Run for the American Dream 10k

I did this one on Saturday, April 7. It was my third time competing in the race. I ran it four years ago, and again two years ago.

The race is a benefit for an organization called Working in Neighborhoods. The mission of the organization is to "harness the power of neighborhood leadership to build strong communities." What that means, apparently, is promoting home ownership, hence the name of the race---"Run for the American Dream." WIN provides assistance to first time home buyers through education, financial counseling, and downpayment assistance programs.

The race is held in Winton Woods Park, a 2500 acre park on the west side of Cincinnati. The course is composed entirely of a paved walking path. There's a 5k run and separate walk, 10k run, kids fun run, and this year, an Easter Egg Hunt (including an appearance by the Easter Bunny). For the 10k, you repeat the same course twice.

This is a tiny little race with relatively large and generous trophies. They give out big ones for the top three overall men and women in each of the events, plus medals to the age group winners in ten-year categories. Ordinarily I avoid those races with the ten-year splits but this is such a small race, so I make an exception. And the first year I ran it, I won a big trophy for third overall in the 10k. Last time I was slower and just won the age group.

I seemed to recall that they had slightly better than usual food at this one (unfortunately I did not remember correctly or it has changed), and the t-shirt is included in your entry fee.

This race was going to be the kick off for my spring 10k training program, in which I am going to try to get a little faster at that distance. My time in this race tells me where I am starting from.

I wanted to leave the house at 8 am on Saturday morning, but I was running a little late, trying to finish up that second cup of coffee, and when I got in the car, I realized I did not remember how to get to the park. I have not been there very many times, and the last time was for this race two years ago. My new friend, "Siri," was no help in this regard, as she was only able to suggest 11 parking lots near my house when I asked her for directions to Winton Woods Park.

Siri really is good for finding coffee shops and that is about it.

My old friend, "Garmina," had even more trouble than Siri. She got stuck in a loop and could not come up with anything. Maybe she is intimidated by Siri? She needn't be.

So I had to go back in the house and ask Tommy. The directions he gave me did not sound correct. So I went online and found an actual street address for the entrance closest to the race. That was enough for Garmina to get started, although I did have to ignore some of her advice.

By that point it was 8:15, and it's a 20 minute drive. This is a tad bit later than I like to leave for a race.

When I arrived, there was some confusion among the volunteers about where to park. I was directed into the lot across the street from the start/finish area, before realizing that I might be better off looking for a spot closer. So that cost me another five minutes. But I did get one of the last spots in the lot right by the start. I didn't have this year's park pass yet but there was nobody around to buy it from so I decided not to sweat it.

I got my shirt and bib and chip, and by the time I got my number pinned on and my chip attached to my shoe (yes, they have chip timing at this itty bitty race, which seems silly but probably does make it easier for the race director), I did not have enough time for my usual ten minute warmup. And I didn't have enough time to visit the bathroom, either. I had to choose, short warmup or bathroom. I felt okay, so I chose the warmup. Barely had enough time to get a half-mile in, jogging around the parking lot. It would have to do.

The 5k and 10k runs start together, and there's no way to tell from looking at people which race they are doing. It was written in black Sharpie on the front of our bibs but you had to look at someone from the front to see it. There were a couple of women who looked pretty fast. Tall, skinny, young woman. Shorter, athletically built woman in compression socks, also relatively young. Tall, skinny, youngish blonde woman in sunglasses. Little girl, looked to be about 12.

And at the start, there was a relatively fit woman in black just ahead of me.

It took me just a couple of seconds to get over the starting line. I almost ran into the dividers they have sticking up on the path to prevent cars from driving on it, because the people just ahead of me were blocking my view when we started running.

The woman in black was a little bit ahead. I could have run fast enough to keep up with her---if I was only going 5k. I wondered which race she was doing and if maybe she would come back to me.

The race course is a little bit confusing, because you cross the same point multiple times even if you are only doing the 5k. Fortunately they had volunteers at every point where you had to make a choice, so even I did not get lost.

Hit the first mile in 8:03. Maybe a little fast but we were only going 10k so I wasn't too concerned. There was an aid station near the two mile mark so I grabbed a cup of water and walked a few steps. Mile 2 was 8:29. Near the end of the third mile, I could see some of the faster 10k runners coming back towards me on their second lap. I counted at least three women, and I knew there may have been more even faster who passed by before I came through. Mile 3 was an 8:40. I guess I really am that slow, after all.

It was really hard to make that turn back out onto the course again. I did not see the woman in black so I guessed she must have been running the 5k. Mile 4 was an 8:34. Mile 5 was an 8:50 and I skipped the water stop this time. It was kind of empty out there the second time around, and I didn't have anybody to try to race against, so it was hard to keep pushing myself. When we made the little turn around just past mile 5 I didn't see anybody close behind me.

But, I reminded myself that I wanted to run as best as I was capable of running. Mile 6 was an 8:23. I was lapping some of the walkers doing the 5k, but fortunately the path was wide enough so they didn't get in my way. Ran the last .2 in 1:42, for an official time of 52:39.

Right at the finish line there was a volunteer who wanted to cut our shoe tags off. I said okay, but I apologize if I throw up on you. Those two cups of coffee with cream and sugar were not staying down. So I held up my shoe for her to remove the tag while I barfed off to the side. Then I walked over to the grass and barfed some more. People were asking me if I was okay and I just kept trying to indicate that it was not big deal, I (almost) always do this.

The race director came over and asked me for my tear off tag, which apparently they were not doing for everybody, but seemed to me to indicate that maybe I was winning something, so what the heck, I would stick around.

I keep hoping to discover that I really am faster than this but I think I have to face reality! This is all I've got right now. At least I was faster than I ran it in four years ago, and a lot faster than two years ago (which was kind of a low point in my life as a runner).

I didn't think I was getting one of those big trophies like I did four years ago, but I thought I had a good shot at the age group awards, especially after the race director took my tag. I was hoping there would be pancakes, but instead all they had were awful supermarket bagels (not made bearable by the addition of cream cheese), Gatorade and stuffed grape leaves (from Oasis Mediterranian Grill, one of the sponsors). There were lamb and veggie stuffed grape leaves. I tried a lamb one. It was way too salty for me and I had to throw it away.

Anyway, it turned out that the tall woman in black had run the 5k, and she was actually the 5k woman's overall winner. I was just a little amused to realize that based on her time, I probably would have beaten her if I had run the 5k---because if I was only going 5k I would have gone a lot faster per mile. The 2nd and 3rd place women in the 5k (who also got big trophies) ran even slower than my 10k pace.

The more competitive runners were in the 10k. The skinny, fast young woman I remembered from the start won in a time of 39 minutes and change. Second place was the blonde woman in the sunglasses, and third place was the 12 year old girl. I was the sixth place woman (of 17) and first of two in my age group, and I was 26 of 44 runners overall. I was also the second oldest woman there---the other woman in my age group was the oldest.

52:39, I have to keep reminding myself, is still faster than I was at this point a year ago. It's a place from which to start.

ORRRC Marathon, where I fail to qualify for Boston by a very large margin

I picked this race because I thought it would be a good place for me to try to get a Boston qualifier. Somehow I had managed to forget that I have had some really sucky races in Xenia doing the associated half-marathon, so there wasn’t a good reason to expect that the marathon would be any better. I guess I should have thought about it a little more carefully.

Because, I had a really sucky day in Xenia. I am trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. Was I really so badly trained? Was I really still sick? Or is it just a place where I am doomed to run poorly?

For Those of You Who Don't Live Here, a Bit about Xenia

Xenia, a place I go to only when I enter this race, is about an hour's drive north of me. One of its nicknames is "city of hospitality." The website says that Xenia is "rich in traditional values." The main thing Xenia is known for, however, is tornados. The tornado of April 1974 killed 33 people and destroyed about half the town.

The Friday night before the race I was watching the weather report on TV and sure enough it looked like a little bit of a twister was touching down in the area near Xenia. I asked someone during the race why they schedule it for tornado season, and we joked about how it is always tornado season in Xenia.

Wikipedia says that Xenia was known to the Shaunee Indians as "the land of the crazy winds," which wouldn't be so bad if it was at our backs the whole way. Unfortunately, on an out and back course, it doesn't work that way, and the wind was blowing in our faces on the way back.

They used to hold this a bit earlier in the year. I recall the first time I went up there for the half-marathon, I think it was in early March. And it was like 20 degrees and windy. It was horrible. So maybe tornado season is an improvement!

Comedian Dave Chappelle owns several houses in Xenia, and the city is mentioned in a "They Might Be Giants" song. But I think if you played word association with most people around here and you said "Xenia" they would say "tornado." Sorry Xenia!

The other thing Xenia is a little famous for is being the residence of the author of the novel "And Ladies of the Club," which I personally have never read. I found a bed and breakfast that claims to be the setting of the novel. It seems to be really close to the start/finish of the race and looks like it would be a great place to stay if you were coming from out of town for this race. The other place you can stay is a Ramada, that is supposed to be nasty now, but was at one time the start/finish/staging area of the race.

Xenia is close to the town of Yellow Springs, home of Antioch University, which contributes a little bit of funkiness to balance out the traditional values (IMHO). Truly, it is hard to find a place that is more small town, midwest than Xenia (said this Jersey Girl). Unless, maybe, Pawnee, IN.

What’s Good About This Race

There are a lot of good things about this race. Let’s start with the value. It is an amazing value. The pre-registration fee is just $25. This makes it one of the cheapest marathons in the world. It is cheaper than a lot of the 5ks are around here.

From my perspective, the race delivers on a lot of the necessities:

•  Accurate mile markers
• Adequate aid stations, fully stocked with water and Gatorade
• Volunteers to point you in the right direction so you don’t get lost (become more of an issue for me recently!)
• Parking at the start/finish
• Plenty of food at the finish, including a variety of hot soups and cookies
• Showers at the finish
• Scenic course, relatively flat
• It’s just an hour’s drive away for me

What’s Not So Good about this Race

Weather can be unpredictable. Can be windy. Will definitely be windy somewhere along the course. No shade on the road portion. Can get hot if the sun is out.

Hmmm, that may be the only negative thing. But since I have never had a good race here, I probably won’t be trying it again. At least not the full marathon.

If you are a racer who needs a lot of crowd support and people cheering and music playing and other forms of entertainment along the way, well, you won’t get that here. But I don’t need that stuff.

So, I signed up for this months ago and focused my training (to the extent that I ever focus my training) on it. Although I was, as always, a bit short on the long runs, I did more speed work, and I did it more regularly, than I ever have before. I didn’t do as many build-up races as usual, but because my fall races had gone so well, and that was before all the speed work, I was optimistic on this front. And although I didn’t do as many long runs as I was supposed to, I did more than usual. And I felt great after them. And I wasn’t having any particular biomechanical problems, unlike other times.

I figured if I could jog through a 4:36 with no specific training at all, I really shouldn’t have a problem going sub-4:00 with the training I did this time. Right?

Wrong, apparently.

Before the Race

I did a 20 mile run about 3 ½ weeks before the race and it went great. I had not done a training run that long since the last time I qualified for Boston, ten years ago. The week after that long run, I came down with a nasty head cold. I had a lot of nasal congestion and some coughing, but it did not develop into anything worse or get bad enough to make me go to the doctor in search of antibiotics.

I did go down to Louisville with Zen for two days of agility while in the thick of the cold, and I skipped the Heart Mini-Marathon that Sunday because I was still a bit sick. At that point I was a week out from the marathon. I felt recovered enough to do a little running early last week. The congestion and the coughing would clear up while I was running, but I found myself still coughing a bit in the evenings.

By Wednesday, I was feeling good (although still somewhat congested) but I decided to not run the rest of the week and rest my legs. I was not worried about the cold affecting my race. I made a conscious effort to eat less over the past week, so I would not be carrying any extra weight on race day. Basically, I tried not to do my usual mindless snacking between meals, and didn’t let myself have any alcohol or ice cream. If I needed dessert, I had a cup of yogurt or a piece of fruit.

Friday night when Tommy came home from a week out of town and made himself a martini, I could not resist and I had one beer. Saturday night I was going to cook a pasta dinner, but instead we had takeout from a local Italian place and I stuffed myself.

I was a little nervous about the weather. Weather.com was saying 30% chance of showers for the entire morning. I hoped it wouldn’t rain. Temperature-wise it was supposed to be low 50s at the start and climb to the low 60s by afternoon, which sounded okay. It had been in the 80s earlier in the week, so 50s was going to feel great.

Race morning I was up at 5-ish for coffee, yogurt and banana. I left for the start around 6:15. It took me a little over an hour to drive there, because there was some thick fog on the second half of the drive. I got one of the last parking spaces in one of the lots near the YMCA where the race start and finish is set up.

I picked up my shirt and bib, used the bathroom inside the Y (another nice feature of this race), and retreated to my car until it was time to line up.

I was wearing my CW-X capri tights (which I need to think about replacing before they become translucent), a shortsleeved tech top and a hat from Fargo. I also wore my old, shredded (a couple of dogs have munched on it, and I also ripped it on something during a race one time) blue anorak, which is lightweight enough to tie around my waist or that I could even pitch although it seems like I am doomed to have that thing forever. I was still worried about rain and the anorak is handy for that.

I debated over wearing my big fanny pack that holds a water bottle, or a smaller one that just holds my gels. The aid stations were mostly two miles apart, but not always I ended up going with the water bottle, because there were some spots in the middle of the race where the aid stations were more like three miles apart and that is too far for me to go without water in a marathon.

The Race

My goal was a 3:59, which would give me a Boston qualifier for the 50-54 age group, which I intended to use next April. I have run faster than that, but it was ten years ago. Since this was an ambitious goal, I decided that I would be happy with a time under 4:15, which would still show improvement over recent years, and would give me hope that I could get my time down under 4:10 this fall. A 4:10 run after September 25 will give me a qualifier for Boston that I can use in 2014.

Oh yeah, and I might not actually run Boston even if I do qualify. What I really want to do is run a marathon in Gansett, Rhode Island, on the Saturday before the Boston Marathon. That race uses the same qualification standards as Boston, and it is in a state where I haven’t run a marathon yet. It is also more exclusive than Boston, because the only way to run it is to qualify, whereas Boston lets in some charity runners, foreign tourists, and celebrities. The other problem with Boston now is that even if you qualify, you might not get in because more people qualify and apply to run it than the race will accept. Paradoxically, it is now both easier and harder to get in to Boston. So, I’ll use the qualifier for Gansett, but I might possibly do Boston as well if I can get in.

For a goal of 3:59, you have to average 9:06 per mile. The ideal is to run a little slower in the first half and faster in the second (the elusive “negative split”) but that hardly ever happens. Most of the time, I find myself slowing down in the second half of a marathon, even on a good day. But I was going to try to just keep it around 9 minute pace, and hopefully a little below for some of the flatter miles.

They used chip timing for this race, so even though it wasn’t a big field (1100 runners in the half and the full, combined), I didn’t have to stress out too much about my starting line position. It did take me maybe 30 seconds to get over the start line, and every second was going to count if I wanted to qualify.

The first two miles is a loop around downtown Xenia that brings you back by the start line, before you head out on the country roads and bike trail. My watch said 8:50 at the first mile marker, and that was encouraging. I felt good. I really thought I could hold that pace for 25 more miles. I took off the anorak.

The second mile was a 9:08, and that was okay because it included a short walk break while I took some water from my bottle, and removed the anorak. It was overcast and very humid. The fanny pack felt kind of heavy around my waist, and the anorak didn’t help, either. I had a little water at the aid station.

It was uphill to mile three. My watch said 9:52. I told myself it was the hill, or maybe the marker was in the wrong place. It was now quite humid and warmer than I had expected. I was glad I had the water bottle with me because I was thirsty, even if it was weighing me down a little. I had my first GU with the water.

In the fourth mile, we turned on to the bike trail and the course flattened out. I missed the 4 mile marker, but miles 4 and 5 were an 18:29, not too far off the 9:06 pace. I missed the mile marker for 6 as well, but 6 and 7 were an 18:35, again, not horrible. I had another gel and water somewhere in between at approximately mile 6. That sub-4:00 was slipping away but I didn’t feel too bad and I resolved to just take it a mile at a time and do my best.

Mile 8 was a 9:10. Better. Mile 9 was a 9:27. Now we headed out on the country road, and the sun came out, and I started to struggle. I had another GU and some water. And it sucks to start to struggle this early in a race. I felt overdressed, and wished I was not wearing black. At least my hat was white. I chatted with a guy who lived in the area who advised me of the hill coming up ahead. Uphill in the sun. Great. It wasn’t that steep of a hill but it was quite long. Mile ten was a 9:48. This is when I knew for sure that it just wasn’t my day.

I ran a little with a woman who was doing her first marathon. Her goal was just to finish and hopefully be under 4:40 or even 4:30. I told her she looked strong and she would make it. She was one of those tall, skinny people who doesn’t seem to sweat much. She pulled ahead of me.

And at this point I guess I got a little demoralized, not even able to keep up with someone whose goal was so much more modest than my own. Mile 11 was 10:42. Mile 12 was 10:19. Mile 13 was 10:39, mile 14 was 11:16. I wanted to drop out. I was getting in a bad mood and thinking about how there was no reason for me to be doing this race if I wasn't going to qualify for Boston.

Around mile 14.5 we turned back onto the bike trail. Mile 15 was 10:59. At some point in here I passed the tall, skinny lady, and I told her she still looked strong and she would make it. I had some brief conversations with other Maniacs. Most of them passed me. One guy who passed me told me that he had run a marathon in NJ the day before, then drove nine hours (he must have been speeding and did not stop at all along the way!) to get to Xenia. And he was running faster today. He was very proud of himself. Good for him, but I'm not sure he needed to share his tale of wonder with poor me.

Did have a lot more conversations with folks than usual during this race, maybe because the race organizers discourage the wearing of earbuds, so people were bored and needing something else to do besides just plodding ahead.

I continued with the gels every three miles, until late in the race when it was just too much trouble to deal with them so I switched to Gatorade at every water stop. Going so slow, I was actually a little worried about being over-hydrated!

Mile 16 was 9:54. I missed the mile 17 marker but 17-18 was 20:22. I thought things were looking up until I got to mile 19, which was 11:08. I just wanted it to be over!

Another guy who passed me decided he had to tell me all about how great he felt and how he was going to finish even faster than last year and he was going to pick it up and even break 4:30. Well la-dee-dah, hooray for him, I thought.

Mile 20 was 10:50, mile 21 was 11:30, mile 22 was 11:47 (things were really getting rough), mile 23 was 11:53, mile 24 was 11:54. I could not believe that after all that training I was barely going to be any faster than I was last summer/fall with almost no training. What, then, is the point of training? I don't know. I also ask myself this question every time Zen jumps off the top of the a-frame at an agility trial, but I digress.

Mile 25 was 11:40. Near the 26 mile mark we turned off the bike trail onto the street. There were volunteers blocking the bike trail, and it is a good thing they were there or I would have missed the turn (indicated my orange arrows painted on the grass).

I made the turn at the same time as another woman whom I had not noticed until that point. She turned to me and said what I had been thinking for a few hours---"this really sucks!" I said, "yeah, this totally sucks!" It was so nice to meet someone who was expressing exactly what I was feeling at that point instead of all the silly cheeriness about what a beautiful day it was to run, and how awesome it was that we could all be out there doing this race even if we were slow and all that kind of crap.

She said what sucked even more was that the next day she was going to have to get on a plane to California, and I agreed with her that totally sucked. Mile 26 was a 10:55.

At this point ordinarily I would have kicked ahead of this woman because, hey, we were still racing, after all. But she looked younger than I am (she was) and I just didn't care anymore so I let her beat me. Okay, well, I did try to pick it up a little but she did the same thing, and she crossed the line just ahead of me.

After the Race

I got my medal---surprisingly nice one---and walked to the car to get my gear bag (which seemed incredibly heavy), then headed into the Y for some soup. I decided to eat first and then change in case they were running out. There was a choice of chili, broccoli with cheese, and chicken noodle. I went for the chicken noodle. I also grabbed a couple of chocolate chip cookies that appeared to be homemade. I headed for a spot at one of the tables, but I was afraid to sit down (because I might not be able to get up again) so I mostly kind of hovered. I ate the cookies first because that was more what I was in the mood for. But the soup was just the perfect thing.

While I was eating, the tall, skinny woman came up to me and thanked me for supporting her during the race. She said that she had achieved her goal, and that our brief encounter during the race really helped her.

There are some days---most days---when I feel like my entire purpose on this earth is to make other people feel better about themselves. Maybe that's why I was really there doing this race, after all. Like all those people who passed me, I was there just so they could have someone to pass.

I told her she was still looking good. Because she was. She didn't even look like she was sweating.

I, OTOH, was quite a mess. I finished my soup and headed off to the locker room. I decided to wait until I got home for my shower, so I just changed into dry clothes and flip flops and headed out. I was pretty happy when I took my shoes and socks off to see that my feet didn't have any blisters. I was a little worried about how I would extricate myself from the car when I got home, but I called Tommy and told him that he might need to come out and help me. It felt really wonderful to sit down in the car!

Final results showed my time to be 4:31:17. I was 2 of 4 in my age group (which means, apparently, at some point an award will be arriving in the mail, since they gave them out to the top 3 in the age group) and 169 of 246 marathoners overall. The woman who won the age group finished in 3:49, closer to where I had hoped I would be. Third place, I believe, was tall, skinny lady with a 4:38.

With a couple of weeks perspective on this, I am going to blame it on the cold/flu/whatever that was I had. I don't know if I could have gone sub-4:00 otherwise, but I think it took more out of me than I suspected.

The Last Few Days

Going to try to write a little more just about the everyday stuff.

Have recovered quickly from the marathon. Was a little sore last Monday, too busy Tuesday, but able to get out for a little three miler Wednesday. Busy on Thursday, but ran again Friday and Saturday, and then did a six miler on Sunday, which went pretty well.

Today, I did another three miler, along the route where I run down Erie Ave., take a little detour around the Broadview neighborhood, and then back up Erie and finish with a little loop of my neighborhood. Its probably closer to three and a half miles. It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the low 60s. I ran into one of my neighbors, Peggy, and her dog, Quinn. He is a very handsome Golden Retriever. I never get to say hi to Quinn usually when I see them because I have the dogs with me, so today I took the opportunity to give him some pats and kisses. Peggy's former dog, Ceres, was a great friend of our girl, Libby. We chatted a little about how much we miss them. We love our current dogs but there is no replacing Ceres and Libby.

After my disappointing performance last weekend, it is time to regroup and come up with a new plan. So, the plan is that I will try again to qualify for Boston at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in the fall. I picked that one because I know it is a good race and a nice flat course, and not too far away. Also, all the race hotels for Columbus are already booked, but I could still get a room within a quarter mile of the start/finish in Indianapolis. And, it is a month after Susan's wedding, whereas Columbus is just a week or two after. So Indy is probably better.

I won't start training until early July, so in the meantime my goal is to do some 10k training program, and apply it to trying to better my time at the Hyde Park Blast, which is a four mile race but that shouldn't matter so much.

I'm going to run a 10k this weekend, the Run for the American Dream, which should give me a baseline for my training paces going forward.

Things I Am Telling Myself

 The things I am telling myself in the week before the marathon:

1) It is not unusual for me to catch a cold a week or two before a race. I had a cold two weeks before my first marathon and two weeks before my best marathon.

2) I did an 18 miler and a 20 miler. I haven't run that far in training since my best marathon.

3) The weather is unseasonably warm this week but it will be great on race day.

4) I run better in the heat, anyway.

5) I have never completed so many quality sessions. Not ever. Not nearly.

6) I am not having any foot problems. I love my shoes.

7) If I don't make it this time, I will have another opportunity this fall. Plus I will be able to run ten minutes slower in the fall, because I will be moving into a new age group where Boston & Gansett are concerned. So there's no pressure. I do better when there's no pressure. So it helps me a lot to know that.

I'm feeling pretty optimistic, despite the fact that I skipped that tune up race last weekend because I thought I was catching a cold, and then I skipped the Heart Mini yesterday because I actually have a cold. Instead, I slept in because my body needed that more. Then I went for a little run in the afternoon. Was going to do as much as ten miles, but stopped after five. Five felt pretty good, and I didn't want to push it while I am still recovering from the cold.

Food on the Run 10k (or another race with no food)

This is about the Food on the Run 10k, which I ran on Saturday, March 3.

I entered this race as a test to see if all the effort I have been putting into my training over the past four months will have the intended effect of making me faster. On that score, it was a disappointment. It was a decent workout and a solid effort and not a total disaster, but it wasn’t nearly as fast as I had in mind. Realistically, this probably means that I have to scale back my goal of qualifying for Boston at the upcoming ORRRC Marathon. And that completely bums me out, because the whole point of doing the ORRRC Marathon instead of some destination race in some interesting location was to maximize my chances of qualifying for Boston. I guess I’m still going to give it a shot, but things are not looking good right now.

Ok, about the race. It is an event put on by The Nutrition Council, a non-profit organization in Cincinnati whose mission is to advance child health through nutrition education. I had done this race once before with my daughter, a couple of years ago. At that time, the race course was at the Lunken bike trail, but now it is in downtown Cincinnati. This year was the 11th annual race. There is both a 5k and 10k. They give awards to the age group winners, but not any deeper, which is a bummer for obsessive age groupers like me.

My goal (and honestly, my absolute assumption about how I would do) was to be significantly faster than at my last 10k race, which was back in December. I ran 51:23 at that one. And I wanted to be closer to 50 minutes. Seriously, I wanted to break 50 minutes. I pulled out my old training logs and saw that my 10k PR was 48:55---shortly before the last time I qualified for Boston. I really thought that I might even have a shot at that. I’ve been training so hard. Hard for me, that is. Might not be what most people consider hard. But I’ve been doing consistently more than I have in a long, long time. I definitely expected that I would be at least a bit faster than I was in December.

I knew this course had some hills along the way, and the course in the December race was flat. But still, after all the training, I thought I would be faster.

The race starts and finishes at Sawyer Point in downtown Cincinnati. A quick look at the hand drawn map posted on the web site told me that the start would be uphill (away from downtown), then downhill coming back, and then what I thought was a flat out and back along the river.

But, I’m not very good at reading maps.

This was not a topographical map (just as well, because I really suck at interpreting those!), but, in fairness to myself, let’s admit that I didn’t look at it that closely.

Unnecessary Stress
After two cups of coffee, I drove downtown around 8 am for the 9 am start. Was stressed about the parking situation, which was unnecessary as there was plenty of free parking in the lot right next to the park. Lots of signs saying unauthorized vehicles would be towed but everybody was parking there and I didn’t see any tow trucks, so I assumed it was okay. I do think the race organizers could have put some info on their flyer about where to park, however, for those of us who don’t go down to that area very often.

I had a vague memory from my previous experience with this race that there was some sort of hot soup at the finish. And they were promising us that there would be plenty of good food. So I did not toss anything in my bag. Brought a water bottle but that was it. When will I ever learn? My idea of post-race food is just not the same as most of the people who put on these races. I should have brought along a Picky Bar or something.

It was a cool morning, and chillier down by the river. The sky was overcast and there was a fair amount of wind. Not my ideal race conditions. I wore my CW-X capri tights, my warmest technical top, my light-blue hat from the Lady Distance Classic, and my nicest, most expensive running gloves. I should have worn a pair of cheap, throw away gloves but I think I was just doomed to make bad decisions at this race. I didn’t have any pockets, so I wore a small fanny pack around my waist to hold my car key.

Trying Not to Make a Scene
I went to the registration to pick up my number and found out that they did not have a record of me ordering a shirt. I wasn’t 100 percent sure about it but I thought that I had ordered a shirt. After some consultation with the race director, they were going to give me one anyway. But since I couldn’t really remember, and I didn’t have my confirmation email with me, and the shirt was ugly anyway and not something I needed, I told them not to bother. I was glad later that I did not take the shirt because it turns out that I didn’t order one after all. I don’t usually order them anymore unless it is a really special race or a nice technical shirt, but for some reason I thought I had, or that it was included if you registered by a certain date.

I went for a warmup jog along the river. It took me awhile to get comfortable, and I felt some tightness in my right glute. Both my knees had been twingey while I walked to the registration table, but I chalked that up to nerves.

I heard Don Connolly telling people to line up behind the start line. I tried not to get too far back. There seemed to be a lot of people running who were part of the training groups sponsored by the Running Spot. They had special pace teams and everything. For a 5k and a 10k. Really? They need pace teams? I thought about how this is probably why I would not make a good coach for their new “Sit to Fit” program. Because I think if you want to run you should just go out and do it, and if you don’t want to run, well, then go do something else. The concept of needing someone to teach you how to run a 5k is a little weird to me.

So all these people were kind of happily bustling about in their little groups, and I was standing there by myself, same as always. Still, I’ll admit I did take advantage of the signs to position myself right in between the 8:00 and the 8:30 groups.

The race began, and although it took me a few seconds to cross the start line, it seemed like I was in the right spot, with a bunch of other people all running about my pace. We ran away from the river, up Eggleston Ave., and then all of a sudden I realized that we were on Gilbert Ave. (a big hill) and it appeared that we were going to be running all the way up the hill. WTF? I did not catch that part when I looked at the map.

I just took another look at that map and it is quite clear about where we were going. I guess I just see what I want to see sometimes!

So we ran up the hill. Hit the first mile marker in 8:36. I had expected to be a bunch faster, but I had not expected the first mile to be entirely uphill. The turnaround point was not until Eden Park Drive, where they had a water stop, so I picked up a cup. Hit mile two in 8:46, but a good portion of this mile was uphill as well, and I lost a few seconds grabbing and drinking that cup of water. I now realized, however, that my time goal was way out of reach. I didn’t feel that bad. But this was just all I apparently had in me for a 10k. So I tried to just think of it as a good, hard workout.

We came back to the park, where the 5k runners were to peel off toward the finish line. Typically in these type of events there are more people running the 5k than the 10k. I don’t know what is up with this, but I guess those Running Spot training groups are really having a big effect on people, because almost nobody who was right in front of me (and it was a huge pack of people at that point) was going to the 5k finish line. Bummer. I didn’t even think I was going to get a decent age group placement at that point.

I tucked my running gloves into the waist band of my fanny pack.

Mile 3 was an 8:20. That one was mostly downhill, but it was still nice to see a little faster number on my watch. It still wasn’t as fast as the goal pace I had assumed I would easily accomplish!

The rest of the race course made a narrow loop northeast along the river and back for a mile or so, and then another mile out-and-back to the southwest. Mile 4 was an 8:32, mile 5 was an 8:28. Somewhere in here I lost one of my expensive running gloves. Why is it that when I wear the cheapo gloves I can never lose them (same thing for my old chewed up nylon anorak that isn’t even nice enough for a bag lady to wear) but when I wear something nice, it disappears?

Around this point I fell in with the 8:30 pace group, as I was, in fact, on 8:30 pace. The leader of the group was telling the others how after the race she was headed to Arnold’s for Bockfest. Seemed a little early in the day to me for beer. And it irritated me how she could chat so cavalierly while the rest of us huffed and puffed along, but I guess that is why she was the leader of the pace team. She could probably run 8:30 pace backwards. I decided that I hated her.

I am an idiot
Mile 6 was another 8:20. At this point, I decided to ditch the pace team and take off in my finishing kick, which should have ordinarily have gotten me across the line in another 1:35 or so. But somehow, I missed the left turn to the finish line---just totally missed it---and ended up back on the earlier section of the course.

What a rookie mistake! And here I was, making fun of the training groups and their little pace teams. Serves me right. When I figured out what had happened, I stopped for a few seconds and considered just walking back to the car. And then I decided that I really should finish the race, after all. My time was going to be so much slower than I expected anyway, what difference did it make? So I jogged back on to the course and picked it up a little toward the finish line.

My mistake cost me about 1:30 or so, because what normally would take 1:35 took over 3 minutes.

I decided to jog back along the race course to see if I could find my glove. After a couple of minutes, I gave up and headed back to the finish area. Now, of course, it was jampacked with people and there was a long line for the “food.” I am putting that in quotes because it was a rather paltry buffet.

They had a big video display set up where you could view the finish times on a scrolling list, but every time I got close enough to the display to see it, it was scrolling through some category far from mine, and I did not have the patience to stare at it long enough to see how I had done. They said that if you won an award, you could pick it up at the announcer’s table, but I didn’t want to go up there and then find out that I hadn’t won anything. That is always embarrassing.

No Food for the Hungry
I fought my way to the front of a crowd and got a cup of water. I got on line to see if I could get some food. There appeared to be a lot of non-runners on the line. Like the guy right in front of me, who was wearing blue jeans. The line moved very slowly. I should have just gone home but I really wanted something to nibble on and I didn’t have anything in the car. Finally I got up there, and all they had were Panera bagels (not my favorite), orange slices, and some spicy soup from Qdoba. They didn’t even have any bananas, or at least, I didn’t see any. It was ridiculous.

So I grabbed half a cinnamon bagel. I took a cup of the tortilla soup but wound up dumping it. Big disappointment on the food. When will I learn? Just because the race is supposed to be about food and is named “Food on the Run” and they promise there will be food at the finish, it doesn’t mean there will actually be food. Because apparently my idea of what constitutes “food” is very different from the average runner. You know what would really be surprising at one of these events? If they actually had some food!

Later in the afternoon, I looked up the race results online and it turns out that even if I had run the time I had hoped for, I would not have finished much higher in the race results than I did. My slow time and my little off-course mishap may have cost me a spot in the quarterly rankings, but if I couldn’t go any faster than that I don’t really deserve to be ranked, anyway. Still, I’m glad I decided to jump back in and finish. I was 4 of 45 in the age group, and 251 of 942 runners overall.

Looking at last year’s results, I thought I had a shot at the age group win if I had run as well as I expected. But it does seem that relatively soft times one year do bring out the fast age groupers the following year. And so it was that the woman who won my age group this year is one of the fastest woman in the state in our age group. Can’t expect to compete with that!

Reindeer Romp

This is about the race I ran back on December 10. I started to write about it, and then got lazy, so I finally pulled it out and finished it today.


The Reindeer Romp in Crosby Township is a benefit for Crosby Kringle Chest (toys for kids). There is a 5k and a 10k. I did the 5k for the first time two years ago with Ed. Eddy has not been training with me lately, and he is suffering from some irritation between his toes that seems to happen every year around this time, so this year he was staying home.

I decided to go for the 10k in order to get a longer run in this weekend. I was supposed to run 10 miles, but with my warm-up jog this ends up being just a little over seven. Falling behind on the long runs already, just two weeks into marathon training. Oh well.

I had a choice this weekend of running the Jingle Bell 5k downtown or the Reindeer Romp. Usually they are on different weekends. Jingle Bell is one of those big, fundraiser events. Although it is for a cause I support (Arthritis Foundation) and on the same course where I set my 5k PR, the Reindeer Romp is more of the kind of race that I love: small, but very well-organized. And the race shirt is a tech top and there’s a pancake breakfast at the end.

Contrast this with Jingle Bell, where you have to pay to park in the lot across the street, you get the same old white cotton shirt with the same design on it that they use for all the other races around the country (and even repeat from year to year), and all you get at the end are the usual bagels and bananas. And you have to fight your way through the crowds.

It’s been in the low 30s for the past few days, and I forced myself to get out and run in it even when I might normally have run on the treadmill, because I wanted to try to get used to the cold. As if that were really possible.

Of course, it was even colder this morning (about 20 degrees when I left for the race). Crosby Township is west of here, about 30 miles and a 40 minute drive. I was wondering why I thought this would be fun.

Sun was rising by the time I arrived at the start. Parked in the grassy field next to the Senior Center. Packet pickup was in a tent outside the building. Got my shirt and ticket for the door prize. The shirt this year is a long sleeved technical top in a lime green, and I think this is like the 3rd lime green shirt I’ve gotten at a race this year. I throw the shirt in the car, then head inside the senior center to hit the restroom and hang out where it is warm with other people who are making fun of the shirt.

I see some other people who are going to be running with their dogs, and I wonder if Eddy and I started a trend two years ago when he was the only dog.

We head outside, and walk across a frosty field to start in the street. It’s cold, but clear and sunny and really quite pretty out. There are a couple of people dressed in costumes (there is a costume competition, with prizes), including a guy dressed in a deer suit. Or maybe he is a reindeer? But not Rudolph, because he lacks the red nose. Anyway, few enough people that everybody gets a prize. The race director has them come up to the front and does the judging before the race begins.

The race director advises us that there is some ice on the path beneath the underpasses along the 10k portion of the route, so I know to watch out for it.

And then we’re off, running through the quiet, country roads of Crosby Township. This part is familiar to me from the 5k.

My goal is to try to get as close to 50 minutes as I can, although I know that something like 52 is more realistic. That’s about 8:00 pace. First mile is 7:56. So far, so good.

I become aware of a woman with frizzy hair who might be in my age group (it is hard to say for sure because we are all so bundled up) running nearby. Somebody to race with. Wonder if she is doing the 5k or the 10k.

At about 1 ½ miles in, we hit the bike trail, where there is a water stop, so I have a cup. I am remembering how when I stopped at this point to have a drink while running with Eddy, he got so pissed at me. He just wanted to go!

Mile 2 is 8:33, because I slowed down at the water stop. I have pulled ahead of the woman with the frizzy hair, however. I can hear her footsteps behind me, and I am kind of hoping that she will be making the 5k turn off.

Mile 3 is 8:03. Frizzy Hair has caught up to me. It appears she is also running the 10k. We run side-by-side on the bike path for a bit.

Finally, she speaks. She says that we should see the lead women coming back towards us soon.

Since she has spoken first, I ask her how old she is. She is 38. I say, okay, you can go then! She is much younger than I am.

Frizzy Hair tells me that last year she ran this in 48 something, and won her age group but she is not in as good shape this year. I tell her I just want to get close to 50. She says we’re on track for that but I don’t agree. We chat a little bit more about racing. We do see the two lead women coming back towards us. It does not occur to me that this means that I am in the top 5 women. It’s such a little race, anyway.

Mile 4 is 8:24. No more talking because it is slowing us down. Frizzy Hair takes off. I slow down to avoid the ice beneath the underpasses. Mile 5 is 8:32, but that is the best I can do. Anyway, no other women are passing me, and I don’t really care about Frizzy Hair because she is so much younger.

Mile 6 is 8:22. Now we’re in the last stretch coming up the road towards the senior center. I catch up to Frizzy Hair. There is another runner who appears to be a teenage boy in a black hoodie, and I am about to tell Frizzy Hair that we can take this kid when Frizzy Hair finds another gear and takes off. I can’t catch her, but I decide to dig deep and beat Black Hoodie. Cross the finish line just ahead of Black Hoodie, who turns out to be a woman after all so it’s good that I pushed myself. I tell Frizzy Hair that she ran a good race, but she doesn’t seem to hear me (she is wearing earbuds) or else she is ignoring me now because I insulted her by implying that she might be in my age group, when in fact she is 14 years younger than I am.

Inside, I change into dry clothes and get some pancakes. They don’t have real butter, or real maple syrup, but still the pancakes taste very good and satisfying. I sit down at a table with strangers and wait for the awards. Frizzy Hair is sitting at another table, chatting with people who appear to be her friends.

In the end, I do finish first (out of eight) in my age group. Was fourth woman of 46, and 25th of 83 runners overall. Final time was 51:23, so not very close to 50 minutes, but in line with what I could reasonable expect. Did not win a door prize, but was happy to get my little award medallion, which I wore around my neck for the drive home. I like that it has the name of the race and the year on it, instead of the generic medals they give out at some of the smaller races. It is that kind of attention to detail that makes the Reindeer Romp special.

10 mile long run on Christmas Eve

Going to try to post more just about the everyday things. This afternoon I did a 10-miler. I missed the long runs the last two weekends so I really needed to get out there and do at least ten. Once again, my plans to run a BQ marathon are in danger of being derailed by my inability to get the long runs done. Was supposed to be 10 two weeks ago, then 11 last weekend and 12 this time. But at least I did ten.

Temp was 38 degrees when I headed out around 12:15. The weather folks have predicted a high of 42 or so today, with sunshine and a little bit of wind. I wore a pair of black tights, not too heavy, and the technical shirt from this year's S2S race. Delaware Marathon cap on my head. Light blue running gloves, not too heavy. Fanny pack with 20 oz water bottle and package of Chomps. Was going to add a jacket but it was not that cold.

It was okay as long as the wind wasn't blowing and I was in the sun.

I ran the route that I call "Three Loops." This is kind of a lop-sided cloverleaf, with each loop a little shorter than the previous run. You are never more than 2.5 miles from home, if you decide to bail out or cut it short. It has plenty of hills but none of them are exceptionally steep. You get to stop at Graeters to refill your water bottle after 6 miles or so. The bad part about this route is that you mostly have to run on the sidewalk. The other bad part, as some would see it, is that you are retracing your steps a bunch. I am running on opposite sides of the street, though, so to me that is variety enough.

Lots of folks out walking this afternoon. Maybe they are visiting family for the holidays and just needed to get out of the house. Not too much traffic. A few other runners, though not as much as some weekends.

Big thing I learned today was that Chomps get kind of hard in 40 degree-weather. Guess I have never used them on a cool day. After the first time, I tried putting the packet inside my glove for a mile or so before I ate them to see if I could soften them up with my body heat. It helped a little but not that much. I guess I am going to have to stick with GU for the colder weather runs.

It was great, though, to be able to get outside and not have to be stuck on the treadmill like last winter.

Gotta figure out how I am going to get the long run done next week. Might have to do it Thursday.

Tramps Like Us, 2011

A few recollections about the Born to Run 5-Mile race that I do with members of my family every year on the day after Thanksgiving:

This year my sister actually even signed up in advance so she could be sure to get the special Born to Run shirt, which for every other time we have done this race was a sweatshirt.

So we were all pretty bummed when we got there and it turned out that this time it was a technical, short sleeved tee. I guess that is the in-thing now but I am actually getting pretty tired of them and would have much preferred the sweatshirt, or even a cotton long-sleeved t-shirt.

Another change this year was that instead of gathering at the Freehold fire station for packet pickup and the little mini-expo with all the great deals, they had the pickup outside in front of the Court Jester restaurant. And there was no mini-expo. Just a table set up selling Freehold Area Running Club items. Cathy was extra bummed about this because she was hoping to find some gloves for Ted.

We did have very nice weather this year, though. Not too cold, not too hot.

Before we started our trip to NJ, I spent a few minutes reviewing my old running logs for insights into what went right and what went wrong for me in previous attempts at this race. The big thing is that I had frequently made the mistake of overdressing for it. The race starts at 11 am, so even in a relatively cold year, it usually isn’t too bad.

Except, that first year. That was a cold one, as I recall. Somewhere I have a picture of us all bundled up in our warmest winter running attire, standing in front of the old hotel where they used to have the packet pickup. We were there with Jim Ahrens, a friend from my online running club, who lived in the area. Jim passed away the following year, victim of a sudden, massive heart attack. Running does not protect you from that, much. When your number is up, it’s up.

Anyway, I have learned to dress in lighter clothes if I plan to run “fast.” And not eat too much that morning, which has been another one of my mistakes.

Unlike in the past few races, I had a big, stretch goal for this year. I wanted to run under 40 minutes and place in the top three in my age group. I’ve broken 40 there before (in the 38s actually) but that was ten years ago. I’ve never placed in my age group. I figured that it would likely take a sub-40 to do it. Realistically, I thought I was in more like 42 minute shape. That’s why the sub-40 was a stretch goal. 42 was the realistic goal.

So we got down there about an hour before the race start, and after a bit of confusion figured out where the packet pickup had moved from the firehouse, and we even found a parking space on the street. We pinned our numbers on and attached the D-chips to our shoes. Tommy and our nephew, Michael, were planning to run. Cathy and our niece, Tori, were going to walk part of the course but not do the whole thing.

I hit the portapotty and went for a warm-up jog, and soon it was time to gather near the start line.

This year I tried to line up a little closer to the start than in the recent past. It is a USATF-certified race, and awards are given by gun time, not chip time. Should have gotten a bit closer, because it took me 16 seconds to cross the line.

It is a pleasant, mostly residential course. You run a mile and a half or so down to a park, then you run a loop on the wood chip trails in the park, and then you basically retrace your steps back to the start (which means the last bit is mostly uphill). Past experience told me that my second mile should be the fastest.

Okay, mile one was a 7:53. I only needed to average sub 8s to achieve my goal, but I was hoping to be a little quicker from the start. Oh well. Mile two was a 7:50. Consistent, but again I really hoped to be a bit faster, especially since this was likely to be my quickest mile.

Now we were into the park. I became aware of a woman in a teal-colored jacket, who looked to be around my age. I pulled ahead of her, then she pulled ahead of me, and I decided to just hang right behind her and draft off her. If that’s how you want to play it, if you won’t stay passed, then I am going to draft off you for awhile.

Did not hit my watch for the mile 3 time, but miles 3 and 4 were 17:09. Well, there goes the sub-40.

There are two significant uphills in the second half of the race. I let teal woman pull farther ahead. I always slow down a bit on the uphills. I was not having a bad race. Yeah, I wanted to be a little faster but this was okay. I saw Cathy and Tori when I turned the corner in the last mile and it was fun to have people cheer for me.

Coming up the slight incline toward the finish, I realized I was not too far behind teal woman, and decided to kick past her. My last mile was a 7:53, for a chip time of 40:45.

After she crossed the finish line, teal woman surprised me by asking me what age group I was in. She was bummed to hear that we were the same age. I was pleased to find out that somebody else cared about how she raced besides me. It is always nice to learn that you are not the only one who cares. And I was happy that I kicked past someone who was in my age group instead of just letting her go.

In the end it didn’t matter much, because I was 5 of 50 in the age group (52 of 326 women, and 193 of 691 overall). Yes, would have needed that sub-40. I did find out, however, that all the other women in the top ten or so in my age group had gone off from right behind the start line. This meant that I actually passed a few of them along the way even though they had a 16-second head start. It also means that next year I have to start closer to the front if I really want to have a chance at placing. And I do have to get a little faster, because the top three women were still more than 16 seconds faster than I was.

Mt. Airy Forest 27k

This is my very late report (getting to be a pattern) about the trail race I ran back in October. I really suck at trail running but I do enjoy it. I am trying to get better, and I am a little better than I was a year ago, but I still suck compared to just about everybody else who shows up for these races.

The 27k race was in its second year, sharing the course with the Stone Steps 50k event. This was the final event in the Dirt Days Trail Series.

The race is in Mt. Airy Forest. You start with a “long” loop that is about 5.6 miles, come through the “oval” (shelter area) and make another “short” loop that is somewhat over 3 miles. Then you go back through the oval and repeat. Overall it’s not that hilly (except for those stone steps and that Gummi Bear Hill, haha) and it’s not that technical (except for the technical parts…).

Mt. Airy is a nice park in which to hold a trail race. There is plenty of parking around the oval and on the access road into the park. The shelter in the oval has electricity, so they can plug in crockpots with hot soup and chili, and serve coffee and hot chocolate. The oval is also a good place for spectators to hang out, because they can see the runners as they come through at the end of each loop.

I seem to be good for about 5-6 miles of trail racing and then the wheels come off. Last year I really fell apart in the second half and finished in second to last place. I was having a lot of trouble with my feet, and I even changed one of my shoes for the second half (so I was running in two different shoes).

This year I was in a little better shape, so I was hoping to improve somewhat. Just like last year, I did run a marathon the weekend before. But, all things considered, I was still starting out stronger than in 2010.

The weather was pleasant. It was cooler than last year but sunny and dry. It had rained a little the day before but not enough to affect the trails. Co-race director Andy Jones had been out the day before blowing the leaves off to the side, and that helped tremendously on the more technical sections.

I was wearing a new pair of shoes (Nike Pegasus trail shoes, bought on sale). Okay, I had worn them for one test run around Ault Park but that was it. I had to get new shoes because somebody (AKA Zen) had eaten one of the insoles from my favorite pair (Saucony Xodus), and I have not been able to find a suitable replacement that is comfortable to run in. Anyway, those shoes were a little snug, and it seemed like they weren’t so great for this distance anyway. The new shoes are roomier, and I hoped that would work (I’ve been feeling great lately in the Pegasus road shoes), but it was a bit of a risk.

Just in case, I brought along a spare pair of shoes (cheap, worn out Salomon something or others).

Looking at the results from last year I decided that I ran the first loop a little too fast. I was trying to stay ahead of a woman who is in my age group and who was also contending for a spot in “The Dirtiest Dozen.” But she wasn’t there this year, and neither was my current “nemesis,” Cindy K. This made it easier for me to relax and not worry so much about being in almost last place from the very start.

The goal this year was to improve my time by having a better second half. I hoped that would result in a better placement, but that part was not up to me. I was only going to worry about myself.

Carried a water bottle and some GUs in a fanny pack. I was going to have a GU every 45 minutes or so.

Came through the first loop in 1:07:40. This was about three minutes slower than last year, but I felt a lot stronger. The steps were not as bad as I remembered, but I forgot about Gummi Bear Hill. But, in contrast to last year, I wasn’t having any issues with my body parts or my gear. I was in almost last place but I didn’t care. Had a little water at the aid station, and then headed back out for the shorter loop.

Another area of improvement was that I managed to avoid getting lost this year, which previously was a problem for me on the second loop. I think I even passed a couple of people during this section, although it was hard to know for sure because we were running into the 50k participants who had started earlier in the morning.

My time for the second loop was 40:34. This was seven minutes faster than last year, and I felt much better than I remembered. Did not have to change shoes! Had some water and a GU and was back out for my repeat of the long loop. Slowed down some but not nearly as much as last year. My time was 1:13:42, which was almost 22 minutes faster than last year. I was pretty happy with that!

Had one more small loop to go. This time, fairly early on, a woman caught up to me and I decided to let her pass me. She had been at the aid station when I got there and I guess she was lingering. As soon as she passed me, I thought better of it, so I asked her if she was doing the trail series and found out that she was not. Then I realized that I still should not have let her pass me, because my point total in the series is based on my placement, after all. Anyway, we were about the same speed, so we continued on, having a nice conversation along the way, and occasionally changing positions.

She was from the Columbus area, and we discussed trail racing in Ohio, with both of us envying somewhat the seemingly more established circuit of trail runs in the Dayton area. It was nice to have somebody to chat with.

On the last uphill section, she was a little stronger and I decided to let her go. I was just happy that my time was going to be so much better than last year. I ran the final loop in 44:08, which was more than 20 minutes faster than last year. My final time was 3:46:01, which was 41:23 faster than last year. The woman I ran that last loop with was 20 seconds ahead of me.

So much faster, and yet, not much better placewise. So it goes. I was 14 of 16 women. Last year was 14 of 15. I could have killed myself trying to stay ahead of that one woman at the end and still only been 13 of 16. But, 49 of 57 finishers, vs. last year 45 of 46. And yes, a couple of these people were actually slower than I was last year. So that is gratifying (as in, I am a little better after all! I am not the worst!)

One of the good things about finishing so much earlier was that there was still some hot soup left! So I had some orange slices, which for some reason just tasted like the most amazing thing in the world to me at that point, and then I had some soup from one of the crockpots.

The Dirtiest Dozen results are in and I ended up in 7th place. One spot behind Cyndi K. Looking forward to next spring and another series of fun trail races.

Hartford Marathon report---finally!

I ran the Hartford Marathon on Saturday, October 15. Hartford took care of Connecticut on my quest to run a marathon in all 50 states. I now have just 13 states to go.

As marathons go, Hartford is just okay. It’s not the best, it’s not the worst. There were a few good things, a few not-so-good things. Overall, just kind of so-so. Which, I guess, is better than truly horrible. I just wasn’t in love with it, if you know what I mean.

I was also expecting that I would be able to run it a little faster than I did, but I swear I am not letting that affect my judgment.

A Long Weekend of Driving
Tommy came along and we drove out to Hartford. As it happened, my van was rear-ended a couple of weeks before, and while it was in the shop I was driving a Town & Country rental with unlimited mileage. So we were able to drive out in that thing and not put the mileage on one of our own cars. It’s not fun to drive in any way, shape or form, but was free. Except for the gas that it sucked down. Wow, it’s a guzzler. And that is just one of its faults, but don’t get me started.

For the race, we stayed at the Residence Inn in Rocky Hill, which is a suburb southwest of Hartford. We stayed there because I waited too long to make a hotel reservation downtown---who knew that everything for race weekend would book up two months in advance?---and also because Tommy could use a corporate discount. It was not much of a drive into town, and it was nice to have a kitchen.

On the way to the Hartford, we spent Thursday night at a Holiday Inn Express in Clearfield, PA (because I had a free night). On the return trip, we first drove up to Boston to see Susan and Ross, and then headed back via New York State (Tommy had business outside Syracuse). We spent Sunday night in Springfield, MA, and Monday night in Erie, PA, staying at Red Roofs. It is pretty weird to stay at a Red Roof without any dogs. Especially when there is a dog show in the town, as happened to be the case in Springfield!

Yeah, pretty much it would have been better if I had flown. We tried to break it up, but it was a lot of hours in the car. A car that I hated. But I digress.

Race Expo (and Pasta Dinner We Missed)
Even though we certainly didn’t linger in Clearfield, PA on Friday morning, it still took us until almost 4 pm to reach Hartford. It took us awhile, driving around in Friday afternoon downtown Hartford traffic---not that bad, except when you don’t know the area at all---to figure out where to park for the expo. The expo was in the XL Center, and we ended up in the garage across the street.

I had purchased tickets for the 5 pm seating of the pasta dinner. So now I was stressing out because I wanted to pick up my race packet and have a chance to thoroughly shop the expo before dinner.

Who am I kidding? I had been stressing out for probably two hours before we got to Hartford, worrying if we were going to make it on time.

Packet pickup was quick, albeit a bit confusing. The confusion kind of set the tone for the activities surrounding the race. Basically, there really was not a lot of direction or signage. And I guess I am old fashioned, but I really like to get printed instructions ahead of time. There was a little bit of info on the website, but not enough so that even if you printed it out would you have a truly clear idea about what was where. Maybe if you lived in Hartford and had done the race before it was enough. But not for somebody visiting for the first time.

I know this is also partly my fault because I’ve gotten kind of sloppy abut reading the directions at these races. After so many races in so many places, I guess I just assume that I’ll get there and figure it out.

Well, maybe it also would have helped if their race website was a little easier to navigate, and if they had sent out some detailed info via email, the way many other races do. They sent info, but not enough. And their website sucks---too much focus on their foundation and the charities, and not enough on the race.

So, I walked up to the first table and got my bib. That was it, just the bib. No bag to put it in. No goodies. No directions about where to go next. I noticed there was a little box of pins on the table but I didn’t bother to pick them up because I had packed extras, and I also assumed that at some point I would get a bag and maybe there would be pins in there.

I had to ask the volunteer about where to go next. If I had not asked, apparently she would not have said anything. She also did not say anything about the pins. I know I have complained about volunteers who are a little too explicit about exactly what the pins are for and how they should be used, but this was kind of the opposite. I would reflect on this later, and observe the results of her reticence while I waited for the race to begin the next morning (when random strangers kept asking me if I knew where they could find some pins).

I asked the volunteer about the location of the pasta dinner. She had no information.

So, it turns out that the next place I go is a table around the corner, where I get my shirt (long sleeved, technical, not bad) and a little orange sack designed like a backpack and made out of that material like you find in the reusable grocery bags. Turns out that does not work very well when you try to turn it into a backpack. It falls apart really fast. So, the result is you are going to throw it away, maybe even sooner than if it were an actual plastic bag! What is so green about that, I wonder?

There is nothing in this bag. It is not secure enough to use as a gear check bag, and it is kind of awkward to put your expo purchases in. I am not a fan of this bag.

I figure out the timing chip is already attached to the back of my race number, so we don’t have to pick up the chip.

I asked the volunteer at the shirt table about the location of the pasta dinner. He had no information.

We found a booth labeled “Information.” There was a large course map on display and a volunteer was going over that with some people. There was another volunteer standing around, so we asked him about the location of the pasta dinner. He did not have any information, and he was kind of rude about it.

I was getting hungry at this point. But we decided to put aside all thoughts of the pasta dinner, and do a quick walkthrough of the expo.

One thing I did like at Hartford was that you were able to pick up your packet (such as it was) before going through the expo. That is one thing that I really dislike about the Flying Pig.

The expo was about the size of the one at Flying Pig, maybe a little smaller. Hartford gets about 14,000 participants across all the events (half-marathon, relay, marathon) so that’s about right. They had a good selection of vendors. I ended up buying a couple of cute tee shirts (one technical, one cotton) with a dog-related theme (dog holding a race number that says 26.2 and the shirt says Marathon Dog).

There was an area selling Hartford Marathon logo wear, and I probably would have bought a hat or something, but they were a little overpriced for the lack of quality.

At this point we were expo’d out, and I was even hungrier, so we decided to try a little harder to locate the pasta dinner. On the way out of the expo I stopped at what appeared to be the “Trouble” desk. Somebody there was able to explain to us that the pasta dinner was located in Bushnell Park, about a half mile away from the expo.

Bushnell Park was also the start/finish area of the marathon. We had passed by it on our way to the XL Center. But now it was raining outside, and we were loath to move the car to another location more convenient to the park in the middle of rush hour on a Friday.

So we gave up on the pasta dinner for which I had stupidly paid in advance. It was windy and cold and rainy and miserable, so even if it were right next door to the expo the idea of sitting outside (under tents, but still) and eating pasta cooked for hundreds of people was not very appealing.

We drove to our hotel, checked in, and headed out to find an Italian restaurant nearby with the help of the GPS. Which turned out to be more difficult than you would think, since all the Italian places it could find seemed to be out of business. After a bit of driving around, we did locate a newish place not too far from the hotel, called Pazzo Cafe. Although the parking lot was full, we were seated right away. Décor was that trendy, casual, open kitchen, wood fired pizza oven kind of thing. Excellent bread. Decent wine list. Large portions. I had cavatappi with an eggplant sauce. I forget what Tommy had. Pizza? That’s right. This place also had an amazing selection of wonderful gelatos. I had two scoops for dessert, one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of mint chocolate chip. Tommy a piece of carrot cake, which I ended up having some of later back at the hotel. We agreed it was maybe the best carrot cake we had ever had in our lives.

The portions were so large, that we could take the leftovers back to the hotel with us, which worked out great for me after the race. I didn’t need my turkey sandwich when I could eat all the leftover pasta and pizza.

Getting to the Start
The morning was relatively stress-free for an out of town race with limited information. I was up early for my pre-race coffee and yogurt. The traffic getting back downtown was not bad at all on Saturday morning, and the highway seemed to dump us out right at Bushnell Park.

I got out of the car and left Tommy to go look for parking on his own. We agreed to meet after the race at the supposedly designated family reunion area, wherever that was. They said they had one.

It was a lovely morning in Bushnell Park, but the grass was soaked from the rain the day before. I got on the portapotty line, which was already rather long. Worse, as I approached the front of the line, I could see that the area directly in front of the portapotties was basically a mud pit. At least, I hoped that was mud. It was pretty disgusting. So, as you went in and out of the portapotty, you ended up with shoes that were covered in mud. Not the best way to start the race, I thought. Should have brought plastic bags to put on my shoes. Oh well.

After the portapotty stop, I walked around the little marathon village they had set up. There were a lot of tents and vendors, but no signage telling you which way to go to the start or providing any sort of useful information. Periodically, a guy on a loudspeaker would announce that the gear check area was in front of Bushnell Theater, but who knew where that was if you didn’t live in Hartford?

It was still early. I noticed that the booth for Dick’s Sporting Goods was unoccupied, so after making a pass around the village (picked up a little tube of free sunscreen, which did prove useful), I sat down in one of the chairs.

Almost as soon as I sat down, people started coming up to me and asking me questions:

Which way is the volunteer check in? Where is the gear check? Do you know where the kids’ fun run starts? And my favorite question, do you know where I can get some pins?

I had passed the volunteer check-in so I could actually help out with that one. In exchange, I asked people if they could tell me where the start line was, but nobody knew.

An official-looking guy dressed in a business suit came over, and I thought he was going to tell me I had to move. But no, he just was looking for the volunteer check-in. I pointed him in the right direction.

It was all pretty funny.

So I stayed seated there until about 15 minutes before the race was to begin, when I followed a growing wave of foot traffic in a direction that I hoped would lead to the starting line. This it did. And I also now knew where the Bushnell Theater was, but I wasn’t checking any gear.

Next point of confusion: I looked around for the pace signs to try to figure out a good place to line up. Then I noticed that all of the pace team leaders were hanging out together in front of the theater (I never did see any of them during the actual race, which was a little strange). So that was not very helpful. I found some people who looked like they were as slow as I was. I started chatting with a guy who told me that yeah, this was where all the over 10 minutes a mile people were, so it was the right place.

One nice thing at the start was that they had a big video display that was right in front of where I was standing, so I could see the people making the announcements (even though they still weren’t all that intelligible) and the woman who sang The Star Spangled Banner. They also showed a little video about selected people and their marathon “stories” but I didn’t pay much attention to that.

The Race
And soon, we were off. Overall, I’d have to say that it was not the most scenic or interesting urban marathon I’ve ever run. Also, it was not the most well-designed.Lots of turns, and retracing of steps. It was mostly flat, with a few hills provided by overpasses, and also by getting up and down from the riverfront. I know there are some pretty neighborhoods in Hartford (saw them later when driving around) but for some reason the course did not take us through them. It was a combination of boring downtown, industrial area, riverfront bike trail, and one somewhat upscale neighborhood in which we went down and back (and one much sketchier ‘hood that we went through on the way back).

There’s not a lot that is very interesting along the way. The aid stations are well-organized and well-staffed. There were occasional spots with live or recorded music, including a couple of bagpipers. Not too much crowd support. Not the worst race, but not the best, either. Just kind of ho-hum. Won’t make my list of favorites. It was just okay.

There were a lot of Maniacs and Fifty Staters. This is a big race weekend in New England, and there were several possibilities to complete a “double” by running Hartford on Saturday and then Mt. Desert Island (Maine) or Breakers (Rhode Island) on Sunday. There was one woman who was just in front of me for the first few miles who was wearing a sign on her back stating her intentions to finish Hartford and Breakers that weekend. I was glad that I had decided not to try that myself. It also made me feel good to eventually pass her. Would have been more demoralizing if she had easily pulled ahead of me. I’m just not ready for a double.

The first couple miles basically serve to get you out of the downtown area and into a combination of industrial areas and a riverside park. I know Hartford probably wants us to remember the park but unfortunately there was a lot of industry in there, too. I missed the first mile marker, but reached mile 2 in 19:58.

By the start of the third mile we had turned onto a paved path that runs along the Connecticut River. Mile 3 took me 9:56. I decided that I needed another portapotty visit. This hasn’t happened to me in quite awhile during a marathon so I must have been overhydrated or something. Anyway, just as we were leaving the industrial area and heading onto the bike path, I noticed a couple of portapotties on the side, off of the trail. I’m not even sure if they were actually associated with the race, but there was no line so I went in. This cost me a minute but it was worth it for the comfort factor. Mile 4 was 11:11.

I remember two things from mile 5, which took us back into downtown. First, there was some woman complaining to some guy that her GPS was a tenth of a mile off, and asking if he thought the course was measured wrong. I tried to explain to her that race courses are measured on the tangents, so unless she was always running the shortest tangent, every time we turned a corner she was adding distance. And we were turning a lot of corners. So really, a tenth of mile over five miles is not that bad. Anyway, she didn’t understand what I was trying to say. So I gave up.

Second thing is that I ran by Tommy, who lamely tried to take my picture but couldn’t figure out how to get the camera to work in time, so I just kept going because I was feeling good and didn’t want to stop.

Mile 5 was 10:04. I don’t remember too much about miles 6-11 (I am looking at the course map as I write this). My times were 10:02, 9:41, 9:52, 10:44, 10:06 and 10:02. I was having GU Chomps (Green Tea flavor) every four miles or so, and walking through the water stations. I guess some of this was along the river, and some of it was industrial. Nothing very memorable.

Around mile 11, we began a long out-and-back stretch that would take us through a neighborhood of large old homes. Even here, I was surprised that there were not more people out cheering. The Hartford Marathon is comparable in size to the Flying Pig in Cincinnati, and I was thinking about how much more interesting a course we have here, and how much louder the people cheer in Hyde Park Square. There was nothing like that in Hartford. In this neighborhood (whatever it is called) there were a few houses with parties going on out on the front lawns, but there were many empty spots as well.

The cool thing about the out-and-back was that it gave me an opportunity to see the fast runners on their way back (mile 23 is near mile 11). I saw the two Kenyan guys who would finish first and second, followed by serial marathoner Michael Wardian (the previous year’s winner, a fellow Maniac who would go on to win Mt. Desert Island in Maine the very next day).

I was still feeling okay, and keeping a pretty even pace for miles 12-16 (10:05, 10:39, 10:09, 9:55, 10:18). I was looking forward to the turnaround at mile 17, when it looked like we would be headed downhill. Funny how when I run these out-and-back portions of a race, I always think it will be downhill on the way back. It’s just an optical illusion.

Mile 17 was 11:47, and I was starting to struggle a bit. And then I found out that we were not going downhill after all. And now, we were running into a headwind, which would be with us for the remainder of the race. At this point I started getting really bored with the race and just wanted it to be over, and I was again very glad that I did not have to get up and do the same thing tomorrow in a different city.

Mile 18 was 9:25 (perhaps mile 17 and 18 markers were in the wrong places), but after that I was struggling again. 10:49 for 19, 11:05 for 20, 22:30 for 21 and 22, 12:05 for 23.

I had kind of been hoping for a sub-4:30 time, but that was not happening now.

At mile 24, we headed back along the river trail and into downtown. Mile 24 was 11:57, mile 25 was 11:59, and mile 26 was 11:14. Saw Tommy, who took my picture, as I ran towards the finish line. We passed under that little stone archway thing that is part of the race logo and replicated in the design of the finisher’s medal, but I did not even notice at the time. 1:57 for the last .2 and I was glad to be done with it.

It has been bothering me that I did not know anything about what that stone archway was supposed to represent, so I looked it up online. It is called the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, and it is in honor of the 4000 Hartford residents who served in the Civil War, and the 400 who died in Union uniforms. I never would have guessed that it was a war memorial. I am surprised that there is no info (or maybe I am not surprised considering the general dearth of info) about the arch on the race web site, since it is used as the race logo and therefore somewhat significant. Again, they seem to be assuming that the people who run this race are all from the Hartford area. Ha, and in truth is not really a race worth travelling for, after all.

So, that time put me 20 of 46 in my age group and 1557 of 2217 marathoners. I guess this race is a little smaller than the Flying Pig. I was disappointed that I didn’t finish any faster than at Leading Ladies, since I felt so good going into the race. But I guess the Leading Ladies course was faster than I realized. And, I had not expected to have so much trouble running into that headwind.

Post-Race
In addition to the traditional space blankets and the finisher’s medal (which is rather a nice one), they handed out reusable orange (the ING race sponsor color) water bottles at the finish line embossed with the race logo and the word “Finisher” on them. I thought that was a nice touch, but it would have been even nicer if they had rinsed the bottles out before filling them. Very strong taste of plastic in there. Had to dump it.

They also do a nice job with the food at the end of this race. There was a large tented area with a bigger variety of items than at most races. My favorite was the hot tomato and chicken soup with parmesan cheese. It was nice and salty and warm, just the perfect thing after an autumn race.

After getting some food, I was ready to find Tommy. Since he had been nearby when I crossed the finish line, I did not expect it to be too difficult to locate him. But what did present a challenge was finding the location of the reunion area where we had agreed to meet. I wandered around the park for a bit, asked various people for directions, and wasn’t having any luck. As I had noticed in the morning before the race, there were no signs anywhere, and nobody seemed to know where anything was---actually, I had a little trouble even finding my way to the food tent, to tell the truth.

Eventually, I found a volunteer who thought that he had seen some signage up on the street with alphabet letters (A-H, I-M, etc. that sort of thing) indicating it might be a reunion area. So I walked out of the park and toward that street, where I did find these signs. They weren’t very big. I stood on the sidewalk by the A-H sign. Nobody else was waiting there. I was getting cold. I walked up and down the street for a few minutes. I thought about how many people I had asked before I located the reunion area, and I thought about how unwilling Tommy was to ask for directions.

I wished I had carried a phone. I was just about to ask someone if I could borrow their phone to try to reach Tommy when he finally appeared.

The good news was that he had found a parking space that morning in the lot directly across the street from the park, so now that we were reunited, I did not have far to walk at all. We headed back to the hotel, where I feasted on our leftovers from the night before---no need of a turkey sandwich this time.

Hartford Touristing

After eating and getting cleaned up, we headed off for the Mark Twain House---the only thing we were going to have time to see while in Hartford, although honestly I am not sure that there is all that much else to see there besides the University of Connecticut and all the insurance companies.

We were lucky enough to get two of the last tickets for the last tour of the day---I had not realized that there were scheduled tour times and a limited number of tickets.

Ok, here is what I remember: Samuel Clemens moved to Hartford with his wife, Olivia. They rented a house in the Nook Farm neighborhood (a writer’s enclave, and I presume, the source of the name for the Barnes & Noble e-reader). They had this house built for them (Livy came from money). Harriet Beecher Stowe was a neighbor. It is a pretty cool house. The time they lived in this house marked the most productive period of Clemens’ life---he wrote Huckleberry Finn, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court while living there. The Clemens lived very well, until some bad business investments forced them to move away, and eventually sell the property.

At one point, the structure was in danger of being demolished and replaced with a car dealership! Would have been a shame. In addition to the house, there is a museum, gift shop, and café.

Oh yeah, and he had a lot of cats. Like Hemingway. And some of the descendants of these cats still roam the grounds.

The entranceway of the house reminded me of an M. C. Escher lithograph, because there is a big square space where you can look straight up and see all the other floors of the house. Or maybe it was the woodcut designs on the walls. Anyway, it reminded me of Escher’s “Relativity.”

After our tour, we drove around the neighborhood. There was a very pretty park (Elizabeth Park) with a restaurant/event space inside of it, where I had thought maybe we could have dinner, but there was an event going on so we didn’t try. The neighborhood around Elizabeth Park reminded me of Wyoming in the Greater Cincinnati area, and I wondered why the marathon didn’t go through here. It was close to downtown and a lot nicer than most of the area we ran through.

I screwed up the restaurant pre-planning for this race. I had been looking for restaurants close to the Mark Twain house (how I found Elizabeth Park) but did not look for things near our hotel.

We drove back near the hotel and tried to use our GPS to locate potential steak houses. No luck. We ended up at Wood-n-Tap, a bar and grill (seemed to be part of a chain) that Tommy had been to while on a business trip. He was not enthused about it because he didn’t remember it as being very good. And he was correct. The beer was okay but the food was pretty bad.

The Rest of our Trip
Sunday morning after breakfast we drove up to Boston and spent the day with Susan and Ross, hanging out around their apartment in Somerville. We got there just in time to see Susan finish a 5k race just around the corner from the apartment. Apparently Davis Square is a very popular location for Boston-area races.

We had lunch at the Boston Burger Company place on the first floor of their building (can you imagine living on top of that?), afternoon coffee at Diesel Café, and dinner at Foundry on Elm (gastropub that is just a couple of blocks away). These places were all really great, of course. Good food and 5k races all within walking distance of home, does it get any better than that?

We spent the night in Springfield at a Red Roof Inn. It felt weird to stay at a Red Roof without a dog or two or three. Especially when there was apparently a dog show going on in the area.

Monday morning we drove west to Fayetteville, NY, where Tommy had some business in the afternoon. We ate lunch at Hullar’s, an excellent little homestyle restaurant and bar that Tommy had been to several times before---a great little chowhoundie find. Had some wonderful French onion soup, and meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

While Tommy visited the plant, I drove around the town. I took some pictures of the Craftsman Inn, which is where Tommy usually stays. It is a neat place, filled with Stickley furniture.

Across the street there is a mall that includes some interesting outlet stores (Stickley furniture, L. L. Bean). We didn’t have room in the car to bring back any furniture, but I took a look around the L. L. Bean outlet. Didn’t find anything worth buying. There was also an Eastern Mountain Sports, and I checked that out as well but didn’t find anything good there either.

At some point I realized that this is the home of the Fayetteville-Manlius high school, a perennial high school cross country powerhouse that generally does well at the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN). How many times has their girls' team won that thing? The fact that I know this stuff just shows what kind of a crazy running geek I have become. Anyway, I drove by the high school. If they were selling logo-wear from that school somewhere in town, I swear I would have bought something.

Soon it was time to pick Tommy up and continue our journey home. We stopped for the night in the Erie, PA suburbs, near the casino. This is where we bought the Bad Monkey beer. I had heard of this beer before---and it was originally named "Butt Monkey." Seriously. It was disgusting, but I am saving the bottle in honor of Eddy. I did not realize until I researched it online that they stopped brewing this beer a couple of years ago. No wonder it tasted so nasty.

And the next day we drove home. It was after this trip that Tommy decided to redeem some frequent flyer miles for our Thanksgiving travels! We put a couple thousand miles on that Town & Country in the three weeks that my van was in the shop. We managed to suck all the newness out of that baby, all right.

I am taking a break from running the states for the next year. My next few marathons will be closer to home. I plan to pick it up again next October, after Susan’s wedding.