, but that is supposed to be normal. I have upped my mileage from 25 to closer to 40 miles a week, which is significant, so I guess I should be tired.

I do wonder when I am going to start losing weight from all this extra running! I didn't think I was eating that much more.