delicate flower
Headed out for a 12 miler with the MtnBikerChk in a bit. It'll be her longest run to date.
DONE! 12 miles at 11:04 pace. I hereby proclaim her "HALF MARATHON READY."
Now, Chipotle.
<3
She probably hates your guts lol!
Congrats MBC!
She probably hates your guts lol! Congrats MBC!
Quote from her at mile 11: "God, running sucks."
Fear is a Liar
Put that on a tee-shirt!
I'm so vegetarian I don't even eat animal crackers!
Money maker shirt right there!
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
Fundraising Page
running is bad for you
DONE! 12 miles at 11:04 pace. I hereby proclaim her "HALF MARATHON READY." Now, Chipotle.
If by ready you mean I might survive then I agree.
Wickedly Average
Afternoon, Dailies!
As said before, best of luck to the participants in the 24 hour endurance race at Edgewater Park in Cleveland!
I ran the Raccoon Mountain 10K today in an unofficial time of 55:31.
The race takes place atop Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Hydroelectric plant with a course that basically circles the rim of the upper reservoir. Elevation ranges from around 1600 ft to 1900 feet, with one very significant rise in the middle of mile 4.
The quick race report:
It was raining. Very hard! Very very hard! Hard enough that people actually laughed at the start line when I made my "This is just a dry run" comment.
The first 3 miles are generally uphill, though nothing steep. There's a couple of small downhill sections, but the overall gain over 3 miles is around 200 feet. Not terrible, but the general uphill trend is reflected in my pace.
Mile 1 - 9:27. A little crowded at the start since the 5K and 10K start together, but this isn't a huge race so it isn't too bad. A little passing over the first half mile or so and things start to spread out. At the top of the road to the parking area, the 5K splits to the left and the 10K turns right. This is where the fun really begins - the heavy rain suddenly becomes a sideways mixture of rain and sleet. For the next 3/4 of a mile or so, we have a strong side wind with just enough little pellets of sleet-like substance to keep things interesting.
Mile 2 - 9:39. The uphill continues along with the strong wind. What is a side wind at the initial part of mile 2 turns into more of a head wind about halfway through the second mile. I finally began to feel at ease with my effort.
Mile 3 - 8:48. Things really level off for a bit. Minor elevation changes, but for the most part, mile 3 nets no major elevation change. I keep my effort even and my speed adjusts accordingly. Still raining, but the sleet seems to have subsided (or I'm becoming numb).
Mile 4 - 913. This mile is deceptive. It starts off with a nice downhill sprint, dropping almost 100 feet in the first 2/10 of a mile. Then, the hill. A 200 foot elevation gain over the middle 3/10 of a mile really slows me down. Average pace on the downhill part, about 8:30 mm. Average pace on the big hill, about 10:30. Still, I see myself gaining on several people during the climb which surprises me. I overtake a couple of runners in this part of the race.
Mile 5 - 8:28. The first 3/10 of a mile are downhill, erasing a good portion of the 200 foot rise in mile 4, and I take advantage of that by cranking out some speed. About 7:30 pace that first part before I settle into the flatter portion of the course. I overtake a couple more runners and start running 'neck-in-neck' with another runner that I judge to be close to my age group. He and I stay together throughout most of the last 1.5 miles or so of the race.
Mile 6 - 8:00. The competition with my age-group counterpart brings out the best in me. My breathing goes asynchronous. Legs are tired now, and I'm struggling, but I want go get in front of this guy. This portion of the course is mostly a gentle downhill, with one steeper downhill portion. I nearly break into a full sprint on the steepest downhill part, putting some distance between me and my competitor. The sound of his footsteps fades into silence and I figure that I've got him beat. Then, something odd happens, the course levels out a bit and the sound of his footsteps starts fading back as he closes the distance behind me. The race is on!
Last 0.2 - 8:08 pace. My competitor closes the gap and passes me with about 1/10 of a mile left. I'm pushing with all I have but I can't quite close the gap. He beats me by about a step and a half. I congratulate him on a great race. He and I discussed it a bit later at the awards ceremony. We are the same age, and both he and I state that the competition with one another probably knocked a half minute off each of our times. Neither of us placed in our age group.
Good race overall, despite the crazy weather. Now, time for a shower and a nap.
Tom (formerly known as PhotogTom)
5K - 25:16, 10K - 55:31, 15K - 1:20:55, HM - 1:54:54
You will be tapered with fresh legs, and ready to compete. Big difference!
Congrats Tom!
As for me, I am off to the movies for some tasty thin crust cheese pizza with extra cheese, and a whole lotta wine.
On tap today; We're the Millers.
Peace!
Thanks, LRB!
We're the Buds!
MtnBikerChk, you'd be amazed what a little bit of taper can do to help prepare your legs for a half.
Uffda
Afternoon dailies. Had a 10k this morning, then I biked down town to watch ESPN College GameDay broadcast. Unfortunately none of the pictures I took were very good.
10k went well. I did packet pickup yesterday, which was located in an office in a strip mall. It wasn't very well marked so it took me walking along the outside until I saw "Door 2" and walked in. Up the stairs was the office that I needed to go to. Very nondescript.
Did my usual routine of 2 slices of PB toast 2 hours prior to the race. Walked the dog, got dressed and headed out. Got there about 40 minutes early, so I sat in the car for 15 minutes. Got out for about 15 minutes of warmup. Took a Powerbar gel 15 minutes prior to start. I like the Powerbar brand if I'm not sure if I will have access to water because it's a more watery consistency than your traditional Gu, Clifshot, or Hammergel.
The weather was cold, 42 degrees at the start - probably only 45 at the end. I did end up using stuff over my racing clothes, but access to parking was right off of the start/finish line so I had more than enough time to return to my vehicle and ditch my pants and top. I was left in these 4" Brooks shorts and my Garry Bjorklund finishers short-sleeved tech shirt. Yeah, I was ready to get running.
At gun start I started my Garmin. We ended up bottle-necking under the Start line so my auto-pause turned on. So my Garmin didn't record for a bit at the beginning. Of course when it did start it showed I was running something ridiculous like 6:30 mm, which wasn't true. I just kept on my current pace until my Garmin started normalizing. It took probably a half mile before I got on pace that I would use for the first 2 miles: 7:30. Thanks Rick for recommending that to me!
The first mile is fully down the main street of West Fargo, ND. First mile down at 7:32. We turned on to a double-wide sidewalk, then on to a bike path that went through a park. I was cruising right at pace. I noticed a guy leave the trail a little ways ahead of me, probably 20 seconds in front. When I caught up to him he was sitting on the grass and he looked like he was in pain. My guess is that he stepped off the bike path and tweaked his ankle. I stopped my Garmin, and me and another guy asked if we should get a volunteer to help him out. He responded a few seconds later that he would make his way back. I did see him later, he actually had a cut on his knee too. Ouch. I believe when I stopped my watch and walked by this guy I actually lost a bit of distance on the race. When I finished my race I came up a little short and I believe the jerky start at the beginning and this little segment attributed to it being 0.04 miles off.
Mile 2 wrapped up with a 7:24. I took another Powerbar gel. I was a little slow going because I didn't have any pockets so I used a pouch. I looked down after the gel and I was doing like 7:45. So I started speeding up knowing that there shouldn't be any more distractions for the remainder of the race.
Mile 3, 4 and 5 clicked off at 7:18, 7:25 and 7:19 respectively. The last mile is just like the first - down their main street. I was in the hurt bag at this point, it was mostly my lungs. I just picked out a landmark a ways ahead and thought to myself to run to that. When I got there I picked out another one. Before I knew it I was crossing the finish line! Last mile was in 7:16. Last ~0.2 at a 7:15 pace. My Garmin reported a distance of 6.14, and 45:16. I extrapolated the average pace over 6.2, which brings it to 45:36. I'm waiting to hear the official results - I think it will be slower because I actually stopped my Garmin when I stopped to talk with that guy. Overall, very happy with the race - I can't wait until I can get chip timed and not have any hiccups. Btw, July 4th 10k was my previous PR at 47:32, so I'm sitting right around a 2 minute improvement on my PR.
Have a great day everyone!
- Andrew
Congrats, Tom!
Andrew, great job!
We turned on to a double-wide sidewalk, then on to a bike path that went through a park.
'Round here, we have no sidewalks, though some of our homes are double-wide!
Nice race!
Caretaker/Overlook Hotel
4 more of speed work done. I couldn't resist the temptation to race a 400 to see if I could break 85 seconds.....NOPE!!!
How in the world elites run 400's under50 seconds, I have no idea. I just can't fathom that kind of speed!
Randy
'Round here, we have no sidewalks, though some of our homes are double-wide! Nice race!
LOL Tom. Nice race back at ya.
Congrats on nice 10Ks, Tom and Brr!
10.1 miles done, with 8 at GMP. 8 more days till HMB. Time to get some good rest in before then.
Life is good.