This past weekend I ran in the Magnificent Mile race in Raleigh for the first time. I had grand plans of training for this race over the summer (with lots of workouts on the track) but my Achilles Tendons had different ideas and I have struggled to log consistent mileage since early June and haven't been to the track in 10 weeks. My 5K times this summer haven't been too bad considering I really don't enjoy the heat and humidity, so I felt that even though I hadn't had a chance to improve my speed, it didn't seem like I had lost much even during three months of very low mileage. I felt confident I could run a mile in under 6:00 and set my sights on being under 5:50.
Race day started out with huge storms and lots of rain but as 2pm came around it was a perfect mid-60's with some clouds. I ran a mile to warm up and did some strides which reminded me that the ground was wet and the road surface was a little slippery. I made my way to the third row of the starting corral and found Charles who was also running and was surrounded by young kids. I didn't make much of an effort to move thinking that they would probably all take off at a sprint at the start and I'd have time to get around them when they slowed down - more on that later. The elite runners were introduced, including Bobby Mack who has run 4:10 twice in the past on this course.
The horn sounded and the front row of fast runners took off followed by the rest of the field. Unfortunately, the kids in front of me decided to walk/trot across the starting line. I couldn't get around them and before I knew it, I was 10 yards behind Charles still trying to get going. Charles told me after the race that he heard someone shout "what the hell..." - it was me as I tried to get around the walkers that decided to start in the second row of a mile race!
The first quarter mile was straight and involved a lot of weaving around slower runners and being passed by faster runners that started way back in the corral. I found an effort that felt good and we passed the first split in 82 seconds. The next half mile loops around the Capital building, starting with a sweeping right turn followed by three sharp lefts and a sweeping right. I knew I would lose some time with the corners but I wasn't prepared for the other runners that seemed to ran random lines without and regard for runners around them. I had my heel clipped on the first left and had to come to nearly a complete stop when two kids decided they needed to walk. Splits of 86 at 1/2 mile and 90 at 3/4 mile left me with a time of 4:18 with just over 400m to go.
I remember thinking as I made the final sweeping right that I felt pretty good and that I would wait until the 3/4 mile split before pushing the pace - in hindsight, that was probably too long to wait. Once I did the calculation in my head that I had 102 seconds to break 6:00 minutes and needed to run at least a 91 to be under 5:50, I began to push harder and started passing people. A slight incline was enough to hide the finish line from view, but I knew where it was and continued to increase the pace passing more and more runners who didn't have anything left in the tank.
I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:45 in 80th place overall. Bobby Mack had run a 4:11 and was pushed all the way by Sandy Roberts with 4:12... they had finished before I got to the 3/4 mile split!
So, with the walking start, being tripped, easing off too much in the middle and not upping the pace early enough I had managed to run a 5:45 mile. I wonder what I'll be able to run next year if I can train over the summer, stay out of trouble during the race and push a little harder earlier... 5:35? 5:30?
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Summer Racing Update
Freedom Run 5K+
On June 30th I ran the Freedom Run 5K in Wake Forest. It was a cloudy morning but still hot and humid and I was covered head to toe in sweat by the time I had walked to the starting area from the car. I had that sub-20 5K goal in the back of my mind but the weather and the hilly course meant it was very unlikely. I found a playground for Jack and Liz to play during the race and then warmed up (not sure that is the right term on such a hot day) and headed to the starting line. I found it a little strange that the "lead car" was parked behind the runners instead of in front, but that was quickly corrected and we headed downhill to the first turn on the course. I hadn't run this course before but I had studied the course map and ran part of it during my warm up, so I knew we were meant to turn right. There were lots of youngsters in the race who sped of at the start and followed the lead car as it rounded the roundabout and went left! I happened to be running alongside a friend of mine who also knew the course and we both shouted to the runners ahead that they were going to wrong way before taking the rest of the field on the correct route. I don't know how long it took for the lead car to tell those that had gone wrong way to turn around, but I certainly felt bad for them. There was another part of the course which seemed strange at the time where we passed the only water stop on the other side of a divided highway, but more on that in a moment.
The course was hilly and the weather caught up with me in the middle mile of the race. The eventual winner passed me at that point (yes, I had been leading for 1.5 miles!) and I dropped back to 8th overall where I stayed until the finish. I thought I was on for a 20:40-20:45 finish until my watch beeped for mile 3 with a full quarter mile to go until the finish line just as we were being directed around the outside of a roundabout for the final turn to the finish. I ended up finishing in 21:45 and running 3:25 miles. I checked with some other runners who also measured the course as being 3.25-3.30 miles and we came to the conclusion that the course hadn't been measured for a lead car (which has to stay on the right side of the road and go around roundabouts) and as a result, we'd all run too far for a 5K.
Overall I was disappointed. The roads were open to traffic and on three occasions I'd come face to face with cars on the roads who were unaware that there was a race going on. The lead car had lead 40-50 runners in the wrong direction and then lead everyone on a long course.
Result: 21:45, 8th overall, 1st age group
Denny's 5K
On July 14th I ran the Denny's 5K at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. I got a $10 entry to this race, which is the main reason that I decided to go and run on the Cross Country course which is hilly and a mixture of packed mud, sand and grass. It was another hot and humid morning which is no surprised for North Carolina in mid July.
I had no time goal in mind as I had no idea how fast I'd be able to run on all of the different surfaces. I ran a 24:15 on this course in 2009, so I knew I wanted to be fast than that, but other than that I just wanted to finish as fast as I could. The race started in the middle of a field that was soaking wet from the rain the night before and my shoes were soaked in the short walk from the gravel road to the start line. The start was downhill for about 0.3 miles (on the wet grass) to the woods where we switched to a packed mud/sand track that looped around and returned to the grass were we climbed back up the hill and looped around the outside of the soccer park on packed mud/sand. By the time we got to the 4000m marker (the course was marked in meters and miles) I knew that the final hill was coming up and that I had nothing left. I had tried to pace myself with the final climb on the grassy hill in mind, but I didn't do a good enough job and had to power walk up the steepest part.
I was disappointed that I had done a poor job of pacing myself even though I finished with a good placing overall and in my age group. I'll get another chance to run a better race and time on this course in late August in the Run for Life 5K
Result: 21:47, 16th overall, 2nd age group
Expressway Trot II 5K
On July 21st I ran the Expressway Trot II in Cary. This race took place on a newly finished but yet to be opened section of I540. When I signed up for this race I had my sub-20 5K goal in mind but the hot and humid weather made me change that to running an even paced race.
I was grateful that it was overcast and there was a slight breeze across the 6 lane highway as there wasn't any shade on the straight out and back course. I ran my best race for a while with splits of 6:20, 6:42 and 6:39 and gradually picked off runners that were ahead of me during the last half of the race. The course itself was very boring as there was nothing to look at, but it was certainly a very unique thing to do.
Result: 20:29, 6th overall, 3rd age group
On June 30th I ran the Freedom Run 5K in Wake Forest. It was a cloudy morning but still hot and humid and I was covered head to toe in sweat by the time I had walked to the starting area from the car. I had that sub-20 5K goal in the back of my mind but the weather and the hilly course meant it was very unlikely. I found a playground for Jack and Liz to play during the race and then warmed up (not sure that is the right term on such a hot day) and headed to the starting line. I found it a little strange that the "lead car" was parked behind the runners instead of in front, but that was quickly corrected and we headed downhill to the first turn on the course. I hadn't run this course before but I had studied the course map and ran part of it during my warm up, so I knew we were meant to turn right. There were lots of youngsters in the race who sped of at the start and followed the lead car as it rounded the roundabout and went left! I happened to be running alongside a friend of mine who also knew the course and we both shouted to the runners ahead that they were going to wrong way before taking the rest of the field on the correct route. I don't know how long it took for the lead car to tell those that had gone wrong way to turn around, but I certainly felt bad for them. There was another part of the course which seemed strange at the time where we passed the only water stop on the other side of a divided highway, but more on that in a moment.
 |
| Just before the lead car mistake |
Overall I was disappointed. The roads were open to traffic and on three occasions I'd come face to face with cars on the roads who were unaware that there was a race going on. The lead car had lead 40-50 runners in the wrong direction and then lead everyone on a long course.
Result: 21:45, 8th overall, 1st age group
Denny's 5K
On July 14th I ran the Denny's 5K at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. I got a $10 entry to this race, which is the main reason that I decided to go and run on the Cross Country course which is hilly and a mixture of packed mud, sand and grass. It was another hot and humid morning which is no surprised for North Carolina in mid July.
I had no time goal in mind as I had no idea how fast I'd be able to run on all of the different surfaces. I ran a 24:15 on this course in 2009, so I knew I wanted to be fast than that, but other than that I just wanted to finish as fast as I could. The race started in the middle of a field that was soaking wet from the rain the night before and my shoes were soaked in the short walk from the gravel road to the start line. The start was downhill for about 0.3 miles (on the wet grass) to the woods where we switched to a packed mud/sand track that looped around and returned to the grass were we climbed back up the hill and looped around the outside of the soccer park on packed mud/sand. By the time we got to the 4000m marker (the course was marked in meters and miles) I knew that the final hill was coming up and that I had nothing left. I had tried to pace myself with the final climb on the grassy hill in mind, but I didn't do a good enough job and had to power walk up the steepest part.
 |
| Approaching the finish |
Result: 21:47, 16th overall, 2nd age group
Expressway Trot II 5K
On July 21st I ran the Expressway Trot II in Cary. This race took place on a newly finished but yet to be opened section of I540. When I signed up for this race I had my sub-20 5K goal in mind but the hot and humid weather made me change that to running an even paced race.
I was grateful that it was overcast and there was a slight breeze across the 6 lane highway as there wasn't any shade on the straight out and back course. I ran my best race for a while with splits of 6:20, 6:42 and 6:39 and gradually picked off runners that were ahead of me during the last half of the race. The course itself was very boring as there was nothing to look at, but it was certainly a very unique thing to do.
Result: 20:29, 6th overall, 3rd age group
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Midtown Half Marathon Race Report
I had high hopes of breaking 1:35 when I saw the weather forecast for race morning - 62F with 90% humidity, which was much better than I could have ever hoped for for the first week of June in North Carolina. I had run the course twice in the weeks leading up to the race and knew the steep downhill start followed by mostly flat greenway, a hill at the turn around and then mostly flat greenway back to a steep up hill last 3/4 of a mile.
I got up at 5am and had an early breakfast before getting Jack ready to leave the house at 6:40am. Elizabeth dropped me off at the start/finish line and took Jack over to one of the few easily accessible spots on the course for supporters.
I did a short warm up and some stretches before bumping in to my friend Ken who was also running the race. He had hopes of finishing under 1:40 and said that he was feeling good about his chances. We entered the chute at around 7:20am and made our way through the crowds to the third or fourth row of runners were we waited for the announcements and national anthem. The race had posted on Facebook on Friday that they had passed the 400 mark for runners in the Half Marathon, but looking around there didn't seem to be 400 runners at the start line (the official results have 366 finishers). Most of the people around us were saying that they'd never started a race this close to the front before, so it certainly was an unusual field of runners. The starter gave a nice countdown and we were off.
Mile 1: 6:14 - I navigated through the runners that wanted to start at the front and then run a 9:30 first mile as we made the turn out of the parking lot and on to Lassiter Mill road following the lead bike and Police car. I wanted to push the pace a little here on the downhill and just moved my body weight forward a little more than normal and let the hill do the work for me.
Miles 2-5 (6:44, 7:00, 7:04, 7:12) - I felt great during this portion of the race and passed Elizabeth and Jack at around 2.7 miles and Elizabeth managed to get this great photo of me. I was in 5th place overall at this point!
This portion of the greenway was mostly flat and probably in the sun for 50% of the time. I noticed the sun was quite strong when I was exposed to it but the shady parts seemed to come at just the right time. I had made a decision to just run with water (and GU's and S-Caps) for this race instead of the watered down Gatorade that I normally run with and I assume that was why I started to feel my calf cramp after only 3 miles. I took an S-Cap and some water and the tightness went away, but it was very strange to be feeling that so early in a race. I was trying hard to get my pace closer to the 7:10's that I had targeted and finally managed it for mile 5.
Miles 6 & 7 (7:11, 8:06) - All of a sudden the shade disappeared and I was exposed to the sun and mentally trying to prepare for the up coming hill. Looking back, I don't think I've ever run many flat races - there are typically always some small rolling hills that result in changes in stride length, but in this race, I'd been on the nearly flat greenway for 5 miles when I came up on the hill just before the turn around point. All of a sudden my legs felt heavy and it took much more effort than I had expected to get up the hill. It was only a fairly short hill and once at the top, a quick downhill on the other side, but my legs didn't like the change in pace and effort at all. I made it to the turn around 90 seconds ahead of goal pace, but about where I thought I needed to be given the big hill at mile 12. Knowing the struggle I had getting up the hill a few minutes before, I decided to walk the tougher part of the hill this time as I wasn't really able to run it much faster than I could walk it. Once past the steep part I started running again and then opened my stride on the downhill. My 90 second lead was down to 30 seconds now.
Mile 8 (7:12) - I'd been in the sun for nearly 20 minutes now without a significant break and I began to feel it towards the end of the this mile. I took another S-Cap, but I was already starting to feel warmer and my legs were heavy.
Miles 9-12 (7:34, 7:43, 7:54, 7:40) - I was passed by 5 or 6 runners in this section of the race and my goal of breaking 1:35 slipped away from me. I was working hard, but my pace dropped, my legs got heavier and my muscles got tighter. I passed Elizabeth and Jack again at around 10.4 miles and managed a smile for the camera. I needed some encouragement at this point and I certainly got it from my family!
It was hard knowing that my goal had slipped away and that the huge hill was still coming up at the end of the race, but I drew on my experience from RunRaleigh where I was disappointed that I didn't keep going as hard as I could even when I knew I wouldn't PR and I kept pushing myself along.
Mile 13 - (9:43) - I pushed and pushed as hard as I could along the greenway and finally made the turn on to Lassiter Mill. I really had nothing left at all at this point and could only run/walk up the hill. I knew the hill was going to be tough, but it was much worse than I had expected! I finally made it to the flatter section near the top of the hill and kicked to the finish line to finish in 1:38:04. Elizabeth and Jack were waiting at the top of the hill and got this photo of me approaching the finish line arch!
1:38:04 (7:29/mile) is my second fastest Half Marathon ever and I am very pleased with it. The course was tougher than I had expected (even though I had run on it twice before the race) and I still struggle to deal with the sun and what it does to my body temperature. Not to mention the giant hill at the end of the race! I was 15th overall, the 13th male and 4th in my age group, so it wasn't as if I was the only one that found it hard going.
The was the inaugural Midtown/Captrust Half Marathon, but it was very well organized with a well marked course and enthusiastic volunteers at the plentiful water stations. Knowing how much goes in to organizing a race of this size, I think the Race Director and his team did a great job.
I got up at 5am and had an early breakfast before getting Jack ready to leave the house at 6:40am. Elizabeth dropped me off at the start/finish line and took Jack over to one of the few easily accessible spots on the course for supporters.
I did a short warm up and some stretches before bumping in to my friend Ken who was also running the race. He had hopes of finishing under 1:40 and said that he was feeling good about his chances. We entered the chute at around 7:20am and made our way through the crowds to the third or fourth row of runners were we waited for the announcements and national anthem. The race had posted on Facebook on Friday that they had passed the 400 mark for runners in the Half Marathon, but looking around there didn't seem to be 400 runners at the start line (the official results have 366 finishers). Most of the people around us were saying that they'd never started a race this close to the front before, so it certainly was an unusual field of runners. The starter gave a nice countdown and we were off.
Mile 1: 6:14 - I navigated through the runners that wanted to start at the front and then run a 9:30 first mile as we made the turn out of the parking lot and on to Lassiter Mill road following the lead bike and Police car. I wanted to push the pace a little here on the downhill and just moved my body weight forward a little more than normal and let the hill do the work for me.
Miles 2-5 (6:44, 7:00, 7:04, 7:12) - I felt great during this portion of the race and passed Elizabeth and Jack at around 2.7 miles and Elizabeth managed to get this great photo of me. I was in 5th place overall at this point!
This portion of the greenway was mostly flat and probably in the sun for 50% of the time. I noticed the sun was quite strong when I was exposed to it but the shady parts seemed to come at just the right time. I had made a decision to just run with water (and GU's and S-Caps) for this race instead of the watered down Gatorade that I normally run with and I assume that was why I started to feel my calf cramp after only 3 miles. I took an S-Cap and some water and the tightness went away, but it was very strange to be feeling that so early in a race. I was trying hard to get my pace closer to the 7:10's that I had targeted and finally managed it for mile 5.
Miles 6 & 7 (7:11, 8:06) - All of a sudden the shade disappeared and I was exposed to the sun and mentally trying to prepare for the up coming hill. Looking back, I don't think I've ever run many flat races - there are typically always some small rolling hills that result in changes in stride length, but in this race, I'd been on the nearly flat greenway for 5 miles when I came up on the hill just before the turn around point. All of a sudden my legs felt heavy and it took much more effort than I had expected to get up the hill. It was only a fairly short hill and once at the top, a quick downhill on the other side, but my legs didn't like the change in pace and effort at all. I made it to the turn around 90 seconds ahead of goal pace, but about where I thought I needed to be given the big hill at mile 12. Knowing the struggle I had getting up the hill a few minutes before, I decided to walk the tougher part of the hill this time as I wasn't really able to run it much faster than I could walk it. Once past the steep part I started running again and then opened my stride on the downhill. My 90 second lead was down to 30 seconds now.
Mile 8 (7:12) - I'd been in the sun for nearly 20 minutes now without a significant break and I began to feel it towards the end of the this mile. I took another S-Cap, but I was already starting to feel warmer and my legs were heavy.
Miles 9-12 (7:34, 7:43, 7:54, 7:40) - I was passed by 5 or 6 runners in this section of the race and my goal of breaking 1:35 slipped away from me. I was working hard, but my pace dropped, my legs got heavier and my muscles got tighter. I passed Elizabeth and Jack again at around 10.4 miles and managed a smile for the camera. I needed some encouragement at this point and I certainly got it from my family!
It was hard knowing that my goal had slipped away and that the huge hill was still coming up at the end of the race, but I drew on my experience from RunRaleigh where I was disappointed that I didn't keep going as hard as I could even when I knew I wouldn't PR and I kept pushing myself along.
Mile 13 - (9:43) - I pushed and pushed as hard as I could along the greenway and finally made the turn on to Lassiter Mill. I really had nothing left at all at this point and could only run/walk up the hill. I knew the hill was going to be tough, but it was much worse than I had expected! I finally made it to the flatter section near the top of the hill and kicked to the finish line to finish in 1:38:04. Elizabeth and Jack were waiting at the top of the hill and got this photo of me approaching the finish line arch!
1:38:04 (7:29/mile) is my second fastest Half Marathon ever and I am very pleased with it. The course was tougher than I had expected (even though I had run on it twice before the race) and I still struggle to deal with the sun and what it does to my body temperature. Not to mention the giant hill at the end of the race! I was 15th overall, the 13th male and 4th in my age group, so it wasn't as if I was the only one that found it hard going.
The was the inaugural Midtown/Captrust Half Marathon, but it was very well organized with a well marked course and enthusiastic volunteers at the plentiful water stations. Knowing how much goes in to organizing a race of this size, I think the Race Director and his team did a great job.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Midtown Half Marathon Preview
This weekend I'll be racing in another "first annual" Half Marathon in Raleigh. The Midtown Captrust Half Marathon will take place on June 3rd as the Raleigh spring racing season comes to a close.
Weather: The weather forecast is much better than I had hoped for when I signed up for this race with temperatures probably in the low 60's at 7:30am. It'll be humid for sure, but there is no way around that in NC in early June.
Course: 11.6 of the 13.1 miles of this course are on the Raleigh Greenway system which is flat apart from a "bump" (short steep hill) near the turn around. The first 0.75 of a mile is downhill and the final 0.75 of a mile is up hill. The hill near the start/finish is long and steep in places with about 180ft of elevation change. It is going to be a challenge getting up that hill at the end of the race for sure!
Training: I've been in maintenance mode since the RunRaleigh Half Marathon. I've been sticking to my 4 workouts a week and running at least twice a week at 7:10/mile or quicker for my tempo runs. The temperatures and humidity have been increasing, but I think I have acclimatized as much as I could have hoped for early June. I ran a 5K PR 20:14 just over a week ago, so I know the speed is still there.
Goals: My goals are about the same as they were for RunRaleigh.
1. A finishing time of 1:34:30 or better for an average speed of 7:10/mile
2. A finishing time of 1:36:39 or better for a new PR
Thoughts: The up hill last 0.75 of a mile is going to be a challenge. I have been out and practiced on this course twice and I know for sure that the hill is really going to slow me down. I think I'll need to be at least a minute ahead of my goal pace when I get to the last mile to have a chance of hitting my goal and it is probably going to take everything I have to run a 8:10 last mile with 180 feet of elevation gain, but I am ready to give it a try!
Weather: The weather forecast is much better than I had hoped for when I signed up for this race with temperatures probably in the low 60's at 7:30am. It'll be humid for sure, but there is no way around that in NC in early June.
Course: 11.6 of the 13.1 miles of this course are on the Raleigh Greenway system which is flat apart from a "bump" (short steep hill) near the turn around. The first 0.75 of a mile is downhill and the final 0.75 of a mile is up hill. The hill near the start/finish is long and steep in places with about 180ft of elevation change. It is going to be a challenge getting up that hill at the end of the race for sure!
Training: I've been in maintenance mode since the RunRaleigh Half Marathon. I've been sticking to my 4 workouts a week and running at least twice a week at 7:10/mile or quicker for my tempo runs. The temperatures and humidity have been increasing, but I think I have acclimatized as much as I could have hoped for early June. I ran a 5K PR 20:14 just over a week ago, so I know the speed is still there.
Goals: My goals are about the same as they were for RunRaleigh.
1. A finishing time of 1:34:30 or better for an average speed of 7:10/mile
2. A finishing time of 1:36:39 or better for a new PR
Thoughts: The up hill last 0.75 of a mile is going to be a challenge. I have been out and practiced on this course twice and I know for sure that the hill is really going to slow me down. I think I'll need to be at least a minute ahead of my goal pace when I get to the last mile to have a chance of hitting my goal and it is probably going to take everything I have to run a 8:10 last mile with 180 feet of elevation gain, but I am ready to give it a try!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Richmond Deferral and Fall Plans
I had planned on running the Richmond Half Marathon in November, but with our family's latest addition expected to arrive right around that date, I have deferred my entry until 2013. Family is always most important and I need to be at home and there is no way I am going to Richmond either with Liz 9 months pregnant or with a baby that is only a few days old.
After the Midtown Half Marathon in a couple of weeks (June 3rd), the summer temperatures will have taken hold in Raleigh and races will become few and far between (not that I have much desire to race when it is 90 degrees in the shade).
I have been thinking about what I want to train towards in the Fall this year and have decided to try and train over the summer to run as fast as I can at the Magnificent Mile in Raleigh in mid September. I haven't ever competed in a mile race, so it will be something different. I am also considering the RunRaleigh 8K is two weeks before the mile race.
After the Magnificent Mile, I plan on sticking to 5K's until the new year.
After the Midtown Half Marathon in a couple of weeks (June 3rd), the summer temperatures will have taken hold in Raleigh and races will become few and far between (not that I have much desire to race when it is 90 degrees in the shade).
I have been thinking about what I want to train towards in the Fall this year and have decided to try and train over the summer to run as fast as I can at the Magnificent Mile in Raleigh in mid September. I haven't ever competed in a mile race, so it will be something different. I am also considering the RunRaleigh 8K is two weeks before the mile race.
After the Magnificent Mile, I plan on sticking to 5K's until the new year.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Run for Peace 5K
I decided late on Friday night to run at the Run for Peace 5K on Saturday morning. I knew that the weekend was going to be a very busy one with my volunteer responsibilities at the NCRC Invitational 10K and Half Marathon and that I would be jealous of the runners on Sunday, so I thought an early morning 5K would be a good idea! The $25 race day entry fee didn't hurt either.
With only two weeks to go until the Midtown Half Marathon and the temperatures gradually increasing in NC, I thought a 5K would be a good test for me and probably my last chance until the end of the summer to break 20 minutes. I had a goal pace of 6:30/mile in mind that would give me a PR and a good work out and should be achievable even though I haven't been to the track in months!
I arrived at the church at around 7:10 and was able to park within a few yards of the registration table. I paid my $25 and collected my bib. The sun was still behind the clouds and I was actually a little cold in my singlet and shorts so I went back to the car for a few minutes before starting a search for a bathroom. It was a nice change to be able to use a real bathroom (the church was open) for a change at a race and with about 25 minutes to go until the scheduled race start I went out for my warmup run. I didn't know the course very well, but I followed the course monitors as they were making their way out on to the course and found the mostly downhill section that we would run on between 1.6 miles and 2.2 miles and then the uphill section that went back to the finish line area.
I covered about 1.8 miles and did a few sets of strides before heading back to the start line. I found Bill, Erika and Dave from NCRC, we listened to some announcements and wished each other luck before I lined up a couple of rows back in the relatively small field of 185 and didn't see any other familiar faces.
The race started a few minutes after 8:00am and we headed out of the church parking lot and made a right turn on to Cape Charles Drive for a mostly down hill first mile. The crowd quickly thinned out and I found myself in the first 15 or so runners. I have had good success in short races this year when I have pushed a little harder than I typically would in the first mile and the fact that the first mile in this race was mostly downhill resulted in a 5:57 first mile. I knew I'd been pushing the pace fairly hard on the downhill sections, but a sub-6 minute mile was still a little surprising given that I felt that my breathing was under control.
At about the time that I finished my thought about feeling good we made a left turn and started to head up hill. The first "hill" was more like a bump in the road with a short fairly steep incline and then a short flat section followed by a 1/4 mile hill that ascended 50 feet. We had quickly regained the elevation that we'd lost over the first mile in a quarter of a mile and all of a sudden the pace felt really hard and I noticed that the sun was out from behind the clouds and my temperature was rising.
I regained my composure over the next 1/4 mile and passed Bill who snapped this photo:
I passed a couple of runners during this flat section who had obviously felt the hills even more than I had. The lead runners were out of sight by this point and I guessed I was probably in the top 10 by now. We passed by the entrance to the finish line and headed down the hill that I had run during my warm up. I felt relaxed again by this point and still had a 25 second lead over my virtual partner (set at 6:30/mile). I passed the 2 mile marker with a 6:37 split.
The course made a right turn and then another quick right and we made our way back up the hill that we'd come down during the first mile. I quickly went from feeling good and strong to having to dig deep to keep my pace up. I passed another runner and took a glance at my watch... still half a mile to go and my lead over my virtual partner was down to 10 seconds. The nearest runner was off in the distance and I knew he'd be making the left turn to the church parking lot soon, but it seemed to take forever. I was really dragging at this point and watching him intently so I would know where the turn was - finally he made the turn about 30 seconds ahead of me and I prepared myself mentally for one last push once I had made the turn.
My watch beeped for the mile 3 split before I made the turn and I didn't even look down (it turned out to be 6:47). I pushed as hard as I could towards the finish line arch. I crossed with the finish line clock reading 20:15 for an improvement of 12 seconds over my PR.
I got some Gatorade, water and snacks while I got my breath back and waited for Erika and Dave to cross the finish line. I didn't hang around for the awards as I needed to get back home and get my busy Saturday started. When the results were published later in the day I ended up finishing 8th overall and first in my Age Group (even though it was 30-39 instead of the usual 35-39) with a time of 20:14
Overall, I was really pleased with my race. It turned out to be fairly warm and sunny and the hills made for a nice challenge. I don't think I could have done anything differently and those 15 seconds that I need to find to finally break 20 minutes will either have to come on a flat course or as the result of some time at the track working on my speed. As for the race, it was well organized and in a very pretty area of Raleigh and I will certainly be looking for it this time next year!
With only two weeks to go until the Midtown Half Marathon and the temperatures gradually increasing in NC, I thought a 5K would be a good test for me and probably my last chance until the end of the summer to break 20 minutes. I had a goal pace of 6:30/mile in mind that would give me a PR and a good work out and should be achievable even though I haven't been to the track in months!
I arrived at the church at around 7:10 and was able to park within a few yards of the registration table. I paid my $25 and collected my bib. The sun was still behind the clouds and I was actually a little cold in my singlet and shorts so I went back to the car for a few minutes before starting a search for a bathroom. It was a nice change to be able to use a real bathroom (the church was open) for a change at a race and with about 25 minutes to go until the scheduled race start I went out for my warmup run. I didn't know the course very well, but I followed the course monitors as they were making their way out on to the course and found the mostly downhill section that we would run on between 1.6 miles and 2.2 miles and then the uphill section that went back to the finish line area.
I covered about 1.8 miles and did a few sets of strides before heading back to the start line. I found Bill, Erika and Dave from NCRC, we listened to some announcements and wished each other luck before I lined up a couple of rows back in the relatively small field of 185 and didn't see any other familiar faces.
The race started a few minutes after 8:00am and we headed out of the church parking lot and made a right turn on to Cape Charles Drive for a mostly down hill first mile. The crowd quickly thinned out and I found myself in the first 15 or so runners. I have had good success in short races this year when I have pushed a little harder than I typically would in the first mile and the fact that the first mile in this race was mostly downhill resulted in a 5:57 first mile. I knew I'd been pushing the pace fairly hard on the downhill sections, but a sub-6 minute mile was still a little surprising given that I felt that my breathing was under control.
At about the time that I finished my thought about feeling good we made a left turn and started to head up hill. The first "hill" was more like a bump in the road with a short fairly steep incline and then a short flat section followed by a 1/4 mile hill that ascended 50 feet. We had quickly regained the elevation that we'd lost over the first mile in a quarter of a mile and all of a sudden the pace felt really hard and I noticed that the sun was out from behind the clouds and my temperature was rising.
I regained my composure over the next 1/4 mile and passed Bill who snapped this photo:
 |
| Looks like I need to work on the tan on my legs |
The course made a right turn and then another quick right and we made our way back up the hill that we'd come down during the first mile. I quickly went from feeling good and strong to having to dig deep to keep my pace up. I passed another runner and took a glance at my watch... still half a mile to go and my lead over my virtual partner was down to 10 seconds. The nearest runner was off in the distance and I knew he'd be making the left turn to the church parking lot soon, but it seemed to take forever. I was really dragging at this point and watching him intently so I would know where the turn was - finally he made the turn about 30 seconds ahead of me and I prepared myself mentally for one last push once I had made the turn.
My watch beeped for the mile 3 split before I made the turn and I didn't even look down (it turned out to be 6:47). I pushed as hard as I could towards the finish line arch. I crossed with the finish line clock reading 20:15 for an improvement of 12 seconds over my PR.
I got some Gatorade, water and snacks while I got my breath back and waited for Erika and Dave to cross the finish line. I didn't hang around for the awards as I needed to get back home and get my busy Saturday started. When the results were published later in the day I ended up finishing 8th overall and first in my Age Group (even though it was 30-39 instead of the usual 35-39) with a time of 20:14
Overall, I was really pleased with my race. It turned out to be fairly warm and sunny and the hills made for a nice challenge. I don't think I could have done anything differently and those 15 seconds that I need to find to finally break 20 minutes will either have to come on a flat course or as the result of some time at the track working on my speed. As for the race, it was well organized and in a very pretty area of Raleigh and I will certainly be looking for it this time next year!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Half Marathon do-over
I haven't been able to get rid of the feelings of disappointment and annoyance about my performance at the RunRaleigh Half Marathon all week, so I have decided the best thing to do is sign up for another Half Marathon and have another go at meeting my goal time.
While the course for the Midtown Half Marathon (June 3rd) might be flatter for the most part, the weather will be warmer and mostly likely more humid so overall it won't be much different to what I faced at the RunRaleigh Half Marathon.
I have a few weeks to get used to the warmer temperatures (assuming the heat returns to Raleigh sometime soon) and already have a great base in place so I plan on just running my weekend trail, tempo, track and long runs to maintain the speed that I have already built up.
This time I'll break 1:35!
While the course for the Midtown Half Marathon (June 3rd) might be flatter for the most part, the weather will be warmer and mostly likely more humid so overall it won't be much different to what I faced at the RunRaleigh Half Marathon.
I have a few weeks to get used to the warmer temperatures (assuming the heat returns to Raleigh sometime soon) and already have a great base in place so I plan on just running my weekend trail, tempo, track and long runs to maintain the speed that I have already built up.
This time I'll break 1:35!
Monday, April 16, 2012
RunRaleigh Half Marathon Race Report
I finished 55th overall (out of 909 runners) and third in my age group with a time of 1:38:23, but I was and still am disappointed. In this instance, I am actually happy to be disappointed as I think it will help make me a better runner.
On the positive side, the race itself was very well organized. The course was pretty and ran through an area of Raleigh that is rarely used for races. The volunteers were plentiful, enthusiastic and motivating and they had more than enough supplies to hand out to the runners during and after the race and the location of the start/finish area was easily accessible and had numerous exit routes that allowed me to get home while the race was still going on.
As for my performance, I know that the warmer temperatures (62F with 80% humidity) and the sunny stretch between miles 4 and 7 had an effect on me, but I came in to the race with some great training miles and test races behind me and my race was pretty much over by the 9 mile point.
I started out a little quick, but my breathing was under control for the most part - (Miles 1-5) 6:50, 6:57, 6:50, 6:49, 6:46. However, in hindsight, it probably was too quick and I knew it when the sun popped out of the clouds on Western Avenue and those rolling hills started to feel steeper and steeper. I went through 8K in 33:53 and 10K in 42:45 which would both be PRs - probably another sign I was going to quickly.
By the time the race course turned and entered the Greenway at around 7.5 miles I was hot and getting hotter. I had my water bottle with me and had been taking on fluids when I needed them, but the sun had got to me physically and mentally at this point. I had hoped for some relief on the Greenway but instead I got a wall of humidity. (Miles 6-8) 7:07, 7:08, 7:03. My pace had only slowed slightly, but I was on the edge.
I tried to slow down and compose myself but it wasn't working and I decided I needed to walk to cool down. The final miles were a combination of running and walking as I first battled my increased temperature and then battled the lack of desire after my PR time became unobtainable. (Miles 9-13) 8:08, 8:13, 8:07, 8:38, 9:03
I crossed the finish line, got my medal and some refreshments, congratulated some friends who had also finished the race and then headed home. I was annoyed at myself for not battling through the last few miles - even a 8:00 pace over the last five miles would have got me a new PR and was disappointed that I had missed my goal.
It is easy to blame the weather, which certainly played a part, but in hindsight, I think my early pace was probably more of a factor in my increased temperature. However, I think that the biggest factor in my failure was that I had convinced myself before the race that it was going to be too warm and when I started to feel warm during the race I was more aware of it. I know I am not a very good warm weather runner and mentally I don't seem to be able to get past it during a race.
So, I have some goals to run towards in the coming years! One day I'd like to run a 1:30 Half Marathon, which is 6:50/mile pace (ha, look, my first 5 miles were at that pace in this race!). More importantly though, I'd like to become a mentally stronger runner and be able to deal with things not going my way better during races. Running shorter races doesn't really help with that is they are over so quickly and there isn't really time for a long drawn out mental battle so it is something that will only come over time and through experience racing - and I got some good experience with that in the RunRaleigh Half Marathon!
On the positive side, the race itself was very well organized. The course was pretty and ran through an area of Raleigh that is rarely used for races. The volunteers were plentiful, enthusiastic and motivating and they had more than enough supplies to hand out to the runners during and after the race and the location of the start/finish area was easily accessible and had numerous exit routes that allowed me to get home while the race was still going on.
As for my performance, I know that the warmer temperatures (62F with 80% humidity) and the sunny stretch between miles 4 and 7 had an effect on me, but I came in to the race with some great training miles and test races behind me and my race was pretty much over by the 9 mile point.
I started out a little quick, but my breathing was under control for the most part - (Miles 1-5) 6:50, 6:57, 6:50, 6:49, 6:46. However, in hindsight, it probably was too quick and I knew it when the sun popped out of the clouds on Western Avenue and those rolling hills started to feel steeper and steeper. I went through 8K in 33:53 and 10K in 42:45 which would both be PRs - probably another sign I was going to quickly.
By the time the race course turned and entered the Greenway at around 7.5 miles I was hot and getting hotter. I had my water bottle with me and had been taking on fluids when I needed them, but the sun had got to me physically and mentally at this point. I had hoped for some relief on the Greenway but instead I got a wall of humidity. (Miles 6-8) 7:07, 7:08, 7:03. My pace had only slowed slightly, but I was on the edge.
I tried to slow down and compose myself but it wasn't working and I decided I needed to walk to cool down. The final miles were a combination of running and walking as I first battled my increased temperature and then battled the lack of desire after my PR time became unobtainable. (Miles 9-13) 8:08, 8:13, 8:07, 8:38, 9:03
I crossed the finish line, got my medal and some refreshments, congratulated some friends who had also finished the race and then headed home. I was annoyed at myself for not battling through the last few miles - even a 8:00 pace over the last five miles would have got me a new PR and was disappointed that I had missed my goal.
It is easy to blame the weather, which certainly played a part, but in hindsight, I think my early pace was probably more of a factor in my increased temperature. However, I think that the biggest factor in my failure was that I had convinced myself before the race that it was going to be too warm and when I started to feel warm during the race I was more aware of it. I know I am not a very good warm weather runner and mentally I don't seem to be able to get past it during a race.
So, I have some goals to run towards in the coming years! One day I'd like to run a 1:30 Half Marathon, which is 6:50/mile pace (ha, look, my first 5 miles were at that pace in this race!). More importantly though, I'd like to become a mentally stronger runner and be able to deal with things not going my way better during races. Running shorter races doesn't really help with that is they are over so quickly and there isn't really time for a long drawn out mental battle so it is something that will only come over time and through experience racing - and I got some good experience with that in the RunRaleigh Half Marathon!
Friday, April 13, 2012
RunRaleigh Half Marathon Preview
I will be running in the inaugural RunRaleigh Half Marathon this Sunday with a PR as my target.
I started out the year with a Half Marathon PR on my mind and was torn between a return to the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon and the RunRaleigh Half Marathon. I really didn't want to run the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon again as it is poorly organized and expensive but with the close ties between NCRC and the organizer of the RunRaleigh Half Marathon, I wasn't sure whether I'd be needed in a volunteer capacity and be stuck with Raleigh Rocks. In the end, Raleigh Rocks clashed with the Umstead 100 and there were plenty of volunteers for RunRaleigh, so I registered in late February.
Here are some of the things I have been thinking about:
1. I have been in great shape this year so far, with PR's at 5K (20:27 - 6:34/mile), 8K (34:43 - 6:59/mile) and 10K (43:43 - 7:02/mile) and nothing more than a couple of aches and pains during training. My Half Marathon PR is currently 1:36:40 (7:22/mile) and I feel that if everything goes my way on Sunday, I'll be able to run 7:10/mile and finish in just under 1:34:30 - so that is my "A" goal.
2. The course is flatter than Raleigh Rocks and doesn't have any long, steep hills. The last couple of miles are slightly up hill, but nothing major and the middle part of the course is relatively flat. It probably is about as flat is as possible in Raleigh!
3. The weather might be a factor as Sunday is forecast to be a warm day and I certainly prefer the cooler weather. The start time is 7am, so it will still be cool then and hopefully it won't warm up too quickly. If it does warm up I might be forced to focus on 1:36:39 for a new PR, which is my "B" goal for the race.
4. This will be the first time that I run a race longer than 10K in my Nike Free V3's. I have done numerous tempo runs and long runs in them, but running a Half Marathon at race pace is an unknown.
5. I am also considering running without my handheld water bottle and using the water stops - which will be a first for me in a Half Marathon. If I carry the water bottle I don't have to worry about when the next water stop is coming up and I also have something to carry my GUs and S-Caps in, however, it is relatively heavy and annoying to carry. If I don't carry it, I have to work out some other way of carrying my GUs and S-Caps and also will no doubt stress about hydration.
All that being said, I am excited about this race and can't wait for the challenges that await me on Sunday morning. Hopefully, everything will go my way and I'll run an intelligent race and come out with a new PR but if they don't it will surely be an experience that will help me in future races.
I started out the year with a Half Marathon PR on my mind and was torn between a return to the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon and the RunRaleigh Half Marathon. I really didn't want to run the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon again as it is poorly organized and expensive but with the close ties between NCRC and the organizer of the RunRaleigh Half Marathon, I wasn't sure whether I'd be needed in a volunteer capacity and be stuck with Raleigh Rocks. In the end, Raleigh Rocks clashed with the Umstead 100 and there were plenty of volunteers for RunRaleigh, so I registered in late February.
Here are some of the things I have been thinking about:
1. I have been in great shape this year so far, with PR's at 5K (20:27 - 6:34/mile), 8K (34:43 - 6:59/mile) and 10K (43:43 - 7:02/mile) and nothing more than a couple of aches and pains during training. My Half Marathon PR is currently 1:36:40 (7:22/mile) and I feel that if everything goes my way on Sunday, I'll be able to run 7:10/mile and finish in just under 1:34:30 - so that is my "A" goal.
2. The course is flatter than Raleigh Rocks and doesn't have any long, steep hills. The last couple of miles are slightly up hill, but nothing major and the middle part of the course is relatively flat. It probably is about as flat is as possible in Raleigh!
3. The weather might be a factor as Sunday is forecast to be a warm day and I certainly prefer the cooler weather. The start time is 7am, so it will still be cool then and hopefully it won't warm up too quickly. If it does warm up I might be forced to focus on 1:36:39 for a new PR, which is my "B" goal for the race.
4. This will be the first time that I run a race longer than 10K in my Nike Free V3's. I have done numerous tempo runs and long runs in them, but running a Half Marathon at race pace is an unknown.
5. I am also considering running without my handheld water bottle and using the water stops - which will be a first for me in a Half Marathon. If I carry the water bottle I don't have to worry about when the next water stop is coming up and I also have something to carry my GUs and S-Caps in, however, it is relatively heavy and annoying to carry. If I don't carry it, I have to work out some other way of carrying my GUs and S-Caps and also will no doubt stress about hydration.
All that being said, I am excited about this race and can't wait for the challenges that await me on Sunday morning. Hopefully, everything will go my way and I'll run an intelligent race and come out with a new PR but if they don't it will surely be an experience that will help me in future races.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Chick-fil-A 10K
I have been looking for a 10K race recently and when one of my friends posted on Facebook that they would be running the Chick-fil-A 10K a couple of days before the race and that the late registration was going to be at our local Chick-fil-A I decided to sign up.
I took a quick look at the course map and plugged the route in to gmap-pedometer.com to get an idea of the elevation and wasn't surprised that it was hilly (there really isn't a part of Raleigh that is flat!). I still wanted to improve on my 10K PR of 46.15 and with the RunRaleigh Half Marathon only 3 weeks away (where I hope to run at an average speed of 7:10/mile) I decided that I'd be really happy if I could finish under 44 minutes (7:04/mile) given how hilly the course was.
When I looked at the weather forecast the night before the race it showed that the rain was supposed to clear out and be in the high 50's by the time the race started at 8am but it didn't work out that way and it was still raining when I arrived at the start line at 7:40am. I couldn't recall actually running a race in the rain before, but I had already decided that for 10K I'd just stick to a singlet and shorts as there was no real need to stay dry when it is nearly 60F and the rain might actually cool me down.
It seemed that the weather and the other 2 races in Raleigh on the same morning had kept the crowd smaller than I had expected when I signed up and received #1200. I warmed up for a mile, threw in some strides and even managed to chat with Officer Ken who had been assigned a busy intersection right near the start line. I set my Virtual Partner for 7:00/mile and headed to the start line ready to go.
As we lined up at the start line and I found myself right at the front I noticed that there were relatively few familiar faces. The 5K and 10K started at the same time and the other runners at the front were talking about how hilly the course was going to be but I couldn't tell whether they were running the 5K or the 10K. After some trouble with the starting pistol (the guest starter eventually ended up just saying 'BANG' in to the microphone) we were off and running and it was raining a little, but not much.
Mile 1: 6.19. The race started out with a quick sprint to the corner and a left turn on to Litchford Road. I had noticed a huge puddle on the corner during my warmup and decided that there was no point trying to go around it as my feet were going to get wet anyway so I followed the other runners ahead of me who just plowed straight through it. Positions were quickly established as runners fell in to their rhythm and we headed down the first hill.
Mile 2: 7:13. Just past the 1 mile marker the downhill became an uphill and we began to climb 170 feet over the next 1.75 miles. I worked on keeping my effort under control through this section and was passed by one guy who turned out to be the last person to pass me in the entire race.
Mile 3: 7:23. The majority of this mile was uphill as we turned off of Litchford in to North Ridge and reached the highest point of the course at 2.66 miles. I still felt pretty good at this point and had passed one runner that had struggled to get up the hill. I knew that the next couple of miles were mostly downhill which helped me deal with the fact that I'd lost 36 seconds over two miles and was only just ahead of my target pace.
Mile 4: 7:04. This gradual downhill section of North Ridge was pretty as we ran by the golf course and the huge houses and I noticed that my breathing had returned to normal and the pace felt easier. I passed a young high school cross country runner and noticed that the female leader was gradually getting closer (she had been a long way ahead earlier). I did a double take on my watch when I passed a sign that said "Mile 5" instead of "Mile 4" and wondered how many 10K runners would be caught out by that obvious mistake.
Mile 5: 6:48. We left North Ridge and made a right turn back on the Litchford for the 2.2 miles back to the start/finish area. I felt great at this point and stretched my legs on the downhill section. We started to come up on the slower 5K walkers and I was forced to run down the middle of the road to pass them as they were walking 4 and 5 wide - why people do that I have no idea. I could see the final hill looming in the distance and the female leader coming closer and closer.
Mile 6 + 0.2 : 7:31 + 1:25. I got to the female leader just as the final hill began and she obviously took it as her queue to speed up as she suddenly found another gear and moved away from me up the hill. I quickly found the hill hard going and my legs felt heavy for the first time. I worked on maintaining good form and trying to not work too hard but I was slowing quickly. At more than one point during this climb I really felt like I wasn't going anywhere and wondered whether the hill would ever end! It finally did and we made the right turn back towards the start finish line but I had absolutely nothing left in the tank and couldn't find any extra speed. We passed the 3 mile marker for the 5K at least 0.1 of a mile too early and weaved our way through the parking lot to the finish line which I crossed with a time of 43:44.
My finish time of 43.44 is a 7:02/mile average which I was really pleased with. The two big hills on the course had been tough which made the a 7:02/mile average even better and bodes well for the RunRaleigh Half Marathon. Oh, and it rained for the entire race but it didn't really bother me - it may have even helped keep me cool. My shoes were soaked from the puddles, but I didn't have a single blister or even really notice that my feet were wet when I was running.
I felt like I had to be in the top 15, if not the top 10. I tried to check with the timing company but they were taking a long time to calculate the results so we decided to hang around for the awards ceremony and eat some free Chick-fil-A biscuits.
To cut a long story short, the awards took a really long time and when my age group came and went without my name being called I was confused. I talked to the timing company and they didn't have a time for me (I was down as DNF). I was disappointed as when we looked at my age group, I would have won by over 6 minutes and would have received a medal. They assured me that they would fix the problem and took my information.
I waited for the results to be posted and I still wasn't included and my emails so far to the timing company (connectrace.net from GA) have been ignored. It looks like I was 8th overall. Hopefully they'll fix the problem.
Update: The timing company has fixed the results!
I took a quick look at the course map and plugged the route in to gmap-pedometer.com to get an idea of the elevation and wasn't surprised that it was hilly (there really isn't a part of Raleigh that is flat!). I still wanted to improve on my 10K PR of 46.15 and with the RunRaleigh Half Marathon only 3 weeks away (where I hope to run at an average speed of 7:10/mile) I decided that I'd be really happy if I could finish under 44 minutes (7:04/mile) given how hilly the course was.
 |
| 270 feet of elevation gain over 6.2 miles |
It seemed that the weather and the other 2 races in Raleigh on the same morning had kept the crowd smaller than I had expected when I signed up and received #1200. I warmed up for a mile, threw in some strides and even managed to chat with Officer Ken who had been assigned a busy intersection right near the start line. I set my Virtual Partner for 7:00/mile and headed to the start line ready to go.
As we lined up at the start line and I found myself right at the front I noticed that there were relatively few familiar faces. The 5K and 10K started at the same time and the other runners at the front were talking about how hilly the course was going to be but I couldn't tell whether they were running the 5K or the 10K. After some trouble with the starting pistol (the guest starter eventually ended up just saying 'BANG' in to the microphone) we were off and running and it was raining a little, but not much.
Mile 1: 6.19. The race started out with a quick sprint to the corner and a left turn on to Litchford Road. I had noticed a huge puddle on the corner during my warmup and decided that there was no point trying to go around it as my feet were going to get wet anyway so I followed the other runners ahead of me who just plowed straight through it. Positions were quickly established as runners fell in to their rhythm and we headed down the first hill.
Mile 2: 7:13. Just past the 1 mile marker the downhill became an uphill and we began to climb 170 feet over the next 1.75 miles. I worked on keeping my effort under control through this section and was passed by one guy who turned out to be the last person to pass me in the entire race.
Mile 3: 7:23. The majority of this mile was uphill as we turned off of Litchford in to North Ridge and reached the highest point of the course at 2.66 miles. I still felt pretty good at this point and had passed one runner that had struggled to get up the hill. I knew that the next couple of miles were mostly downhill which helped me deal with the fact that I'd lost 36 seconds over two miles and was only just ahead of my target pace.
Mile 4: 7:04. This gradual downhill section of North Ridge was pretty as we ran by the golf course and the huge houses and I noticed that my breathing had returned to normal and the pace felt easier. I passed a young high school cross country runner and noticed that the female leader was gradually getting closer (she had been a long way ahead earlier). I did a double take on my watch when I passed a sign that said "Mile 5" instead of "Mile 4" and wondered how many 10K runners would be caught out by that obvious mistake.
Mile 5: 6:48. We left North Ridge and made a right turn back on the Litchford for the 2.2 miles back to the start/finish area. I felt great at this point and stretched my legs on the downhill section. We started to come up on the slower 5K walkers and I was forced to run down the middle of the road to pass them as they were walking 4 and 5 wide - why people do that I have no idea. I could see the final hill looming in the distance and the female leader coming closer and closer.
Mile 6 + 0.2 : 7:31 + 1:25. I got to the female leader just as the final hill began and she obviously took it as her queue to speed up as she suddenly found another gear and moved away from me up the hill. I quickly found the hill hard going and my legs felt heavy for the first time. I worked on maintaining good form and trying to not work too hard but I was slowing quickly. At more than one point during this climb I really felt like I wasn't going anywhere and wondered whether the hill would ever end! It finally did and we made the right turn back towards the start finish line but I had absolutely nothing left in the tank and couldn't find any extra speed. We passed the 3 mile marker for the 5K at least 0.1 of a mile too early and weaved our way through the parking lot to the finish line which I crossed with a time of 43:44.
My finish time of 43.44 is a 7:02/mile average which I was really pleased with. The two big hills on the course had been tough which made the a 7:02/mile average even better and bodes well for the RunRaleigh Half Marathon. Oh, and it rained for the entire race but it didn't really bother me - it may have even helped keep me cool. My shoes were soaked from the puddles, but I didn't have a single blister or even really notice that my feet were wet when I was running.
I felt like I had to be in the top 15, if not the top 10. I tried to check with the timing company but they were taking a long time to calculate the results so we decided to hang around for the awards ceremony and eat some free Chick-fil-A biscuits.
To cut a long story short, the awards took a really long time and when my age group came and went without my name being called I was confused. I talked to the timing company and they didn't have a time for me (I was down as DNF). I was disappointed as when we looked at my age group, I would have won by over 6 minutes and would have received a medal. They assured me that they would fix the problem and took my information.
I waited for the results to be posted and I still wasn't included and my emails so far to the timing company (connectrace.net from GA) have been ignored. It looks like I was 8th overall. Hopefully they'll fix the problem.
Update: The timing company has fixed the results!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Pace Leader - Tobacco Road Half Marathon
After seeing how rewarding and fun being a pace group leader could be when I ran with a group at the City of Oaks Marathon, I approached the organizers of the pace groups for the Tobacco Road Half Marathon to see whether I could pace a group. Luckily, the organizers of the pace groups are friends of mine and were happy for me to lead the 2:10 Half Marathon pace group.
The Tobacco Road race organizers had requested pace groups for 1:30, 1:40, 1:50, 2:00, 2:10, 2:20 and 2:30 for the Half Marathon. The job of the pace leader is to provide encouragement to the runners whilst maintaining the pace required to finish at their designated time. On a flat course like Tobacco Road, this would mean running consistent mile splits (on hilly courses pacing is more difficult as the extra effort required to go up hill must be taken in to account) at a relaxed and conversational pace. A 2:10 Half Marathon is 9:54/mile, which is certainly a relaxed, conversational pace for me (even if it was a pace that I hardly ever run).
I practiced running at 9:54/mile a couple of weeks before the race and did a pretty good job even though I found the pace to be uncomfortable to begin with. As the miles passed by I found that I was looking at my watch less and less and I had found a rhythm that was working.
On the day before the Marathon/Half Marathon, I worked at the pace group table at the Expo answering questions from runners about how pace groups worked and what groups would be available on race day. It became quickly apparent that every runner has a different goal and wants to approach that goal in a different way and that although the groups we had available wouldn't fit everyone's requirements, they would be useful to lots of runners.
On race morning I woke up at 4:00 am to the sounds of thunderstorms and pouring rain. I knew that storms were a possibility, but a quick check of the local weather station radar showed that the storms would be gone by 4:30 and the race should at least have a dry start. The temperature would be close to 60F for the majority of the race but there was some humidity in the air and no breeze at all which meant runners were going to struggle. I made it to the parking area at 5:00 am and got a ride over to the race start/finish area to start preparing the signs and balloons that each pace group leader would be carrying for the entire race. Each pace leader had a yellow shirt to wear with the time they'd be running on the back as well as the sign to carry with the balloons to help runners easily identify the pace leader as well as the pace they were running at.
I entered the already crowded starting corral (4000 runners would be starting the Marathon and Half Marathon at the same time) 20 minutes before the start of the race and positioned myself near to where people wanting to run at nearly 10 minutes per mile should be standing. I chatted to runners around me and answered some questions about what my strategy would be for the race and water stops (I wanted to run 9:50/mile consistently and would be slowing slightly for each water stop but not walking through them).
I had set my Virtual Partner on my Garmin to 9:50/mile and planned on using that to keep pace - this was my major mistake for the day.
Finally (20 minutes standing in a starting corral is a LONG time), the race started and it took nearly 2 minutes to slowly walk and then run across the starting line. The crowd of runners moved at a pace that was close to what I had wanted to run, but a little slower than I wanted. If I had been running on my own, I would have weaved my way through the crowd (well, I wouldn't have been that far back to start with, but you get the idea) but I had a group of about 20 people that wanted to stay close to me so I was hesitant to make any big moves. I remained patient, waited for gaps to appear and slowly moved through them. The first couple of miles were on the roads heading down to the Tobacco Trail, and we were right on track pace wise as we passed the mile 2 sign which helped me to relax a little as I felt like we were now in the right place in the crowd of runners as everyone seemed to be moving at the same pace with little passing going on.
Once we made the left turn on to the Tobacco Trail (which was wet under foot), the Marathon runners turned right the crowd thinned a little further. However, it was immediately more humid as the trees that run along the trail trap the humid air and I knew it was going to be hard for a couple of the runners that were already breathing heavily behind me. Unfortunately, there isn't anything I can do for them apart from to encourage them to run intelligently, respect the weather conditions and stay hydrated - I couldn't slow down to run with them as I had a group of about 10 runners that weren't struggling at the pace we needed to run at.
I missed the mile 3 marker completely, but I already knew that my GPS was having problems with the overcast skies and trees along the trail as my Virtual Partner went from 10 seconds ahead to 90 seconds behind (and stayed there) in the space of half a mile. By the time the mile 4 marker appeared my watch showed 3.8 miles but a quick glance at the elapsed time showed me we were still about 10 seconds ahead (at least 9:54/mile is easy math!). I have had bad experiences with mile markers being in the wrong place before, but I had no real choice but to trust them and ignore my "trusty" Virtual Partner.
The leaders of the Half Marathon had already made the turn (which was at exactly half way on the out and back course) and passed us not long after the 4 mile sign. I found myself having to constantly tell runners around me to move to the right side of the trail to allow the leaders space to pass us - maybe the trail isn't big enough for this number of runners.
As the temperature and humidity began to take their toll on the runners ahead of us that had gone out too fast we began to pass more and more walkers. I noticed how many runners around me were wearing headphones, which was most of them. I thought that it was a pity as even if I wanted to encourage them, they couldn't hear me. I had four non-headphone wearing runners that I chatted with about their race goals and how they were feeling - two men and two ladies. The miles passed by as we made our way along the slight decline then incline of the trail to the half way turn around point and we turned at exactly 1:05 - right on time.
As I made it to the mile 7 marker I decided that I should probably be pressing the lap button at each mile marker so I could get an accurate split as the GPS was still all over the place. As we approached mile 9 the Marathon leader appeared from nowhere - running without the lead bike (I'd later find out that the lead bike had made a mistake early on and lead the two leaders the wrong way - they wouldn't ever recover and finished 2nd and 3rd). A couple of minutes later a very confused looking lead bike passed us, followed by the front of the Marathon field. We encouraged them and amazingly, those that were outside of the top 15 or so encouraged us right back!
My four runners stayed strong and we stayed right on track. In fact, we passed the ten mile marker at 1:38:30 - a lead of about 40 seconds over where we needed to be. We finally left the trail and got back on to the road and all of a sudden there was a breeze. It felt great, except it made holding the sign and balloons that much harder! The wide open roads suddenly became cramped as we were pushed on to the shoulder of the road, so the road could remain open. The shoulder wasn't even 4 feet wide and it was impossible to run more than 2 people wide which made it very difficult to pass the increasing number of walkers. I watched our pace drop and decided that we had to run outside the cones. We hadn't seen a single car, so I felt that we'd be safe enough as long as we went single-file.
We passed the mile 11 sign and before we made it to the mile 12 sign a couple of runners that I hadn't seen before came up along side and thanked me for pacing them! They explained that they had been following 20 yards behind for the last 9 miles and that I had done a great job holding the sign and balloons so they could keep an eye on me. I laughed and wished them luck as they eased ahead to the finish. The young girl that hadn't said a single word during the entire race decided that she was ready to go and thanked me as well. She had been on my shoulder for the entire race but always just behind me - I'd assume so she wouldn't have to talk to me! As we made the final turn with half a mile left (and more than 6 minutes to go), the rest of my group made their moves and I momentarily lost concentration and sped up a little. I caught myself and slowed down but the damage was done and I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:08:30 (and a GPS distance of 13:00 miles). I was a little disappointed that I was 90 seconds ahead of my goal, but when I saw 3 of my group, who had waited to thank me for doing a great job pacing them, I felt a sense of achievement that I had helped them to their goals.
When I think back over the race, I think I did a great job as a first time pacer but I did learn a valuable lesson about using my GPS. If I get a chance to pace again (and I'd love to pace again at Tobacco Road next year), I'll use my watch in manual lap mode and take my splits between the mile markers instead of having the GPS calculate the distance. The main reason I was 90 seconds off was that my watch "lost" 0.1 of a mile (59 seconds) but it could easily have been 0.1 or even more off in the other direction.
The Tobacco Road race organizers had requested pace groups for 1:30, 1:40, 1:50, 2:00, 2:10, 2:20 and 2:30 for the Half Marathon. The job of the pace leader is to provide encouragement to the runners whilst maintaining the pace required to finish at their designated time. On a flat course like Tobacco Road, this would mean running consistent mile splits (on hilly courses pacing is more difficult as the extra effort required to go up hill must be taken in to account) at a relaxed and conversational pace. A 2:10 Half Marathon is 9:54/mile, which is certainly a relaxed, conversational pace for me (even if it was a pace that I hardly ever run).
I practiced running at 9:54/mile a couple of weeks before the race and did a pretty good job even though I found the pace to be uncomfortable to begin with. As the miles passed by I found that I was looking at my watch less and less and I had found a rhythm that was working.
On the day before the Marathon/Half Marathon, I worked at the pace group table at the Expo answering questions from runners about how pace groups worked and what groups would be available on race day. It became quickly apparent that every runner has a different goal and wants to approach that goal in a different way and that although the groups we had available wouldn't fit everyone's requirements, they would be useful to lots of runners.
On race morning I woke up at 4:00 am to the sounds of thunderstorms and pouring rain. I knew that storms were a possibility, but a quick check of the local weather station radar showed that the storms would be gone by 4:30 and the race should at least have a dry start. The temperature would be close to 60F for the majority of the race but there was some humidity in the air and no breeze at all which meant runners were going to struggle. I made it to the parking area at 5:00 am and got a ride over to the race start/finish area to start preparing the signs and balloons that each pace group leader would be carrying for the entire race. Each pace leader had a yellow shirt to wear with the time they'd be running on the back as well as the sign to carry with the balloons to help runners easily identify the pace leader as well as the pace they were running at.
I entered the already crowded starting corral (4000 runners would be starting the Marathon and Half Marathon at the same time) 20 minutes before the start of the race and positioned myself near to where people wanting to run at nearly 10 minutes per mile should be standing. I chatted to runners around me and answered some questions about what my strategy would be for the race and water stops (I wanted to run 9:50/mile consistently and would be slowing slightly for each water stop but not walking through them).
I had set my Virtual Partner on my Garmin to 9:50/mile and planned on using that to keep pace - this was my major mistake for the day.
Finally (20 minutes standing in a starting corral is a LONG time), the race started and it took nearly 2 minutes to slowly walk and then run across the starting line. The crowd of runners moved at a pace that was close to what I had wanted to run, but a little slower than I wanted. If I had been running on my own, I would have weaved my way through the crowd (well, I wouldn't have been that far back to start with, but you get the idea) but I had a group of about 20 people that wanted to stay close to me so I was hesitant to make any big moves. I remained patient, waited for gaps to appear and slowly moved through them. The first couple of miles were on the roads heading down to the Tobacco Trail, and we were right on track pace wise as we passed the mile 2 sign which helped me to relax a little as I felt like we were now in the right place in the crowd of runners as everyone seemed to be moving at the same pace with little passing going on.
Once we made the left turn on to the Tobacco Trail (which was wet under foot), the Marathon runners turned right the crowd thinned a little further. However, it was immediately more humid as the trees that run along the trail trap the humid air and I knew it was going to be hard for a couple of the runners that were already breathing heavily behind me. Unfortunately, there isn't anything I can do for them apart from to encourage them to run intelligently, respect the weather conditions and stay hydrated - I couldn't slow down to run with them as I had a group of about 10 runners that weren't struggling at the pace we needed to run at.
I missed the mile 3 marker completely, but I already knew that my GPS was having problems with the overcast skies and trees along the trail as my Virtual Partner went from 10 seconds ahead to 90 seconds behind (and stayed there) in the space of half a mile. By the time the mile 4 marker appeared my watch showed 3.8 miles but a quick glance at the elapsed time showed me we were still about 10 seconds ahead (at least 9:54/mile is easy math!). I have had bad experiences with mile markers being in the wrong place before, but I had no real choice but to trust them and ignore my "trusty" Virtual Partner.
The leaders of the Half Marathon had already made the turn (which was at exactly half way on the out and back course) and passed us not long after the 4 mile sign. I found myself having to constantly tell runners around me to move to the right side of the trail to allow the leaders space to pass us - maybe the trail isn't big enough for this number of runners.
As the temperature and humidity began to take their toll on the runners ahead of us that had gone out too fast we began to pass more and more walkers. I noticed how many runners around me were wearing headphones, which was most of them. I thought that it was a pity as even if I wanted to encourage them, they couldn't hear me. I had four non-headphone wearing runners that I chatted with about their race goals and how they were feeling - two men and two ladies. The miles passed by as we made our way along the slight decline then incline of the trail to the half way turn around point and we turned at exactly 1:05 - right on time.
As I made it to the mile 7 marker I decided that I should probably be pressing the lap button at each mile marker so I could get an accurate split as the GPS was still all over the place. As we approached mile 9 the Marathon leader appeared from nowhere - running without the lead bike (I'd later find out that the lead bike had made a mistake early on and lead the two leaders the wrong way - they wouldn't ever recover and finished 2nd and 3rd). A couple of minutes later a very confused looking lead bike passed us, followed by the front of the Marathon field. We encouraged them and amazingly, those that were outside of the top 15 or so encouraged us right back!
My four runners stayed strong and we stayed right on track. In fact, we passed the ten mile marker at 1:38:30 - a lead of about 40 seconds over where we needed to be. We finally left the trail and got back on to the road and all of a sudden there was a breeze. It felt great, except it made holding the sign and balloons that much harder! The wide open roads suddenly became cramped as we were pushed on to the shoulder of the road, so the road could remain open. The shoulder wasn't even 4 feet wide and it was impossible to run more than 2 people wide which made it very difficult to pass the increasing number of walkers. I watched our pace drop and decided that we had to run outside the cones. We hadn't seen a single car, so I felt that we'd be safe enough as long as we went single-file.
We passed the mile 11 sign and before we made it to the mile 12 sign a couple of runners that I hadn't seen before came up along side and thanked me for pacing them! They explained that they had been following 20 yards behind for the last 9 miles and that I had done a great job holding the sign and balloons so they could keep an eye on me. I laughed and wished them luck as they eased ahead to the finish. The young girl that hadn't said a single word during the entire race decided that she was ready to go and thanked me as well. She had been on my shoulder for the entire race but always just behind me - I'd assume so she wouldn't have to talk to me! As we made the final turn with half a mile left (and more than 6 minutes to go), the rest of my group made their moves and I momentarily lost concentration and sped up a little. I caught myself and slowed down but the damage was done and I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:08:30 (and a GPS distance of 13:00 miles). I was a little disappointed that I was 90 seconds ahead of my goal, but when I saw 3 of my group, who had waited to thank me for doing a great job pacing them, I felt a sense of achievement that I had helped them to their goals.
When I think back over the race, I think I did a great job as a first time pacer but I did learn a valuable lesson about using my GPS. If I get a chance to pace again (and I'd love to pace again at Tobacco Road next year), I'll use my watch in manual lap mode and take my splits between the mile markers instead of having the GPS calculate the distance. The main reason I was 90 seconds off was that my watch "lost" 0.1 of a mile (59 seconds) but it could easily have been 0.1 or even more off in the other direction.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
St Paddy's 8K
I hadn't planned on running the St Paddy's 8K this year, but I changed my mind the day before the race for a few reasons:
1. I had been confined to the treadmill while working in New York for the week before the race.
2. The weather forecast for Saturday (race day) was rain and storms, and I thought I'd be more likely to run a race hard than I would be to drag myself to the track for my speed work.
3. My 8K PR of 41:30 (8:20/mile) from 2009 was laughable compared to my other more recent PR's
Liz, Jack and I went downtown to register the night before the race and we decided that they wouldn't come down to watch the race as it was going to be rainy and the 3pm start time was in the middle of Jack's afternoon nap.
On Saturday, I arrived downtown at 2:30pm, parked and then began my warmup. For a long time, I had never bothered running more than a few hundred yards as a warmup for a race, but I had had good success with the Run for Young and Run for the Roses after I had run a couple of miles as a warmup that I wanted to keep using what seemed to be working.
I ran a couple of easy miles, stopping occasionally for some stretching and got to the start line 3 minutes before the start of the race, warmed up and ready to go.
I knew there were plenty of rolling hills on the course and that the last mile was more up hill than any of the other miles, so I wanted to leave enough in the tank to finish strongly. Taking that in to account, I thought I'd be able to break 35 minutes and have an average pace of 7:00/mile or faster.
The race started promptly at 3pm and I was probably in the 4th or 5th row of runners to cross the starting line.
I don't remember a huge amount about the individual miles, but here are some thoughts that I do remember:
Mile 1: (6:39) I wanted to start quickly but not too fast and the slight uphill start followed by a nice steady downhill section meant I was able to get off to a good start and around some of the turns (there were lots of turns on this course!) before we came to the first of the rolling hills. I remember telling myself to relax on the uphill part and then run the downhill part harder instead of using up lots of energy going uphill and having nothing for the easier part - this is something that I think most runners struggle with, but I think I am getting better at it.
Mile 2: (7:00) This mile was rolling hill after rolling hill as we twisted and turned our way through Raleigh. The runners had spread out by this point, but I was in a little group with 3 or 4 other runners and I found it interesting that I was the only one dropping off the back of the group on the uphills and rejoining them on the downhills
Mile 3: (7:02) The course began to loop around the Oakwood Cemetery at the start of this mile and was mostly flat which was a nice change.
Mile 4: (7:12) As we completed the loop of the Cemetery we descended to the lowest point on the course and began the climb back to the finish. The climb was about 70ft over 0.6 of a mile and as I there wasn't much downhill left on the course, I knew I had to run the uphill harder or I wouldn't be under 35 minutes.
Mile 5: (7:14) The last mile was tough. The climb continued another third of a mile before a short downhill section and another quick climb as we made the final turn on to Blount Street. I knew my pace was dropping but I was about 10 seconds ahead of where I needed to be to break 35 minutes when the finish line came in to view. I waited until I had about 400 meters to go and kicked as hard as I could while watching the clock tick up. It seemed to take me forever to get to the finish line but the official clock was still in the 34:40's when I crossed.
Official Time: 34:43 (6:59/mile)
Overall: 56/2135
Age Group: 8/145
I had achieved all of my goals for the race - I broke 35 minutes and even ended up with a 6:59/mile average. I also ran a race where I had just enough for a finishing kick and ran most of the hills intelligently, so I was very happy with my afternoon's work!
1. I had been confined to the treadmill while working in New York for the week before the race.
2. The weather forecast for Saturday (race day) was rain and storms, and I thought I'd be more likely to run a race hard than I would be to drag myself to the track for my speed work.
3. My 8K PR of 41:30 (8:20/mile) from 2009 was laughable compared to my other more recent PR's
Liz, Jack and I went downtown to register the night before the race and we decided that they wouldn't come down to watch the race as it was going to be rainy and the 3pm start time was in the middle of Jack's afternoon nap.
On Saturday, I arrived downtown at 2:30pm, parked and then began my warmup. For a long time, I had never bothered running more than a few hundred yards as a warmup for a race, but I had had good success with the Run for Young and Run for the Roses after I had run a couple of miles as a warmup that I wanted to keep using what seemed to be working.
I ran a couple of easy miles, stopping occasionally for some stretching and got to the start line 3 minutes before the start of the race, warmed up and ready to go.
I knew there were plenty of rolling hills on the course and that the last mile was more up hill than any of the other miles, so I wanted to leave enough in the tank to finish strongly. Taking that in to account, I thought I'd be able to break 35 minutes and have an average pace of 7:00/mile or faster.
I don't remember a huge amount about the individual miles, but here are some thoughts that I do remember:
Mile 1: (6:39) I wanted to start quickly but not too fast and the slight uphill start followed by a nice steady downhill section meant I was able to get off to a good start and around some of the turns (there were lots of turns on this course!) before we came to the first of the rolling hills. I remember telling myself to relax on the uphill part and then run the downhill part harder instead of using up lots of energy going uphill and having nothing for the easier part - this is something that I think most runners struggle with, but I think I am getting better at it.
Mile 2: (7:00) This mile was rolling hill after rolling hill as we twisted and turned our way through Raleigh. The runners had spread out by this point, but I was in a little group with 3 or 4 other runners and I found it interesting that I was the only one dropping off the back of the group on the uphills and rejoining them on the downhills
Mile 3: (7:02) The course began to loop around the Oakwood Cemetery at the start of this mile and was mostly flat which was a nice change.
Mile 4: (7:12) As we completed the loop of the Cemetery we descended to the lowest point on the course and began the climb back to the finish. The climb was about 70ft over 0.6 of a mile and as I there wasn't much downhill left on the course, I knew I had to run the uphill harder or I wouldn't be under 35 minutes.
Mile 5: (7:14) The last mile was tough. The climb continued another third of a mile before a short downhill section and another quick climb as we made the final turn on to Blount Street. I knew my pace was dropping but I was about 10 seconds ahead of where I needed to be to break 35 minutes when the finish line came in to view. I waited until I had about 400 meters to go and kicked as hard as I could while watching the clock tick up. It seemed to take me forever to get to the finish line but the official clock was still in the 34:40's when I crossed.
Official Time: 34:43 (6:59/mile)
Overall: 56/2135
Age Group: 8/145
I had achieved all of my goals for the race - I broke 35 minutes and even ended up with a 6:59/mile average. I also ran a race where I had just enough for a finishing kick and ran most of the hills intelligently, so I was very happy with my afternoon's work!
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| Very tired about to cross the finish line! |
Thursday, February 16, 2012
My Current Shoes
I have three different pairs of running shoes that I wear at the moment, depending on what type of workout I am doing and I feel that they are a great combination for me at the moment.
For trail running, I have a pair of New Balance Minimus Trail (MT10) shoes. I bought these shoes a year ago and it took my legs (calves) a while to get used to the 4mm heel-toe drop and very minimal design. I have been running once a week (6-7 miles) on the trails since the start of the year and I feel like it has improved my form and leg strength.
For track running, I have a pair of Nike Free 3.0 v3 shoes. These are a more minimal, lower to the ground with less support version of the Nike Free Run that I have been running in since 2010. I had a different pair of the 3.0's in 2011, but they were a half size too small and I found them uncomfortable to run in.
For tempo, easy and long runs, I have a pair of Brooks Pure Flow shows. The "Pure" line is Brooks' most minimal line of running shoes and I decided to give them a try after reading lots of good things about them on other blogs. So far I have put 64 miles on them including long runs of 12 and 14 miles and can safely say that I can't imagine running these workouts in any other shoe now as they are comfortable and while I can still feel the road, my calves feel great at the end of a long run.
For trail running, I have a pair of New Balance Minimus Trail (MT10) shoes. I bought these shoes a year ago and it took my legs (calves) a while to get used to the 4mm heel-toe drop and very minimal design. I have been running once a week (6-7 miles) on the trails since the start of the year and I feel like it has improved my form and leg strength.
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| New Balance MT10 |
For track running, I have a pair of Nike Free 3.0 v3 shoes. These are a more minimal, lower to the ground with less support version of the Nike Free Run that I have been running in since 2010. I had a different pair of the 3.0's in 2011, but they were a half size too small and I found them uncomfortable to run in.
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| Nike Free 3.0 v3 |
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| Brooks Pure Flow |
Monday, February 13, 2012
New 5K PR
I took a decent sized step towards my goal of running a sub 20 minute 5K yesterday by completing the Run for the Roses 5K in 20:27 (a PR by 15 seconds).
Although my Garmin data only reports 91 feet of elevation gain, the up hill portions of the final mile certainly felt larger than that yesterday! It was a bitterly cold day (41F, 3C) with gusting winds of around 15 miles per hour so I warmed up wearing lots of layers and stripped down to my shorts, short sleeved shirt and gloves just before the start of the race.
I banked 30 seconds or so in the first mile (6:07) when the course was mostly flat or downhill and we were protected from the wind and there was actually a point when I wondered whether I needed my gloves on or not. At the half way point the course took a turn and the up hill portions of the race began just as the wind appeared - I was glad I hadn't taken off my gloves now!
Mile 2 was steady (6:39) as I tried to maintain some speed but reserve some energy for the final mile. The final mile has a section that looks like a "S" where we turned left, right, right, left and then left in less than 0.4 of a mile which is then followed by a up hill section. I tried to keep my cadence high through this section knowing that I could easily lose 10-15 seconds if I backed off at this point. I passed a few runners in mile 3 (and didn't get passed by anyone) and didn't even notice a 6:57 split beep on my watch as we rounded the final corner and headed for the finish line.
I could see finish line clock ticking up as I made my way through the final 0.1 of a mile and I knew I'd PR. NCRC volunteers cheered for me by name as I ran towards the finish line. The clock read 20:28 as I crossed the timing mats and I hit stop on my watch. I'd later find out that my chip time was 20:27!
I didn't run the Run for the Roses last year, but the year before I had run a 22:28 and wondered if I'd ever get under 22 minutes - I think I've come a long way in 2 years! Now I just need to find another 28 second improvement from somewhere.
Although my Garmin data only reports 91 feet of elevation gain, the up hill portions of the final mile certainly felt larger than that yesterday! It was a bitterly cold day (41F, 3C) with gusting winds of around 15 miles per hour so I warmed up wearing lots of layers and stripped down to my shorts, short sleeved shirt and gloves just before the start of the race.
I banked 30 seconds or so in the first mile (6:07) when the course was mostly flat or downhill and we were protected from the wind and there was actually a point when I wondered whether I needed my gloves on or not. At the half way point the course took a turn and the up hill portions of the race began just as the wind appeared - I was glad I hadn't taken off my gloves now!
Mile 2 was steady (6:39) as I tried to maintain some speed but reserve some energy for the final mile. The final mile has a section that looks like a "S" where we turned left, right, right, left and then left in less than 0.4 of a mile which is then followed by a up hill section. I tried to keep my cadence high through this section knowing that I could easily lose 10-15 seconds if I backed off at this point. I passed a few runners in mile 3 (and didn't get passed by anyone) and didn't even notice a 6:57 split beep on my watch as we rounded the final corner and headed for the finish line.
I could see finish line clock ticking up as I made my way through the final 0.1 of a mile and I knew I'd PR. NCRC volunteers cheered for me by name as I ran towards the finish line. The clock read 20:28 as I crossed the timing mats and I hit stop on my watch. I'd later find out that my chip time was 20:27!
I didn't run the Run for the Roses last year, but the year before I had run a 22:28 and wondered if I'd ever get under 22 minutes - I think I've come a long way in 2 years! Now I just need to find another 28 second improvement from somewhere.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Joining the 1000 Mile Club
At the first quarter NCRC club meeting, the club members that had set themselves a target of running at least 1000 miles in 2011 (and succeeded) got a chance to celebrate their success and received a cool shirt from Capital RunWalk as a reward. I ran 1200 miles in 2011, so for the first time I was included! It was a fun evening and we all got together for a group photo.
I have set myself a goal of 1200 miles (100 miles per month) again for 2012 and started out with 124 in January.
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| The 2011 NCRC 1000 mile club |
Monday, January 9, 2012
Run for Young 5K
Given that one of my goals for 2012 is to run a 19:XX 5K I decided to run the Run for Young 5K this past weekend to see what my starting point was before I start actually training!
I ran the Run for Young in 2010 and finished in 23:02 on a freezing cold day, so I knew what the course looked like and was prepared for the rolling hills of Hillsborough Street. The weather this year was much nicer (50F) and I managed to get downtown early enough to warm up for a couple of miles and do some stretching (something I very rarely manage to do before a race).
I set the Virtual Partner on my watch to 6:45 pace (which would be a finishing time of 20:58) just to help me track my pace as I really didn't think I was in good enough shape to break 21 minutes on the back of a couple of tempo runs @ 7:10 pace and one track workout. I also wore my foot pod so I could track my cadence as I was curious how well I would be able to maintain my form as I got tired towards the end of the race.
I didn't manage to weave my way to the front of the corral before the race started, so I was a little slow away from the start when the race started and had to navigate around some slower runners who just had to start at the front! The first mile seemed to take forever as we went down the hill on Edenton and then up the hill on to Hillsborough Street where we continued the slow climb to the turn around. I went through the first mile in 6:45 and felt pretty good. The second mile included a course change from 2010 where we now went around two roundabouts before heading back down Hillsborough Street. By the time we made it to the roundabouts, I was already beginning to feel the pace catching up with me and was spending more and more time focusing on my form.
My watch beeped for a 6:53 mile for mile 2 which I was really happy with as I had been working hard and would have been disheartened to see a 7:XX pop up. By this point I was part of a little group of about 5-7 runners that all appeared to be running around the same pace. Running in a group helped me through the next three quarters of a mile as I was struggling to maintain the pace and staying in or around the group became my focus. As we got to the downhill/uphill intersection of Hillsborough/Edenton, I relaxed as much as I could going up the hill and was surprised at how I wasn't left behind my the other runners who attacked the hill and just as the hill crested I kicked for the finish line with about 200 meters to go and managed to pass all of the other runners in the group to finish in 21:07. I had run mile 3 in 6:50 and the last .11 in 38 seconds.
I finished in my 5th age group and 46th overall.
The race seemed well organized with a good Police presence at the major intersections and plenty of High School students at the finish line to hand out refreshments. Precision Race Timing provided the timing and used their "disposable bib-chip timing" system (the same system that was used at the City of Oaks Marathon) and again came up short. The "check your time" system again wasn't working and when someone typed my bib number in for me, I was given a time of 20:37 which was 30 seconds off. I checked with some friends that were also running and they had received text messages with incorrect times as well. For some weird reason, only age group winners were given awards (not the usual top three in each age group) and the final results that were posted on line showed only the gun time and not the chip time.
I took a look at my cadence data and can see that my cadence gradually dropped throughout the race from a starting point of 100-101/minute in the first mile to 95-97/minute in the second mile and 94-96/minute in the third mile (I finished with 101-102/minute in the final kick for the finish line). This backs up my feeling that my form began to break down early in mile #2 and continued throughout the race as I struggled to maintain the pace. Regardless, running at 6:48/mile pace puts me at a great starting point for 2012 and my goal of 6:26/mile and a 19:XX finishing time.
I ran the Run for Young in 2010 and finished in 23:02 on a freezing cold day, so I knew what the course looked like and was prepared for the rolling hills of Hillsborough Street. The weather this year was much nicer (50F) and I managed to get downtown early enough to warm up for a couple of miles and do some stretching (something I very rarely manage to do before a race).
I set the Virtual Partner on my watch to 6:45 pace (which would be a finishing time of 20:58) just to help me track my pace as I really didn't think I was in good enough shape to break 21 minutes on the back of a couple of tempo runs @ 7:10 pace and one track workout. I also wore my foot pod so I could track my cadence as I was curious how well I would be able to maintain my form as I got tired towards the end of the race.
I didn't manage to weave my way to the front of the corral before the race started, so I was a little slow away from the start when the race started and had to navigate around some slower runners who just had to start at the front! The first mile seemed to take forever as we went down the hill on Edenton and then up the hill on to Hillsborough Street where we continued the slow climb to the turn around. I went through the first mile in 6:45 and felt pretty good. The second mile included a course change from 2010 where we now went around two roundabouts before heading back down Hillsborough Street. By the time we made it to the roundabouts, I was already beginning to feel the pace catching up with me and was spending more and more time focusing on my form.
My watch beeped for a 6:53 mile for mile 2 which I was really happy with as I had been working hard and would have been disheartened to see a 7:XX pop up. By this point I was part of a little group of about 5-7 runners that all appeared to be running around the same pace. Running in a group helped me through the next three quarters of a mile as I was struggling to maintain the pace and staying in or around the group became my focus. As we got to the downhill/uphill intersection of Hillsborough/Edenton, I relaxed as much as I could going up the hill and was surprised at how I wasn't left behind my the other runners who attacked the hill and just as the hill crested I kicked for the finish line with about 200 meters to go and managed to pass all of the other runners in the group to finish in 21:07. I had run mile 3 in 6:50 and the last .11 in 38 seconds.
I finished in my 5th age group and 46th overall.
The race seemed well organized with a good Police presence at the major intersections and plenty of High School students at the finish line to hand out refreshments. Precision Race Timing provided the timing and used their "disposable bib-chip timing" system (the same system that was used at the City of Oaks Marathon) and again came up short. The "check your time" system again wasn't working and when someone typed my bib number in for me, I was given a time of 20:37 which was 30 seconds off. I checked with some friends that were also running and they had received text messages with incorrect times as well. For some weird reason, only age group winners were given awards (not the usual top three in each age group) and the final results that were posted on line showed only the gun time and not the chip time.
I took a look at my cadence data and can see that my cadence gradually dropped throughout the race from a starting point of 100-101/minute in the first mile to 95-97/minute in the second mile and 94-96/minute in the third mile (I finished with 101-102/minute in the final kick for the finish line). This backs up my feeling that my form began to break down early in mile #2 and continued throughout the race as I struggled to maintain the pace. Regardless, running at 6:48/mile pace puts me at a great starting point for 2012 and my goal of 6:26/mile and a 19:XX finishing time.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Marathon Recovery - Ouch!
I am sure my one reader wondered where I went after I finished the City of Oaks Marathon on November 6th. Well, the majority of the aches and pains went away two days after the Marathon. In fact, all of the aches and pains that I had been feeling after the Marathon were gone by Wednesday morning. However, that was when I started to feel pain in my left foot.
I initially ignored the pain as I thought it was the result of adjusting the way I was walking due to the aches and pains I had been feeling. The pain was on the top of my foot and was more of a dull ache whenever I put my weight on that foot and a sharper pain when I flexed my toes. I ignored it until Friday morning when it hadn't got any better and I decided to go for a run to see whether it was something that would work itself out. It wasn't.
I turned to my trusted friend Google and went through the symptoms for a stress fracture. I didn't have any noticeable swelling or bruising and I couldn't find a particular spot along any of the metatarsals but I certainly had a continual dull ache and pain whenever I applied weight or flexed my toes. I tried ice, I tried heat, I tried elevation and I even tried cotton balls between my toes but the pain just moved around and never really went away.
After 3 weeks, I went to see Dr Boehm at Raleigh Foot and Ankle and got some X-Rays. Dr Boehm was very knowledgeable and quickly diagnosed me with a 'Stress Reaction' and not a Stress Fracture. He said that I could return to running on soft surfaces and as long as I kept my mileage low, I wouldn't adversely effect my recovery time which he put at 6 weeks from the Marathon. He said that it is very common for first time Marathoners to experience a Stress Reaction which is something that occurs along the way to a Stress Fracture and that if I had continued to run in the first couple of weeks after the Marathon, I would have most likely ended up with a full blown Stress Fracture and a long road to recovery.
I must say that by the time I got to week 5, I was becoming skeptical as I still hadn't seen much improvement and was beginning to get frustrated at being unable to flex my toes without pain. However, by the end of week 5 things had started to improve and I went out for my first run. I felt some discomfort, but certainly not much at all and after stretching and icing at the end of my run I woke up the next day feeling better than I did before the run. By the end of week 6, I was completely pain free... maybe these doctors do know what they are talking about after all!
I have been gradually increasing my mileage and changed the way that I lace my shoes to reduce the pressure on the top of my foot and today I am pain free and ready to start training for something again!
I initially ignored the pain as I thought it was the result of adjusting the way I was walking due to the aches and pains I had been feeling. The pain was on the top of my foot and was more of a dull ache whenever I put my weight on that foot and a sharper pain when I flexed my toes. I ignored it until Friday morning when it hadn't got any better and I decided to go for a run to see whether it was something that would work itself out. It wasn't.
I turned to my trusted friend Google and went through the symptoms for a stress fracture. I didn't have any noticeable swelling or bruising and I couldn't find a particular spot along any of the metatarsals but I certainly had a continual dull ache and pain whenever I applied weight or flexed my toes. I tried ice, I tried heat, I tried elevation and I even tried cotton balls between my toes but the pain just moved around and never really went away.
After 3 weeks, I went to see Dr Boehm at Raleigh Foot and Ankle and got some X-Rays. Dr Boehm was very knowledgeable and quickly diagnosed me with a 'Stress Reaction' and not a Stress Fracture. He said that I could return to running on soft surfaces and as long as I kept my mileage low, I wouldn't adversely effect my recovery time which he put at 6 weeks from the Marathon. He said that it is very common for first time Marathoners to experience a Stress Reaction which is something that occurs along the way to a Stress Fracture and that if I had continued to run in the first couple of weeks after the Marathon, I would have most likely ended up with a full blown Stress Fracture and a long road to recovery.
I must say that by the time I got to week 5, I was becoming skeptical as I still hadn't seen much improvement and was beginning to get frustrated at being unable to flex my toes without pain. However, by the end of week 5 things had started to improve and I went out for my first run. I felt some discomfort, but certainly not much at all and after stretching and icing at the end of my run I woke up the next day feeling better than I did before the run. By the end of week 6, I was completely pain free... maybe these doctors do know what they are talking about after all!
I have been gradually increasing my mileage and changed the way that I lace my shoes to reduce the pressure on the top of my foot and today I am pain free and ready to start training for something again!
2012 Goals
I struggled for a while to decide on my goals for 2012, mainly because I had been fixated on running a Marathon for such a long time that I hadn't really looked past it.
Before I had even got to the start line of the Marathon, I knew it would be a long time before I trained for and ran another one. It just takes too much time out of my limited time with my family (long runs on Sunday could take 5 hours without adding time for a shower and then an afternoon nap).
With that in mind, I will be sticking to the shorter distances in 2012 and turning my focus to running faster. I feel that I can improve on all of my PR's with some training that is focused on improving my speed (and form). Add in losing 5 lbs and we have the following:
1. Run a 19:XX (or better) 5K. Given that my 5K PR is currently 20:42, this might be too much of an improvement to hope for in one year, but there isn't much point setting a goal that I can achieve easily! There are lots of 5K's in the area so I probably won't train with a particular one in mind (at least in the first half of the year) and will just pick one when I think I am ready.
2. Run a 1:09:XX (or better) 10 miler. I ran a Half Marathon @7:22/mile, so running 10 miles @6:59/mile is certainly achievable on the American Tobacco Trail course. 10 mile races are few and far between, so this attempt will have to be at the ATT 10-miler in October.
3. Run a 1:33:XX (or better) Half Marathon. This would be an improvement of 12 seconds per mile so is probably the most achievable of my running pace goals for 2012. My long term goal for the Half Marathon is to run at sub 7:00/mile, but I think a 22 second per mile improvement in one year is too much to ask for. I am toying with the idea of running a April Half Marathon and am already signed up to run in Richmond, VA in November (which is mostly flat with a downhill finish).
4. Get my weight down to 150lbs and keep it there!
Before I had even got to the start line of the Marathon, I knew it would be a long time before I trained for and ran another one. It just takes too much time out of my limited time with my family (long runs on Sunday could take 5 hours without adding time for a shower and then an afternoon nap).
With that in mind, I will be sticking to the shorter distances in 2012 and turning my focus to running faster. I feel that I can improve on all of my PR's with some training that is focused on improving my speed (and form). Add in losing 5 lbs and we have the following:
1. Run a 19:XX (or better) 5K. Given that my 5K PR is currently 20:42, this might be too much of an improvement to hope for in one year, but there isn't much point setting a goal that I can achieve easily! There are lots of 5K's in the area so I probably won't train with a particular one in mind (at least in the first half of the year) and will just pick one when I think I am ready.
2. Run a 1:09:XX (or better) 10 miler. I ran a Half Marathon @7:22/mile, so running 10 miles @6:59/mile is certainly achievable on the American Tobacco Trail course. 10 mile races are few and far between, so this attempt will have to be at the ATT 10-miler in October.
3. Run a 1:33:XX (or better) Half Marathon. This would be an improvement of 12 seconds per mile so is probably the most achievable of my running pace goals for 2012. My long term goal for the Half Marathon is to run at sub 7:00/mile, but I think a 22 second per mile improvement in one year is too much to ask for. I am toying with the idea of running a April Half Marathon and am already signed up to run in Richmond, VA in November (which is mostly flat with a downhill finish).
4. Get my weight down to 150lbs and keep it there!
1200 miles in 2011
With 6 miles at the NCRC Social Run on 12/31 I got to 1200 miles for 2011 and an average of 100 miles per month.
My Garmin Connect report for 2011 has the following stats:
My Garmin Connect report for 2011 has the following stats:
| Activities | 187 |
| Calendar Days | 365 |
| Total Distance | 1200.13 miles |
| Average Distance | 6.41 miles/activity |
| Time | 172hr 46min 39sec |
| Elevation Gain | 44528 ft |
| Calories | 135513 |
2011 Goals - Results
2012 is a couple of days old now so it is a good time to revisit my goals for 2011 and see how I did!
1. Run a Marathon. Check!
2. Run a sub 1 hour 40 minute Half Marathon. Check!
3. Not gain any weight in 2011: Starting weight 153lb (10st 13lb). I hovered around 153lb in the first half of 2011 and then around 149lb during Marathon Training. Taking 6 weeks to recover from the Marathon pushed my weight to around 155lb, so not quite a check mark for this goal.
I also had some sub-goals for the "Run a Marathon" goal:
1a. Listen to my body and rest whenever I need to, regardless of my training schedule. Check! I think I did pretty well on this one. I used my training schedule as more of a guide than a schedule once I started to hit problems and cut out sessions when I needed to.
1b. Run the easy miles slowly. I have a tendency to run the easy miles faster than 90 seconds slower than Marathon pace that I should be running them at. Check! This might be my biggest achievement in 2011. For whatever reason, once I switched to Marathon training I didn't really look at my pace anymore and was able to run slowly and it really helped on the endurance side and helped me mentally prepare for 4 hours of running. Of course, picking a marathon goal that was well within my capabilities from a pace perspective might have helped here too!
1c. Avoid running too many races. I ran too many hard miles in race conditions in 2010 which I believe contributed to my injuries. Check! I ran a very small number of races in 2011 (4 in total) and kept my injuries down.
1. Run a Marathon. Check!
2. Run a sub 1 hour 40 minute Half Marathon. Check!
3. Not gain any weight in 2011: Starting weight 153lb (10st 13lb). I hovered around 153lb in the first half of 2011 and then around 149lb during Marathon Training. Taking 6 weeks to recover from the Marathon pushed my weight to around 155lb, so not quite a check mark for this goal.
I also had some sub-goals for the "Run a Marathon" goal:
1a. Listen to my body and rest whenever I need to, regardless of my training schedule. Check! I think I did pretty well on this one. I used my training schedule as more of a guide than a schedule once I started to hit problems and cut out sessions when I needed to.
1b. Run the easy miles slowly. I have a tendency to run the easy miles faster than 90 seconds slower than Marathon pace that I should be running them at. Check! This might be my biggest achievement in 2011. For whatever reason, once I switched to Marathon training I didn't really look at my pace anymore and was able to run slowly and it really helped on the endurance side and helped me mentally prepare for 4 hours of running. Of course, picking a marathon goal that was well within my capabilities from a pace perspective might have helped here too!
1c. Avoid running too many races. I ran too many hard miles in race conditions in 2010 which I believe contributed to my injuries. Check! I ran a very small number of races in 2011 (4 in total) and kept my injuries down.
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