Thoughts about my four marathons

Just some quick little stream of consciousness ideas about the four races I ran in 29 days before I forget everything. The races themselves are already starting to run together in my head.

Air Force

Most distinctive of the four races. Best expo. Most difficult logistically to get to the race, even though it was the closest. Most entertaining aid stations. Most inspiring race. Most Maniacs.

The Mill Race

Flattest course but also the most boring. Hottest weather. Worst aid stations and crowd support although it could have been worse. But great parking situation. Best party after the race.

Prairie Fire

Prettiest course. Best pasta dinner (well, only pasta dinner).

Grand Rapids

Best aid stations. Second prettiest course. Second best expo. Second best party after the race. Various factors probably push this one overall to my favorite of the four races.

I guess really I would have to say that they were each fun in their own way. None of them were awful, and there were some great things about each of them. The Mill Race was probably my least favorite overall, but even that race had a lot of good things going for it and considering it was a first time race, it was better than expected. I would do every one of these races again if the opportunity was right.

Prairie Fire (Wichita, KS) Marathon

On October 13 I did the third race in my personal three-race series, which was the Prairie Fire Marathon in Wichita, KS. This gives me state #39, and I just figured out that it was my 49th marathon ever. Pretty cool. So next weekend in Grand Rapids will be #50.

Why Wichita? Well, I didn't have any big preferences as to which race I did in Kansas, and my friend Ken Chestek wanted to do that one because his parents were both from Wichita. I thought it would be nice to hang out with friends at one of these races for a change, so Wichita it was.

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn, which was one of the two race hotels downtown (other one was the Hyatt). Both were pretty close to the start, but the Fairfield Inn was a little cheaper plus had free breakfast and parking (and you don't get that at the Hyatt). So even if the coffee was not as good, at least it was free.

I flew in Saturday afternoon and the Chesteks picked me up at the airport. We headed back to the expo, at the convention center that was also close to the hotel. An okay mid-sized expo with several running vendors. Ken had to buy GU but nobody had the Vanilla Bean he preferred. I didn't buy anything, but in retrospect, I wish I had picked up one of those sparkly pink skirts to wear in Grand Rapids with my Diva shirt.

I talked Ken and Robin into joining me for the pasta dinner at the Hyatt. Turned out to be a pretty nice one. Buffet style, with a nice tossed salad, choice of white or wheat pasta, and meat and alfredo sauces, and good breadsticks. But better than the food was the company. We would up at a table with the Race Director, a representative from the main sponsor, and the guest speaker. So we had a little more interesting dinner conversation than most.

After dinner, the Race Director passed a microphone around the room and we all had to say where we were from and how many marathons we'd run. That was fun. Lots of experience in that room!

I have found these pasta dinner speakers are often surprisingly good, and that was the case for this one. He was a young man from Wichita who was in a horrific car accident in 2005 (hit by a drunk driver going very fast). He was burned on over 50 percent of his body, and his young wife (high school sweetheart) did not survive the crash. He told us about his fight to recover, which involved many surgeries and intensive therapy, but mostly depended on his realization that he needed to recover for his family and friends, and to honor the memory of his wife (he has established a foundation in her name).

He recovered, and now he runs marathons, and his foundation does good in the community. Very upbeat guy, and really put things in perspective for all of us. How lucky we are. How trivial most of our problems are.

Only bad thing about the dinner was that there was no dessert!

After dinner, we walked around the river area, where there was a fountain/light show set to Elvis music. We watched that for awhile. It was like fireworks without all the noise.

Back at hotel, I picked up a cup of ice cream from the lobby, which would have to do for dessert. We decided to meet in the lobby at 7 am to walk over to the start.

I got up early to get my coffee and have some breakfast. Fortunately they opened the breakfast bar at 5 am. I had some scrambled eggs and an english muffin. Then I had a lot of time to hang out in the room and get bored.

Selfie in the room before heading out to the start

Robin walked over to the start with us and took some pics. Ken said I could pass him during the race unless it was the near the very end. We took our place in the crowd. Somebody did a terrible job singing the Star Spangled Banner. Couldn't hit the high notes but also didn't know the words!

What about the race? I liked it. The course was flat but very scenic. We ran through a number of lovely neighborhoods with a lot of shade. Overall, there was much more shade than I expected. One of the nicer courses I've run on in an urban setting.

Ken pulled away from me immediately at the start but I was sticking to my plan. I had learned my lesson at The Mill Race. And it worked out. I think this was the first time that I ran the second half faster than the first. Not only that, but my last 10k was faster than my first 10k. Felt pretty good the whole way, and just snuck in under five hours.

Here are the splits:
1) 11:32
2) 11:57
3) 11:06
4) 11:41
5) 11;13
6) 11:28
7) 12:41
8) 11:24
9) 12:17
10) 11:33
11) 11:38
12) 11:34
13) 11:56
14) 10:28
15) 11:10
16) 11:09
17) 11:55
18) 10:39
19) 11:07
20) 11:09
21) 11:21
22) 11:05
23) 11:51
24) 11:09
25) 11:06
26) 11:24
26.2) 2:26

I didn't know that I was under five hours until I saw the results, because I started my watch with the gun and it took like 1:20 to cross the start and I wasn't doing the math. But I knew I was negative splitting and that fueled me to keep it up in the last few miles.

Weather was pleasant. Sunny but not too hot, and a nice breeze occasionally (although it was mostly a head wind, and that did cost me some time at the end).

Besides the pretty neighborhoods, I will remember:
The Dianetics water stop at mile 4 (was a little afraid to drink that water!)
Running near homes that looked like the one Ken had posted on Facebook where his grandparents lived
A couple of funny little sharp turns, one which took us almost through somebody's yard
Running along the river and passing the museums in the later miles
Passing a few people in the second half

I caught up to Ken right around mile 24, and he finished about 5 minutes behind me. Saw Robin around the corner from the finish. Nice to see a friend at a race for a change!

Post-race, we had some chocolate milk and cold pizza (which I couldn't really eat). After we got cleaned up, we drove out to the Cowtown museum to walk around. Cowtown is a collection of buildings from the early years of Wichita that they have gathered up and deposited in a little village arrangement, so you can walk around and learn about what life was like in the 1870s there. Ken remembered it as a fun place he used to go with his grandparents when he came to visit them 50 years ago. It is still fun!

I had a grand vision that I would somehow get myself over to the Old Town section of Wichita for more touristing and dinner, but instead I joined Ken and Robin for dinner at a Texas Road House near the airport. I was really too tired and hungry at that point to go out on my own, and again, it was nice to have company.

I spent a quiet evening relaxing in the hotel---kinda bummed that the lounge was closed because I would not have minded hanging out and having a beer by the fire pit---and departed the next morning.

In the results, I was 14 of 18 in my age group and 485 of 626 marathoners. The medal is on the large size and not especially attractive. This whole bigger is better craze on the part of marathon medal designers has to stop! Smaller and nicer is better.

Big medal, not pretty but somewhat distinctive.

The Mill Race Marathon

This is about the second race in my personal four race series. The Mill Race Marathon was a new race in Columbus, Indiana.

Columbus is just a little south of Indianapolis, and it's just a little under two hours drive from Cincinnati. At first I thought I was jut going to drive up and back on race day, but at some point I realized that maybe I should spend the night before at a nearby hotel. And then I figured out that I had enough points to get a nice room at the LaQuinta that is just a couple miles from the start for just $15. Was quite nice, newly remodeled facility, I had a fridge and microwave.

Drove up the afternoon before and hit the expo. Downtown Columbus is quaint little small town, mostly, with some cute shops and restaurants but also a little bit of authentic run-downness, like it is not quite all the way back yet, and then there is also the Cummins engine world headquarters, which is all big and modern.

The expo was in a sort of convention center place that seemed to also have some tie to Cummins, maybe it was more like their corporate meeting space? Anyway, it was small but there were places to buy whatever you might have forgotten. The running vendors had some nice merchandise but no great deals so I wasn't tempted. I did buy a hat from the Cummins shop.

Am wishing I had easier way to incorporate photos into this blog. Would share photos of hat and the race shirt and the medal.

Not much in the packet as I recall but the shirt is longsleeved technical in red (which seems to be the color of this year for race shirts). There was also a 5k and a half-marathon and they had similar shirts but in different colors. Also, the race medals were all similar, I think, but the neck ribbons were different colors. The medal is a combination of a rather basic design with a an image of the Cummins engine stuck on the bottom of it.

Crossing the finish line a day early :-)

Left the expo and walked back to my car. Passed by the "fancy" Italian restaurant and decided to make a reservation for 6 pm. Was gonna go to the microbrewery that was across the street from the expo but it looked a little seedy, so decided to go with upscale Italian. headed over to hotel to check in, then back to restaurant.

Dinner was not bad. I had lasagna and a roasted red pepper soup, and tiramisu for dessert. They didn't have good beer, so I had a glass of red wine. It was all pleasant enough.

Next morning, left hotel around 6:45 to arrive at start by 7, which is what they had recommended at the expo. They let the marathoners park in the Cummins corporate garage, which was right next to the finish line and a couple blocks from the start. Very nice. Can't remember the last time I've parked that close to a marathon finish line.

Garage filled up pretty quick behind me.

Temp at start was a little cool, and I wondered why I never remember to bring more throwaway clothes.  I did have a throwaway long sleeve cotton shirt.

They did not have pace teams in this race but they had people holding pace signs at the start. Did not do much good, though, because these people were apparently not runners and did not know that 7 minute pace is faster than 10 minute pace, etc. They did not take their positions until just before the gun when off, and they took the wrong positions.

Chatted with a local gal who was running her first marathon, and who sounded like she had about the same slow pace goal that I had, which is to say, just to finish.

Wore my regular Soleus chonograph for this one, since we've learned not to rely on the Nike GPS.

The first half or so of the course is very nice. You start out running around The Mill Race park pond (found out that "Mill Race" actually has a meaning that has nothing to do with running), and then there are some pretty areas to run through. But, it was a sunny day and there were some long stretches where we were running right into the sun, which is never good. Encouraged by my results from the previous week, I went out a little too fast. Need to remember to keep it very easy in the first half. Regardless of my splits, if I feel like I'm pushing, then I probably am.

Second half of the race (and especially after the half-marathoners left us around mile 8) were somewhat boring and painful. It's flat, sure, but there is not a lot of shade and there was a bit too much running on concrete for my taste. We ran through a couple of neighborhoods where people were sitting out to cheer for us sort of half-heartedly, and I felt like the aid stations were just a little too far apart on this hot day. So my performance really dropped off in the second half.

I have splits! Because I wore the Soleus! So here's the first half:
1) 10:47
2)11:05
3) 10:56
4) 11:26
5) 10:57
6)11:07
7) 11:26
8) 11:21
9) 11:57
10) 11:07
11) 11:19
12) 11:57
13) 11:59

And right about there is where the wheels came off.

Did have nice chat in first half with another Maniac about Grand Rapids. She said it was her favorite race, talked about how cool the RD is, said she does it every year.

Now, by contrast, here is the second half:
14 & 15) 24:18
16) 12:32
17) 12:43
18) 12:22
19) 13:07
20) 12:44
21) 13:20
22) 14:35
23) 14:14
24) 13:29
25) 14:35
26) 14:45
26.2) 3:02

Bright spots in second half: met a woman from Mason, OH who was also struggling around mile 22. We encountered one guy in the neighborhoods who was serving up ice cold cups of blue Gatorade (with ice). I almost hugged him. This unofficial aid station was the best one of the race.

Somewhere in the second half, I think? I try to look good for my pic.

Then ran into fellow Maniac who first mistook me for someone else, then insisted on running a few steps with me. Local guy. We ran through the airport and he said it was surprised because this was his first marathon running through an airport and I said that I was surprised they had an airport. We were actually right out on the tarmac and little planes were taxiing around. No shade out there, obviously!

A mile or so before the finish I caught up to the woman I had met at the start. She was struggling but in good spirits. She had to make a lot of pit stops. Anyway, she pulled ahead again and finished just before me.

Still smiling!

At the finish line, got my medal but no need for a space blanket. Was surprised that all they had to eat was bananas. Headed to car and grabbed bag and cash and then back to the finish area, because there was a big party going on with food. Oh yeah, and the big gimmick of the race, they were raffling off a big Dodge RAM truck with a Cummins diesel engine that was worth $50k. Everybody who ran the race was entered but you had to be present to win.

The good thing about taking so long to finish the race was it meant less time waiting around to see if I had won the truck.

I bought a pork barbeque sandwich from a stand operated by the people who ran the microbrewery I had not eaten dinner at. Wasn't great so I think I made the right call on dinner. I had hoped they would be serving brew, but instead you had to go with the mass market beer under the tents. I had a Michelob Ultra, which I figure I need for some UnTappd badge maybe. Did not drink a whole lot of it.

Not my choice of beverages

Still had some time to kill so went into old timey ice cream parlor. Lots of people had the same idea. Good thing was I could use their bathroom to change clothes. Had a hot fudge sundae with mint chip ice cream (what else would I have?) and then it was just about time for the drawing so I headed back outside.

I earned this.

It was a festive atmosphere. They had a local band playing. Then they had a bunch of speeches thanking us for coming and talking about Cummins and bragging about how proud they were of the engine on this truck and blah, blah, blah. Finally they drew the name and it was won by a young woman who had run the half. Glad it wasn't somebody who did the 5k! I think they should have limited it to the marathoners and you should have to have finished, not just entered. But at least she ran the half.

Crowd hanging out after the race.

We are all hoping to win the truck!

And then it was time to go home.

My official time was 5:23:12, quite a bit slower than the week before. I was 15 of 21 in the age group and 137 of 257 women. Not sure about overall. These race results websites leave a lot to be desired.

For a first time race, it wasn't terrible. Not my favorite and I'm not planning to return but I've run worse.

Fly Fight Win---US Air Force Marathon

I am returning to try to finish up this report weeks after the actual event. Maybe I have to write real fast and not in complete sentences or it will never get done.

On Saturday, September 21, I ran the first race of my little four race fall marathon challenge. It went pretty well, overall, and I am recovering quickly and not worried about the next one. (Well, as of today I am actually looking forward to # 3 already because I am way behind on these reports). I knew that once I got through the first race I would feel better about things.

I have to admit, I did sort of lose interest in this project once I realized that it was not going to work out for me to do it as a fundraiser. I've kept running all summer because that's what I do, but I pretty much gave up on the training once it was time to get serious about long runs. Also my knee was bothering me so I also gave up on the speed work. I concentrated on just staying healthy and not getting any more decrepit.

As the day of this race approached, I was really regretting my choice of this event. This was due to a combination of factors. I was bummed about missing a lot of other things that I could have done this weekend instead. Like the Hamilton agility trial. Like the Hudy 14k race. I have to do that one next year. But one of the biggest things bothering me was the stuff I was reading on the race's web site and Facebook page about how early they wanted us to arrive to avoid congestion driving in to the Air Force museum site. They were saying you needed to arrive an hour and a half before the race. This did not fit too well with my idea of this race being an easy way for me to get a marathon in without traveling too far from home.

I know, I do tend to want to arrive early for things. So what was I complaining about? Well, you know, if you tell me an hour and a half, then I start thinking maybe I need to be there two hours ahead of time, or three hours. Because I like to be early. So if 90 minutes is recommended, what is someone like me supposed to do? If I had not other info, I probably would have tried to get there an hour before.

Anyway, I was stressing out about it and thinking that even though this race was the closest to home and should have been the easiest logisitically, it was actually shaping up to be the toughest because of these warnings about the need to get there so early, blah, blah, blah.

Since I am now hurrying to write something about this before it disappears from my memory banks, here are a few quick thoughts:

With the lack of training and the focus on the long range (four race) goal, I had an excellent race. I managed to keep the same slow but steady pace the entire way, finished feeling fine, and felt fully recovered within a couple of days.

What's Cool About This Race

The military thing. The course marshals in military uniforms. Running through the Fairport "Fly Zone" and the residential area with the alien theme.

What's Boring

The course itself is kind of boring but you don't mind so much because there are so many people running. If you were all alone out there it would be different.

What Makes It a Good Race

Very well organized. Aid stations where they say they will be and fully stocked. Decent crowd support in sections. Lots of people to run with. Good expo with nice assortment of stuff. While it is not the most scenic or exciting course in the world, it is not bad to run on. A few hills but mostly fairly flat. I would recommend this one highly.

Why I Probably Won't Run It Again

I don't have any particular connection to the Air Force and there are always plenty of other things happening on this particular weekend. It is just a little too far from home to make it an easy choice to do repeatedly for me. I wouldn't rule it out, though. If I had some friend or family member who wanted to do it, I'd go back. If I suddenly developed some connection to the Air Force I'd go back. If it fit into some larger plan, I'd go back.

What I'm Sorry I Missed

The pasta dinner, which I understand is something special. I didn't find out in time and by the time I did, it was sold out. Almost sounds like it would be worth just signing up for the pasta dinner and skipping the race next year.

And here are some more details:

Thursday Afternoon at the Expo

I drove up to the expo on Thursday so I wouldn't have to make that drive (an hour and ten minutes each way) two days in a row. The expo was held at the Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University. Funny that I've been living in this area for like 28 years and I had never been there before. Wright State, I will say from my limited exposure, has a very community college sort of feel about it. Sorry if I am insulting anyone.

Anyway, from all the pre-race hype about crowds and arriving early and on and on, I was surprised that getting in and around the expo was totally no big deal. I could park right in front of the Nutter Center, walk right in (nobody checking our bags for weapons or explosives) and get my stuff.

Just like they do at so many expos, you had to walk by all the vendors before you could get your packet and bib. The vendors were arranged in the lobby running along the outside of the arena. They had a good assortment of all the usual running gear. If you had traveled to this race from out of town and forgot something, you would be able to pick it up here. In my case, this was not an issue. So I was just looking for unique items and great deals. I made a quick tour of the shops and headed down to the arena floor to pick up my packet. Again, no big deal, just had to show ID and pick up your stuff. The race shirt is in a long-sleeved tech fabric and ok looking. I was very excited to see that our packet also included a hat. Unfortunately, the hat was too large for me so I have given it to Tommy.

After I got my packet I went back through the vendors. There were not really any deals to be had. I did pick up a new pair of Snuggbudds because they were there and it would save me from having to order them online and pay shipping. One of the dogs had just ripped apart my favorite pair the day before. I don't wear them when I run outside, just on the treadmill, or when I am out in the backyard playing with the dogs. I don't listen to music with them, either. I listen exclusively to podcasts. I know, I'm weird.

I also stopped at The Boeing Store and bought shirts for me and Tommy. Because how many other races have a Boeing Store?

Getting in the Marathon Mood

Friday night I made Tommy take me to Bella Luna for pasta so I would get more in the marathoning mood. It's not like I particularly need more carbs. It really was more of a psychological thing. I had the lobster & crab ravioli and Tommy had the steak canneloni. We had pumpkin bread pudding for dessert. I even managed to try a new brew that I could log on Untappd.

I got up at 4 am for coffee. Also had some plain yogurt mixed with wheat germ and a banana. It was going to be a long morning. Left the house a little before 5 am in heavy rain. I was glad I had picked up a plastic rain poncho. The temperature was in the 60s but it was supposed to rain pretty much all morning. Great.

I wore my new yellow Marathon Maniacs singlet and fairly new pair of black shorts. Had to go with two belts, one for my race number with the little pouch on the back that holds a car key, and the other one to hold my GUs. I was planning on GU every 3-4 miles depending on where the aid stations were.

The drive up was not bad but as I approached the base, I became glad that I was arriving early. It was already getting fairly congested. I was trying to read the printed directions I had to what looked to be the most convenient parking area, but ended up just following the cars ahead of me. Ended up parked in a grassy field that was quickly filling up with cars. It was still pouring down rain. I sat in the car in the dark for a few minutes. No reason to go out and stand in the rain any longer than I needed to. I was still having those feelings of regret about having selected this race to run, not wanting to be there, just wishing the whole thing was over with.

Time to Stop Whining

I got out of the car for a second and asked a bunch of guys who were parked in front of me how long a walk it was to the start. They were a big vague but said it was maybe a quarter mile. I noticed that one of the guys was a double amputee. At that point I decided it was time to stop whining.

It still seemed a little early to be heading for the start, but everybody parked around me was going, so I did, too. I was a little chilly with just the rain poncho on over my singlet, and was wondering why I didn't think to bring throwaway clothes. I decided to carry my shoes and vasoline up to the start, so I would maybe be able to at least start out with dry feet. I had worn something else for the drive up. I didn't know how far we were going to have to walk in the wet grass.

I saw some flags and tried to remember the number that corresponded to where I was parked.

The walk to the start was closer to a mile than a quarter mile, but we did hit pavement fairly fast. I could have worn my race shoes and left the other ones in the car. Oh well. About halfway to the start we hit the museum, which had some benches outside where I could sit down to put on my shoes.

Even though it was dark and raining, the mood of the crowd was light and positive. It was hard to stay in a bad mood for long. Soon I too was looking forward to what the day would bring.

After what seemed like forever, I arrived at the start area. First thing to do was get on the portapotty line. Hardly any line, plenty of portapotties. Then I went off to check my gear bag. Met up with a fellow Maniac and chatted a bit. Saw some more Maniacs but did not get in a group picture.

The Danger Zone...Or Not

Joined a bunch of other people standing by the Northrup Grumman trailer, which had a video monitor on one side which was showing some sort of homage to the B2 Bomber. Basically, it was that "Danger Zone" theme from Top Gun with footage of the B2 dropping bombs on stuff. The explosions coincided with crescendos in the music. I'm really not that much of a liberal anymore, and I support our military, and as we always say in my family, the military-industrial complex has put food on the table for a long time, but...this film was a little off-putting. And the B2 is a seriously ugly thing, anyway.

The second half of the video was an episode of that show about the guys who make the custom motorcycles, in which they are hired by Northrup Grumman to make a bike that is also an homage to the B2 Bomber. The end result looked to me like a giant kid's cycle with a big plastic hunk of B2 Bomber (again, ugly!) bolted onto the handlebars.

So I stood around and watched this, periodically looking around to see if anybody else felt the same way i did about it, but if anybody did, I couldn't tell from looking at them.

And then it was almost time to go. Funny how fast it is fading from my memory. I tried to line up in the back with the slowest pace group. Somebody sang the Star Spangled Banner. I think it was a creditable job. We started without too much more fanfare, as I recall, and it took me a bit to cross the start line. The rain had stopped, but it was still a bit cool so I kept the rain poncho on for awhile.

Five Hours of Cruising Around

My plan was to just jog at a very comfortable pace, whatever that turned out to be. Oddly enough, I was assisted in this by the fact that my GPS watch died before we were even a half mile into the race. I thought it was fully charged, but apparently not. Oh well, it would just be a good test of my ability to judge my pace. This did not stop me from occasionally looking down at my watch anyway. And every time I would think, duh, fooled me again!

My goal was simply to finish the race under the allotted course time and without sustaining any lasting damage.Since we had seven hours to finish, I wasn't really worried about that part.

The first few miles of the race follow the Loop Road in Area B of the base. Although most of the race has only slight changes in elevation, the second mile seems to be entirely uphill. This did not bother me. Since my watch wasn't working, I instead counted out the seconds to myself as I took my walking breaks each mile. I found that I didn't need the constant feedback from my watch. It was enough that they had clocks at each mile. As a result, I've decided that I am going back to using my old chronograph watch for racing, at least for the longer events. I don't need to know my pace continuously. And I don't need to know the distance, as long as there are mile markers out there on the course. I'm better off just checking on my pace once a mile, which I can do with the chronograph and the mile markers.

I could tell from the clock times that I was holding a steady 11-minute pace.

Okay, even more time has gone by now and I still haven't finished this, so let's go stream of consciousness about what else i can remember, and then I am going to do the same thing to write quickly about the other races. Because it is nuts try to write a book about each of these things. No time for that. It is supposed to be a blog post.

So what I remember is that there are a few hills but nothing too bad, and its not especially scenic but you do run by a lot of green spaces (like a golf course), and some military buildings that probably mean more to people who know the area than they did to me.

One of the most fun parts of the race is just before the half, when you run through the downtown Fairborn area through what they call the "Fly Zone." This is the main place that you see spectators to cheer for you. It's an out and back along the main drag. And the middle of the race contains a fairly long out and back and it was fun to cheer for the other Maniacs and get cheered on myself.

The other fun part of the race was going through a residential area where they had an alien theme to the aid station. People dressed up in alient constumes, signs that said things like "Aliens Crossing here" and "Humans Crossing Here," just a wry little nod to the rumor about the aliens being housed in the infamous hanger at Wright Patt.

As the miles clicked by, I began to realize that I was possibly going to break five hours, which would be a pretty good result considering my lack of training. Somewhere around mile 18 my watch mysteriously turned itself back on---just the clock part, not the GPS---and this helped me as i tried to keep my pace under 12 minutes per mile. Helped my psychologically. They did have a clock at each mile (much appreciated) which was more helpful in controlling my pace, but with the watch working I could look at it and say, okay, maybe a half mile to go until the next mile marker, let's see.

The last few miles retrace our steps from the beginning, and it was nice to run back down that hill from mile 2. There was another fun aid station in here with a "minions" theme from Despicable Me. I guess it was there in the beginning too but I didn't notice it then.

And then we finished back where we started, outside the museum. Don't remember too much about that now but the sun was out. Got my medal and my space blanket, picked up my gear bag (why did I bring all that stuff with me?), thought about going to the beer tent but I didn't see it right away and knew that I was facing that long walk to my car and also I had to drive home, so I skipped the beer.

I found the field where the cars were parked but it took me a bit to figure out where my car was. I had to go back in my head to before the race and try to remember which direction I was walking when I left the car in the dark. Yeah they had those number flags but I now realized that they had multiple sets of flags that were color coded, and I had no idea what color my flag was because I didn't notice that in the dark! Anyway, it didn't take me too long.

I changed out of my wet singlet and sports bra but otherwise did not change because there were too many people around. No problem with traffic exiting the parking lot and an easy drive home.

In the end, my time was 4:59:23. I think I probably ran 11s the first half and 12s in the second, which is pretty even for me. I ws 30 of 90 women in my age group. Not sure about the other placements, but there were 1047 women in the race and 3126 marathoners. About a third of the marathoners were active military, which I think is pretty cool.

I would do this one again if i had a reason but otherwise probably won't, mostly because of the need to get there so early. It is a very well-organized race and I'm glad I did it.

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.