an amazing likeness
As we head into the second weekend of May, the signs of spring are all singing at full power – the star magnolia tree I run by nearly every day has gone from bare to full spectacular blossom of white splendor in a blink. Runs at dusk go past ponds and wet marshes with peepers, tree frogs and wood ducks in full song. To those in the south I send my sympathies as your temps head into the 90s, but today is our first day over 60F for the past 206 days.
Wishing all our Mothers from RA HMT a happy, relaxing Mother’s Day this weekend. In my experience there’s no race spectator more in awe than a young kid seeing his Mom hit the chute and collect a medal…I’m sure you can picture it…that moment when the youngster is released to run and hug the runner, reaches for the medal and the exhausted runner, so pleased with her effort, is pulled back to Mom mode.
No one dares schedule anything on Mothers’ Day, so we’ve got a fairly quiet weekend on our race calendar before the explosion of events in the coming weeks with a 5K and a Half in the ‘formal’ entries for the week. Superbunny is looking to run a5K PR and support local agriculture, and I’ll be running the hills along the southeastern shore of NH’s Lake Winnipesaukee in a half marathon I’ve been meaning to get into my schedule for a few years.
May 10, 2014
superbunny
Celebrate Growing Hunstsville
5K
Downtown Hunstville, AL
May 10, 2015
milktruck
Big Lake Half Marathon
13.1 miles
Alton, NH
Good luck Superbunny, run it like there’s a hound a chasin’ you. To all our trainers this weekend…be safe, run easy and smell the spring.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
Good luck SB and MT!!
Woohoo! fleet feet and may the wind be always at your back
First or last...it's the same finish line
HF #4362
Good luck to superbunny and MT!
MT, your training sounds like it's been going really well lately- hope the race is a great one!
Good luck racers..going to be a great weekend!
Run, Walk, Crawl, just Finish.
HF # 1189
Lump Off
Growing HSV 5k
I haven't been posting lately because I've had a heck of a time with allergies these past couple of weeks. My training has completely derailed and I've just done my best to get in short runs on most days.
For the race today, I decided to just run, not check my garmin, not think about pacing, and just treat this like a good training run. The whole race I was complaining to myself....'this sucks', ' i hope i don't faint', 'hmmm, maybe i'll walk after the 2 mile mark', 'i can't breathe', I was tired of hearing myself...it just was not fun.
And then I finished with a 26:12....errr, okaaay. How did that happen? That was good enough to a pr so I guess I will take it.
The best part came afterwards. You know how there are often massage tables set up after races? I went over and it turns out it was a chiropractic group. I got to talking with them about my allergies and they think I have pressure on my head from my upper spine. (I often get a foggy head feeling and just want to lie down). I have an appt to have it checked out and I'm hopeful this can help. It would be amazing to get my head clear. It affected me all last fall and I had diagnosed myself with all kinds of mystery illnesses. My dr treats me for allergies (which I do have) but this might be another piece to getting my head clear.
Growing HSV 5k I haven't been posting lately because I've had a heck of a time with allergies these past couple of weeks. My training has completely derailed and I've just done my best to get in short runs on most days. For the race today, I decided to just run, not check my garmin, not think about pacing, and just treat this like a good training run. The whole race I was complaining to myself....'this sucks', ' i hope i don't faint', 'hmmm, maybe i'll walk after the 2 mile mark', 'i can't breathe', I was tired of hearing myself...it just was not fun. And then I finished with a 26:12....errr, okaaay. How did that happen? That was good enough to a pr so I guess I will take it. The best part came afterwards. You know how there are often massage tables set up after races? I went over and it turns out it was a chiropractic group. I got to talking with them about my allergies and they think I have pressure on my head from my upper spine. (I often get a foggy head feeling and just want to lie down). I have an appt to have it checked out and I'm hopeful this can help. It would be amazing to get my head clear. It affected me all last fall and I had diagnosed myself with all kinds of mystery illnesses. My dr treats me for allergies (which I do have) but this might be another piece to getting my head clear.
Congratulations! It sounds like you had a really good day for what you thought sucked. Hope they can get your head cleared, that must be frustrating.
I ran a 1:41:20 today at the Big Lake Half on a rainy, foggy, sloppy day. No complaints as the forecast was for a warm day (60F) and that would have been tough this early on in the season. Tough little course of steady hills and some broken rural roads that didn't allow any rhythm, but well organized race with a nice finish area. Here's the elevation map which will explain some of the splits:
Race started early (8AM) and was just under 2 hours drive, so I arrived a bit last minute and grabbed my bib and got out of the porta-potty lines with only a few minutes to spare before the start. So for miles 1 - 3, I focused on just running steady with short stride and getting the groove, clearing the crowd, and staying on the flattest section of the roadside to ease the legs into the day. Splits: 7:42 / 7:42 / 7:50.
Focused on running even effort and keeping a good running stride in the 3 - 6.5 section, running upright, arms relaxed and foot strike right under hips. We're pretty strung out into a single file at this point, and it's gone from fog/drizzle to rain as we climb into the low clouds. Splits 3-6 come in as: 7:43 / 7:43 / 7:34. Nice 'n steady....
At about 6.5 we turn off the main road onto a rural lake side road and plunge downhill. Through a gu stop, water stop. From 7 to 11 we're on a narrow, rutted road lined with lakeside cottages and boathouses. It would be a beautiful country run, but the rain is now steady and cold and my feet feel like they're 10lbs each. With all the short uphills and downhills, I'm struggling to run even effort and my pace is all over the place. I'd pass the same people going uphill, they pass me on the downhill, rinse and repeat. Sort of soul sucking. I actually liked the hill at 9.5 because I was getting cold and the work felt good and warmed me up. Splits through this up/down/turn/up/down section from 7-11 show the variations: 7:26 / 7:46 / 7:43 / 7:36 / 7:38.
The last section is back tracking down the gentle climb from 2 - 3. I had expected to pick up the pace here, but a shooting pain had started in my upper left hamstring / glute, so I settled into a steady pace and finished it out. Last splits for 12-13 are: 7:41 / 7:38.
Nice finish area for a mid-sized race (800 runners) at a lakeside place, and with the finish area 1.5 miles from the start, the shuttle buses back were appreciated.
Great job, milktruck.
Damaris
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That is great MT. I find your pace rather steady given the hilly course.
Awesome run MT!
Great racing MT and Suberbunny
#RunEveryDay
Nice work in tough conditions. Seems like it was that sort of weekend all around.
Let me just chime in that I thought mine was on the calendar but I guess not. Royal Road Race 10K on Saturday, May10. It was probably the toughest 10K I've ever run because the weather was crap. Only 7*C and windy. 30 gusting to 58kph. Not much tailwind. A lot of wind from the side made it tough. Felt like I did not settle into a pace. Did not look at my watch the whole race. First 5K: 32:25/Second 5K 32:14. (Two loop race.) Thought at 5K mark that there wasn't a PR to be had in that wind. Footrace at the end of the race with another runner I had been chasing all race. Toughest 10K I've run maybe but I did not walk! Previous PR for 10k: 1:05:01 Previous PR for this race (2012): 1:06:19
This race: 1:04:38.
This race is run at the RCMP Training Grounds so it's not public access normally. I really like it. They award a bouquet to the top finishing Mom in the 5K and the top finishing Mom in the 10K. Also there's an award for top cadet in the 5K and top cadet in the 10K. (Both are asked on the registration form.)
Half Fanatic #9292.
Game Admin for RA Running Game 2023.
Nice, Meg, is that a 1:04:39 PR then?
Yes. Considering the wind, I think I could do better in nicer weather.