Checking in for Baltimore 5k

Well it’s been a long time…that doesn’t mean I stopped running…just stopped writing about it.  What’s new really???...well I’ve been touring weddings nonstop, running, and working a lot, but I wanted to check in before the Baltimore Running Festival.

  As mentioned above I have been running…but not necessarily training to run the 5K.  The fastest run I’ve had recently was 2 miles at a combined 7:15 pace…I actually felt really good last week.  I usually like to do something on Friday before a long run on Saturday…no idea why, but it just works for me.  The only real change in running routine is phasing into the Brooks Pureflow…I’m currently undecided.  However, in the past 3 weeks I’ve been running in them I have tripped twice…and when I say tripped I mean total wipeout falling elbow and hands first on the streets of Baltimore…if that sounded like it hurt I accurately described it.  The first time I chalked it up as running downhill…maybe going a little fast and catching one of the millions of uneven sidewalks…today…I have no idea what happened, but my left hand took some damage and my right elbow did as well.  This of course happened exactly about 2 miles in…so the quickest way home was a 1.5 mile run straight-line home…awesome.  I’m guessing the tripping is due to staying somewhat lower to the ground or maybe not heeling striking when I’m in a rhythm? 

  But that’s about it….one more run on Wednesday before the Baltimore 5K. 

Goals:

Only one goal this time….

Goal:  21:32 … this means a PR…there is a chance.  The weather forecast is almost perfect for this.  If I can hit 2 – 7 minute miles I’m convinced I can turn it on for mile 3 with this course being almost all downhill for the last mile.  My last 5K was almost a minute slower..but it was hot!  The one before that I ran 21:56 (the same course roughly but in reverse downhill first then uphill).  So here’s hoping!

Rock and Roll Providence Recap - 8/19/12

Well I officially took zero pictures.  About an hour before the race I decided to scrap the idea of taking a cell phone in my armband.  I used that slot in the arm band for two gu instead because I forgot to bring my fuel belt.  Anyways, to the start of the race!  It was pretty comfortable weather wise (pretty lucky for an August race)  I was assigned corral 1…which was a bit of a surprise, but as I got up to that corral it looked super crowded..so I started at the front of corral 2. The gun went off and elites started their run, then corral 1, and corral 2 was off I believe less than a minute after the official time started.

Mile 1:  Mile 1 I was having a hard time getting into a rhythm.  It didn’t help that I really had to resist the temptation of speeding off at the start with everyone else.  I think the whole corral must have passed meJ  I also believe that part of corral 3 may have passed me!  At some point the 1:45 pace group guy passed me. My goal was to run an 8 minute mile in mile 1, so this was all distracting until I passed the mile 1 marker at 7:47…I still felt great, but I’m assuming a lot of these people that went out of the gate crazy paid for it later.  Mile 1 was downhill though, so who knows. 

Mile 2-3:  While mile 1 was mostly downhill…mile 2 was up hill.  Mile 3 I believe also had a slight gain.  I started hearing some fairly heavy breathing for some people around me, but continued on a steady course mile (and took my first gu at mile 3) 2 : 8:01 and mile 3: 7:58

5K Split:  24:51             

Mile 4-Mile 5:  I knew based on the elevation map that there were some hills and that if I could get out of this feeling good I was a capable of turning it on for the final 8 miles.  Mile 4 went as expected, but I had a slight panic at mile 5 with the 8:13 split    Mile 4:  7:50 mile 5:  8:13.

Mile 6:  I got back on track with a 7:58 and also started passing some people.  Very flat portion of the course (my garmin started a 10 ft. loss in elevation and no gains).

10K Split:  49:51

Mile 7-8:  Started feeling strong…and really started passing people (took another gu) and .  Mile 7 -7:53 and mile 8 7:48

Mile 9:  Is when I probably started getting “angry”…it’s not real anger just more of the fact I take it personally that anyone is in front of me.  This happens every now and then, but I’ve had a hard time maintaining that throughout a race.  So I just went with it.  7:40.

Mile 10:  Mile 10 I cranked it up (as much as you can after 9 miles of running).  It was mainly due to checking my pace band and realizing I was way behind my goals for this race.  My thought process was “worst case scenario you can say you went for a PR and it didn’t happen” and I really didn’t want to have any regrets feeling like I had a little bit left in the tank after I finished.  Mile 10 7:28

Mile 10 Split:  1:19:13

Mile 11:  I knew I still had a lot of work to do and it would probably take 7:30s to have a chance for a PR.  The chances of getting under 1:42 were pretty low and anything lower than that near impossible.  When mile 11 buzzed on my garmin I didn’t look (yes I know who does that!).  I didn’t want it to be a distraction.  Now that I look back it was 7:35.  My mantra was “you can do anything for 15 minutes” at this point.  Meaning I knew I had about 15 minutes to the finish line it was going to hurt, but I wanted it.

Mile 12:  7:28, when I hit mile 12 there was no more trying to fake smile for the Rock and Roll cameramen.  There was a long straight away and I think I may have closed my eyes a couple of times to just gut through this one.  I had checked my cumulative time at mile 12 and knew the PR was in striking distance.  It was also good because I kept passing people, which kept up the motivation. 

Mile 13:  Ouch !  7:25.  I wasn’t looking at the garmin I was just trying to keep going, but it hurt.  I knew I was keeping the speed up, but had no idea how long I could hold on.  As I rounded the turn I forgot the finish was uphill.  Now in hind sight I would have completely laughed if I was spectator at my next couple of moments.  I round the turn and see the uphill climb and actually literally said the f-word…probably fairly loud too (sorry spectators with kids), but I could also see the finish line.  I actually had enough to make a sprint to the finish ran that last portion at a 5:57 pace. 

Overall time 1:42:32

Conclusion:  Set a new PR by 20 seconds and probably ran my best technical race.  I was probably in better shape for DC, but by conserving energy early I had enough to make a push when needed( quick table of the splits from DC vs. Providence). 

	Providence	DC
5 Km	24:51	23:48
10 Km	49:51	48:05
10 Mi	1:19:13	1:18:13
Finish	1:42:32	1:42:52

339 out of 3574

51 out of 229

262 out of 1382

Final Tune Up - Providence

It's been awhile since I last hopped on here.  A combination of my laptop DC jack not working (aka my computer can't get any power) and lots of work!

I had my final tuneup on Saturday for the Providence Half Marathon.  8 miles at a 7:44pace. I felt great and really have had a handful of workouts during this training that made me feel ready. 

I've already decided this is my last half marathon of 2012 and here are the targets:

1:42:51 - One second faster than my DC Half Marathon...I would like to think that I got faster in 2012, but I've been slowly getting slower.  I'm confident I have this in my sights and it will be about not going out fast.  I'm targetting running an 8min plus mile in mile 1 and then hopefully doing negative splits (this is actually what I did in my tuneup first mile was 8:18 and then each mile afterwards was lower ending at a 7:30 in mile 8).  Confidence Level :  8.75

1:41:59 - something about getting into another minute lower digit is a goal.  Confidence Level :  8.25

1:39:59 - This target was my reach goal for my first half and I'm going to keep it as my goal for this one.  Confidence Level :  7.00

So next time I'm back on here will be a race report.  Hope everyone's training is going well!

Pikesville 5k 2012

  When you run a race in July in Maryland you know it’s going to be hot and humid.  This race was no exception.  I ran 8 miles in the rain on Saturday (surprisingly refreshing), so I wasn’t hoping to PR or do anything amazing in this race…well mission accomplished as far as trying to beat a best time! 

It's amazing the effect a
little plastic trophy has!

  However, I got my first trophy (the first benefit of being 30 is that I’m now in the 30-39 group!), so 2^nd place age group award and a nice little trophy.  Anyways, here we go:

    This is nice small race in Pikesville that benefits the Greenbaum Cancer Center.  It start at the Woodholme Center and is an out and back course.  And here we go with the recap:

Mile 1:  Mile 1 was amateur hour…not that we all don’t go out too fast, but with a smaller race like this I watched a lot of people that torched me off the line.  It was an uphill climb in the beginning and all I really knew about the course was that it was an out and back, so I would benefit when this would be downhill in Mile 3.  I felt really good and settled into a nice 7:0Xish pace.  After about the first half mile I passed a bunch of people.  First split 7:05.

Mile 2:  I passed on getting water because I felt I had a pretty good rhythm...here is where I thought the course … well … sucked.  Two turnaround points…so I make the turn around a small cone…and then run about 100 ft then a right turn and then another turn around another cone.  I was a little frustrated and then I hit mile 2 marker at 7:11 pace…I was sweating pretty bad, but nobody had passed me since about the first half mile..

Mile 3:  In the beginning of this mile there was a slight gradual incline…it looks to be nothing on my garmin…however it was horrible…maybe it was the heat maybe it was the effects of running 8 miles the day before…either way I was slowwwwwing down.  However, I dug down deep when someone came to pass me.  I knew if I could hold this guy off to about the 2.75 mark I could beat him…..unfortunately my split came in at 7:35 as I was too concerned with just staying right with this guy and not racing my own race. 

Mile 3.1:  So at the mile 3 marker I basically made it a point to beat the guy I was running stride for stride, picked off another guy before the finish, and just didn’t have enough to catch up to one more guy.  My pace for the last .1 was a 5:48/pace (my faster pace actually started at the 2.8 mark, which proves running is just mental at times as I was telling myself I needed to hold off that one guy until 2.75 mark).

The Good:  This race benefits a good cause…it’s probably also one of the few 5Ks in July.

The Bad:  Two turnaround points, the heat, the humidity

The Ugly:   I’m not sure how I can sweat so much for a 5k…my shirt was more drenched than in Baltimore 10 miler.

Overall:  40 of 540

Gender:  34^th out of ?

Age:  3^rd out of ?  (but 2^nd on gun time which got me 2^nd place age group award woo hoo!)

Track Time Wednesday

Well another speed workout success.  Today was 10 x 400m at a 91 second pace (about a 6 minute mile) with 90 seconds rest inbetween (well it said up to 90 seconds....and since I didn't want to be a hero I chose 90 seconds everytime!)

I warmed up at a nice pace for about 12-15 minutes and then hit the track...I knew I would be annoyed today as there were 4 girls that somehow thought doing yoga on the track was a good idea....better yet they thought it was necessary to take up almost an enitre section (have I mentioned how much I hate people at 5:45 in the morning).  Anyways, they were stupid but I still managed to get my workout.  Here are the splits with some of the thoughts after I finished them.

1.)  86.9 seconds (uh oh a little fast)
2.)  85.0 seconds (you really have no idea how to pace yourself do you?)
3.)  86.5 seconds (you are going to regret doing these at this pace probably around the 6th one)
4.)  88.4 seconds (it didn't feel like I slowed down from the previous ones...)
5.)  89.6 seconds (this is a bad trend...I'm getting slower and feel worse and worse!)
6.)  89.3 seconds (only 4 more!!!!)
7.)  91.4 seconds (the last 3 are going to hurt...just get through 8 and 9...10 will be easy)
8.)  91.7 seconds (yep, that hurt and I can't breathe how are these 90 seconds rests going so fast!)
9.)  91.0 seconds (I think I would die if I had to do 11 of these)
10.)  88.6 seconds (FINISHEDDDDD!)

Overall, I was pretty happy with the workout....any workout you finish is a success and I was a little worried after the first 5 that I would really struggle the rest of the way....I mean I did struggle...that pace feels awful right now, but a little pain now will hopefully pay dividends at my next couple of races. 

The 5th of July

Well the 4th of July was a great day!  I can't remember the last time having a random Wednesday off of work, but it did give me time to test out a semi-speed workout.  As mentioned on Tuesday I had a plan for the madness on Wednesday morning.

400m in 103 seconds, 52 seconds rest (6:57/pace)
800m in 03:27, 01:43 rest (6:38/pace)
1200m in 05:10, 02:35 rest (6:44/pace)
1600m in 06:54 (this will hurt!), 03:27 rest (6:51/pace)
1200m in 05:10, 02:35 rest (7:01/pace)
800m in 03:27, 01:43 rest (7:05/pace)
400m in 103 seconds. (6:26/pace)

The blue highlights equal the pace I actually did.  I believe the targets were for a 6:54/mile pace.  Overall a relatively successful workout.  Although the mile was tough I felt the 1200m after the 1600m was the hardest.  The 800m after that my legs felt really heavy.  The last 400m was probably the fastest due to my excitement of going home and resting!

I hope to do this workout again in a month or so to gauge my fitness progress.  Hope everyone had a good 4th!

Tuesday ... another one

Well this morning started as most mornings do...alarm clock...dread....and then forcing myself to get up.  I felt like this cartoon guy. 

The good news about my recent mornings is my left foot feels great!  The bad news is that the top of my right foot now hurts!  Awesome.  I will blame this all on old age.  The pain isn't terrible and I rarely feel it when running, but notice it more afterwards.  No swelling or anything like that either.  It's probalby my first foot secretly wanting all the attention my left foot was getting for the past 6 weeks.

Anyways, with tomorrow off I'm contemplating a new (new and horrible) workout. 

I found what kids call these day a "Pyramid" ... after reading this workout I realized afterwards I would curse Egpytians all Wednesday, but hey tomorrow will be the 4th of July:)

Anyways,

All done at 5km pace (103 seconds per lap), recovery half of effort time.
400m in 103 seconds, 52 seconds rest
800m in 03:27, 01:43 rest
1200m in 05:10, 02:35 rest
1600m in 06:54 (this will hurt!), 03:27 rest
1200m in 05:10, 02:35 rest
800m in 03:27, 01:43 rest
400m in 103 seconds.

Could be a good challenge for tomorrow.  Here is a link to the site that calculates your workouts based on a target time http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/training/pace

Have a happy 4th !

Long Road Back

The past 3 weeks have been...well there is no word to really describe the past 3 weeks as far as running goes.  My foot is getting back to being near 100%, but the 3-5 week break after my injury definitely set me back. 

Today was probably the first run in a long time I didn't feel like I was exerting a ridiculous amount of effort for a casual 3 mile run.  According to my garmin my average HR was 158 and I was going at a 8:55/pace...slowly making my way back.

Sounds like everyone has been injured recently, taking some time off, or just swamped with work (or all 3!). 

Getting back

Getting back into running after a 5-6 week break seems harder than it was to start running after 10 years of not running.  The Baltimore 10 Miler was certainly a challenge and the picture below confirms how I thought I looked for the last 3 miles or so.  I'm hoping to regain some level of fitness over the next couple of weeks.  Each run seems like it's a little bit easier.  I've been contemplating running in the Pikesville 5K in July.  I've mapped out my long run plan for the Providence half marathon in August. 

Whatever music I was listening to... it
didn't look like it was helping

Baltimore 10 Miler Recap

Well I did decide to run the Baltimore 10 miler.  It may not have been the best decision, but I was not about to let another $60 in race fees go down the toilet.  Despite having a not so great time the experience wasn’t over horrible and I would highly consider doing this race next year. 

Race recap:

Mile 1:  My goal was to sort of follow one of the pace groups, but not get too concerned if I fell behind.  At one point I was trailing the 1:20 pace sign and the next minute they were gone.  I didn’t know if I had passed them or what was going on.  I’m also not completely used to having a garmin, so I never really thought to check my pace.  First mile came in at 7:26…at this point I realized I was in trouble. 

Start of the race near 1:20 pace guy

Mile 2:  I was trying to shake off the fast start by saying “it was downhill you feel really good just slow down a bit and you will be fine”.  The self talk was relatively positive…a big surprise at this point.  When my watch buzzed at the mile 2 marker I looked down and saw 7:51.

Mile 3-4:  I knew that I probably saw the last of 7/min miles after mile 2 and made the judgment at that point to walk through the water stations.  I was sweating really bad and figured it didn’t make sense to only get about a ¼ of the water in the cup in my body.  Mile 3:  8:02 Mile 4:  8:30

Mile 5:  Soo right at the start of mile 5 I figured I would stop near the water station and also use a port o potty.  I knew this race wasn’t going to go as planned, but that was ok.  Anyways, nobody got out of a port o potty in the minute that I stopped, so I took a gu and moved on.  I didn’t really HAVE to go, but I wanted to and I found this experience to kill any decent self talk I had.  This race wasn’t going to plan and as I started running again I caught up with the soon to be Mrs. Running with Scorpions…she felt a lot better than I did at this portion of the race and since she always looks better anyways I realized I was going to lose to her.  I was thankful that in the races since my first one that I have never rubbed in the fact that I’m faster than her.  Mile 5 was still 8:55.

Mile 6:  More walking, bad mindset… Mile 6:  8:40

Mile 7:  What happened at mile 7 is beyond me.  It’s worth mentioning that throughout the race my foot didn’t hurt too much until the near end, but it did hurt on and off.  Also, my race was defined by my foot problems, muscle tightness, and my breathing.  At any time one of these things felt good the other two would be an issue…except for mile 7.  Mile 7 was 8:15 I felt the best I did the whole race.  It was followed by the worst 3 miles in a long time…but I didn’t know that was coming.  Perhaps, it was the effects of the gu kicking in from mile 5?  Hard to say. 

Mile 8-Mile 9:  Ouch.  My foot pain was really starting to increase…when it did I forced myself to walk…not like this was a tough decision.  I knew at this point I’ve had training runs at a faster pace and my splits for both half marathons at the 10 mile point were going to be faster than this outcome.  Mile 8:  8:43 and Mile 9:  10:13 (yep, that’s not a typo…lots and lots of walking…I ate some humble pie watching some larger participants fly right by me and I could do nothing…it’s also worth noting I wasn’t the best of sports doing this either.  I really should have cheered these people on.  I got a couple of “hang in there”’s from other people running and next time will try to reciprocate that. 

Mile 10:  Mile 10 was horrible.  Really the only portion of the race I would change is this stupid loop in mile 10.  You really can’t see the finish line until you are done and out of this loop and to be honest with 1 mile left all I wanted to do was see the finish line.  Had I seen a finish line it’s possible I could have done a little better.  Also, worth noting at the mile 9 marker the 1:25 pace group was making its way behind me…so a bunch of those people passed me by.  With about .15 left in the race I could see the finish line.  I felt like crap, but I noticed some shadows creeping up and I had already picked it up a little myself.  I had no problem with someone passing me for the first 9.9 miles of this race…but I was not about to let this happen on the last .1, so I basically kicked it into gear and nobody passed me at the end.  I was pretty pissed that I had to use that amount of effort at the end, but what can you do.  Garmin had my pace on that stretch at about 5:55-6:05.

Beer....we like that!

Post Race:  I really didn’t want to talk to anyone for the first 10 minutes after the race…what I did do was eat watermelon nonstop.  It was actually probably quite a sight.  The watermelon wasn’t the best watermelon, but it tasted like sugar water…in food form…which was surprisingly what I wanted at that moment.  After eating about 6 slices of watermelon…I preceded to pick up the race premium (annoying it was not at the packet pickup, but not a big deal)…then proceeded to the beer tent.  I would have to say I liked the fact they gave you two free beers and to buy extras was only $3.  We caught up with some friends after the race and there was a live band.  Overall a good event, but I wish I was more trained and my foot felt better.  Although it feels pretty good today…hopefully not too much longer until I’m back to 100%.  No races scheduled until the Providence Half Marathon in August.

Overall 1058 out of 4750

Gender:  722 out of 2082

Division:  125 out of 335

Giving it a go

Well after a couple of days off I've decided to attempt the 10 miler.  Stayed tuned for race report.

Rock and Roll Friday

Well 4 miles in the bag and the foot is still holding up.  I ran at about an 8 minute mile pace and was exhausted!  However, if I can get my mileage up on Sunday and then again on Tuesday I think that's a good sign that I can do the Baltimore 10 miler...I'm sure my time won't break any records (not like it would have before!) but it will be good to get back to a race and see how it all goes. 

Wednesday .. getting old

Well let's just say if my 30s are going to be filled with general soreness and a foot that is not cooperating then I want my 20s back! 

Today I got out there and 2.67 miles at just under an 8 minute pace.  My logic was that I generally have better form the faster I am going...it was my longest run, since the MD Half (both distance and time)..and I need to see how my body reacts tomorrow.  No pain during the run, but I have noticed a general soreness in my foot. 

I bought KT Pro Tape, which miraculously disappeared from my doorstep (although the delivery company insists it was delivered)....good news is that I got a refund and amazon.com said they would overnight one and give me free shipping.  I rarely have problems with amazon.com...but I feel like their solution to any problem is usually spot on. 

I have a free one year trial of amazon.com prime and whoever thought of this idea is a genius.  I hate them for what it's done to my frugal spending habits of old!  Consider this here are my purchases in the past 6 years at amazon.com...2011 sparked the year of prime

2006:  1 order (2 books)
2007:  0 orders
2008:  0 orders
2009:  0 orders
2010:  2 orders (about $100)
2011:  40 orders (about $2200)
2012:  18 orders ($600+)

I do suppose though everything I bought I would have bought regardless though, but I did choose to buy it on amazon.com. 

Anyways, health/fitness assessment at work tomorrow, so that ought to be interesting!

The SLLLLOOOOWWWW RECOVERY

Well after a couple test runs last week I shut it down again this week.  Although I felt ok after the shorter tests run I think it's an issue with the peroneal tendons.  (Thank you Orthogate for the information below).

"The peroneus brevis tendon connects to a bump on the base of the fifth metatarsal. This spot can be felt midway down the outer edge of the foot.

The peroneus longus tendon lies behind and below the peroneus brevis tendon. It wraps down and under the foot by way of the cuboid bone, the outer tarsal bone just in front of the heelbone (the calcaneus). The peroneus longus tendon angles forward under the sole of the foot and connects to the bottom of the main bone of the big toe. This tendon stabilizes the arch of the foot when walking. "

What I believed happened at the MD Half Marathon was when I stepped in a small pot hole and sprained my ankle slightly but kept running this caused some of the issues...it certainly didn't help this was early on in the race.  I didn't really even think about.  My ankles also never really swelled up too much in the past when I sprained them (with the exception of one time when I played basketball and jumped as high as I could and ended up landing all on completely on the side of my foot...just thinking about it now gives me the creeps).

Anyways, I bought some goggles and swimsuit, so I may start swimming to maintain some sort of cardiovascular fitness.  I have not eliminated the idea of running in the Baltimore 10 miler.  I ordered some KT Tape and may try to get back into it next week on Monday.  Although I'm excited for the Baltimore 10 Miler I think I was more disappointed at not being able to race in Cleveland, so if can't do the 10 miler I'm ok with that as my next race isn't until August (Providence Half) and although it's far away I'm keeping my eye on the prize aka Houston Marathon in January.  Time to stay positive in times like this

Test Run Thursday .. aka "TRT Day I"

Well today marked the first day in about 2.5 weeks that I tested out my foot.  My goal was to run for about 0.5 miles and see what happened.

This was also a chance to test our my new garmin 910xt.  Of course the GPS didn't work inside and then when I hit the start I didn't get an exact distance and instead of running 0.5 miles I ended up just running for 10 minutes.  During the run I felt exhausted, but no pain in my foot.  After I stopped got home and showered I noticed it was just a little sore and walking to work wasn't exactly fun (although not sure it ever is!). 

Tomorrow I'll take a day off and maybe see how it goes on Saturday with another test run.  If I'm still having issues next week it will probalby be time to go see a doctor.  The good news is that right now my foot feels great.  However, I think the big concern is how my breathing was after running 10 minutes and knowing I have the Baltimore 10 miler coming up in mid June.  Amazing how exhausted I was after that run!

Cleveland Weekend

Well there was no running this weekend.  I did go to the Cleveland expo and also attended the races on Sunday, but just didn't think I could run without pain and not have a setback. It was a great opportunity though to see some of the elites in action for the 10k.  Normally I'm pretty impressed when I see the times after a race is over, but I got to see first hand how fast these guys really are.  I did have the running bug though as I saw everyone lining up:)

Start of the race

...this guy ran 4:37 pace I'm pretty sure that's cheating

Anyways, the picture above is of the winner Julius Kibet with a time of 28:44 (4:37 pace).  It's great they offer prize money for this race as there were a couple of other great times.  After I thought about his pace I realized that my best 800m time ever (back in high school) of 2:15 was only a tad faster than this guy's pace for 6.2 miles.  Unbelievable!

I did get back to some light working out this Friday and also today.  My hope is to get some strength exercises in and not bother my foot.  I was able to do lunges today..I wouldn't say it was painful, but uncomfortable. The Baltimore 10 miler is coming up and need to feel 100% going into that race!

Friday Deadline (and birthday thoughts)

With my foot healing I've made Friday the new deadline to decide to run in the 5K on Saturday.  It's pretty close, but part of me knows the past week and a half has been a struggle...I also don't want to have another setback and then have to rest for another 3 weeks...it's also my birthday this weekend.  Some thoughts on birthdays:

The older you get the less your birthday means until you get to like 60 and then they start being milestones for staying alive....isn't that cheerful:) 

One benefit to getting past a certain age is that you can get your birthday presents anytime within a 6 month window of your birthday....with some members of my family that means I get taken out on my birthday meal in November.  On the other hand I got a birthday check in March this year.  I'm fortunate enough to have a May birthday, so nobody can really package presents as a Xmas/Birthday...although I suppose with this 6 month window anything goes!



Nothing has really changed though in the years I've been celebrating my birthday.  I always chose to spend my birthdays with a close friend or two (or my family) instead of a ridiculous party...mainly because of how much I hate the individual attention as captured in the cartoon above. 

This week I was fortunate to get another one of my gifts early.  I've been wanting a garmin 910xt, but unfortunately my practical ways of spending money have never allowed this to happen.  Oh it's been in that amazon.com "wish list" for quite sometime, but I got it on Sunday...unfortunately I have not been able to use it. 

Until Friday then... 

To Run or Not to Run

Well officially the longest time off, since I started running around this time last year.  It's been a week and although my foot is definitely better than it was I would still only rate it at 75-80%.  My goal was to get out for 2 runs this week before the Cleveland 5K and 10K...now I'm hoping I can get out on Thursday for a 2 mile jog and see what happens.  I'm fairly confident that I could run a 5K on Saturday...now the only question is how horrible will my foot feel afterwards?  Anyways, going to rest and take it easy for another couple of days.  The 10K is probably not happening on Sunday....which is a bit disappointing

Houston Marathon

Well officially signed up for the Houston Marathon yesterday.  I'm still undecided if I'm going to stay with the Baltimore 5K this year or try the full marathon.  I'm 99% sure I'm not going to do the half, but this could be my first marathon.

As I don't learn any lessons I already know that training for this around the holidays is going to be a bear!  Last year just starting to train for DC I was annoyed and the weather was really good...so hopefully I luck out again. 

First things first though.  My foot needs to recover.  Getting better each day...although I'm sure walking to work does not help the recovery:)

MD Half Marathon Recap:

Well 2nd half marathon is in the books.  Arrived at the race about 7:30 only to find out that my very detailed and elaborate playlist did not update on my nano...luckily I still had my playlist from DC and I pretty much just chalked this up as a "lesson learned" moment. 

Prior to the race there was a slight drizzle and it was a bit chilly (Although I would take this everytime over a hot dry day).  I took position between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups.  I actually talked with the 1:40 guy prior to the race and sort of wish I had the confidence to do that pace group...I didn't.  On a flat course I wouldn't have had any doubts, but the thought of 7:38/miles yesterday just seemed super hard.  Also, if I was thinking it was hard my mental toughness would be crap around the hills. 

So 3 - 2 - 1 ...(bang) and we were off.  I started with the 1:45 pace group.  The guy's name was Josh and I talked with him for probably the first 3 miles or so.  The girl I didn't really talk to at all, but she kept my going when I needed it.

Miles 0-2:

  Things felt pretty good.  Held a pretty good conversation pace there was a hill that started at 1.5 and although I felt it in my legs I really wasn't breathing too hard.  First mile marker on the course was way off as we all looked at our watches and I had about 9 minutes and I looked at Josh and remarked "yikes", but by the time we hit mile marker two we had a cumulative time of 16:00, so right on track.

Miles 2-4:

  With every uphill was a generous downhill and my legs felt much better.  I managed to stop for water at every stop and I managed to spill 75% of that water on my shirt....it's quite obvious I need a sippy cup :)  I'm going to have to figure out something better if I plan to do a marathon ... also a "lesson learned" moment (DC I was fortunate to have a guy passing out water bottles around mile 6?)  Even splits again.

Mile 4-5:

  At mile 4.5 I would start the ascent up the massive hill, but I would also see my fiance's parents (she was running and so was her sister), but I was the first to pass that area. I gave them a wave and they took a couple of pretty good pictures (that I don't have right now).  The hill was about .5-.6 mile up...but not as bad as I had planned in my mind.  I was still able to crack some jokes, but by the time we had finished the first 5 miles the pace group was only 4 of our original 8 .... and that included our two pace group leaders. 

Mile 5-6:  At mile 5.5 or so started the "Dozer Dash" ... I would later find out my Dozer Dash time and my overall ranking were near identical.  Same general feeling though that my breathing was fine, but I could really feel the hills in my calves...especially my left calf muscle...which I wanted to stretch.  Based on stretching mid run I have two experiences 1.)  Stretch for 30 seconds and have an amazing run 2.)  Stretch for 30 seconds....run 5 minutes stop for 30 second stretch and repeat .. followed by being super annoyed.  So I kept going.

Mile 6-8:  The pace group kept chugging along at 8 mile splits and although I can easily calculate those in my head to infinity when I'm not running...after spilling a liter of water on shirt, dumping a cup of water on my head...not realizing that my headphones now would sound like I was listening to them underwater, my calf burninggggggggg, and some sort of odd left foot ailment I could not figure it out.  Anyways, I trusted the pace group...but right around this time I knew setting a PR was near impossible and I had even started questioning finishing with the pace group.

Mile 8-10:  I really expected this to be worse...this was really around the time I started falling apart in DC, but overall breathing was great...in fact I just telling myself your breathing is fine you are in shape enough to just keep this up.  Everything on my left side of my body hurt..maybe it had something to do with the course or how I was running, but I felt the streets of DC were not as pitched.  I felt at times I was running around a NASCAR track....ok it wasn't that bad, but hey I was going to complain about something!:)  At this point looking at my watch meant very little...I choked on a peanut butter gu around this time and had most of it all over my face...I'm sure it was a sight.

Mile 10-11:  I felt close...I guess the force was strong with me at this moment as I really just knew it was almost over...breathing was again really good. 

Mile 11-12:  Actually a horrible but cool part of the course mile 11 had sort of a loop (the horrible part was the up and down of the loop), but you could see people coming back around the loop.  I think based on what I figured that these people were about 8-10 minutes ahead of our group.  I didn't see the 1:40 group so it was atleast 6 minutes ahead.  Anyways, I looked at one guy and gave him a Tiger Wood's fist in the air.  He gave me one back.  I have to say running at this stage is completely different then my high school days.  Great to give people bit's of encouragement and etc.  Girl pace group leader forced me up a hill and I told her to bring me kicking and screaming to the finish line.

Mile 12-13.1:  The mile 12 marker is really amazing. The thought was you probably have 9 minutes left in the race....go try to pick off any runners you can...that was the left part of the brain thinking...the right part was all worried about how the pace group people would feel as I left them.  I broke a little bit early and got gobbled up by the 3 people I ran the whole race with.  As we neared the finish I was dying....Josh and the other 3 had passed me and he turned around and said "come on we are almost there"...my body was rapidly declining...but I went for it.  Dug down and put on as much of a surge for probably a 400m as I could and ended up passing a couple of people near the end.



There I am #1030...falling apart near the end..team 1:45 with arrows:)



My future father in law has some horrible pictures of me near the finish...this is actual the best picture around that time on the charm city run site.  I have the "somebody shot me look" ... again.  My left foot is in bad shape...no swelling, but the outside of it is super sore. 

Overall :  112 out of 1188

Age Group:  24 out of 95

Overall Time:  1:43:57 (I was happy to see this at the end because at some point the pace group must have picked it up without my really knowing it...or maybe that's why I was sucking wind at the end!)

MD HALF MARATHON COUNTDOWN

Well official countdown time for MD Half Marathon.  This course is certainly going to be a bigger challenge then DC, but now I KNOW that I can run a half marathon...so why not try to set a PR?  The race is also for a good cause as 100% of the net proceeds go towards the University of Maryland Cancer Center. 

Surprisingly for a smaller race there are actually more pace groups then the DC Rock and Roll marathon...not sure how that makes sense, but I'm not complaining.

This little chart shows the elevation (it's literally a little chart...I have no idea how to increase the size of this image....).  Anyways, a stretch of a 2% incline on that first hill and that big one is 3%.  I will start with the 1:45 pace group and then after that hill it will be time to start gradually increasing.  The goal is to save some energy for the rolling hills while still staying fresh.  I had a very elaborate excel chart for my "strategy"...which I misplaced. 

Time Goals:
 - 1:40 to 1:42:52 (DC PR)

Other Goals:
 -  Remember to put deoderant on prior to the race
 -  Eat energy beans regularly (DC I forgot)
 -  Drink lots of water
 -  Remember to not look like you are dying in front of the photographers (why does the cameraman hate me?)

Ostrich Tuesday

Well back after a trip to Arkansas I'm back to it here.  Got a couple of runs in on some trails, this was a nice change of scenery from the normal city routes.  The highlight of the trip was http://www.wildwildernessdrivethroughsafari.com/ … this place highlighted my stereotypes of Arkansas people in general.  This is a drive thru safari and along with the typical people that go to a drive thru safari in Arkansas parents were letting kids hangout the windows and throw food (really the only two rules they had going in were to not roll down the windows and give the animals food).  The people watching was spectacular. 

I've also decided the Ostrich seems like one of the dirtiest things in the animal kingdom..they just don't look trustworthy.  The Ostrich was hanging around the monkey cages and just about any other of the cages animals looking for food...it had no problem coming up to your car and not moving.





Would you let your kids hang out the window with this thing lurking around?



Zebras...known for licking car windows....

I had a couple others...but for $10/person a great experience...I'm not surprised that at one point in the tour I saw a bud light can near an Ostrich...oh Arkansas:)

Today got back to doing some speed workout 5x800m with 1:30 slow jog inbetween.  (3:15, 3:16, 3:17, 3:21, 3:09)...unfortunately, for some reason I thought I was only supposed to do 5, but in fact when I got home the workout called for 6...the last speed workout was 10x400m, so I assumed it was same distance...ahhh old age:) 

Congrats to all those that finished Sole of the City 10K this past weekend. 

Speed Work Tuesday

After the disappointment of my time at the Red Shoe Shuffle I decided I could 1.)  Sulk and feel sorry for myself or 2.)  Do some additional speed work...I chose a mix of 1 & 2.

Today I got out there and the plan was to do .25 x 10 at a 1:31-1:34 pace.  Unfortunately, we don't have a real track down in the city so I ran around the outside of the volleyball courts in the inner harbor (about .29 miles).  I confess I have done little to no speed work since high school.  Occasionally I will go up a hill at about 80% of my max and be completely winded, but overall just doing long distance training and running as gotten me to this plateau.  So the speed work drills roughly worked out to a 6:30 pace...although I did have a couple of them that were right at the 6:15 pace.  Nothing close to the 6:04 pace.

I needed a day like this...it was horrible.  It felt almost as awful as the 5k this past weekend.  No actually pain or injuries, but just exhaustion.  It will be worth it if this work pays dividends and I certainly hated the idea of wanting to give up last weekend in the 5k.  I won't let that happen again...and I also don't want to lose to 13 year olds at a local race.