"Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:"
Last weeks' races, events and moments of significance:
This weeks' races, events and moments of significance:
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
Nice racing, Richard and Adrian!
As for myself, I'm of the mindset that any half marathon I finish is a good one. I am a little disappointed overall, but since my time was due to a physical injury issue, I'm just going to shrug my shoulders and move on.
I started to get significant knee pain in the IT-band area as I came back onto the infield for the final couple of miles - it got so bad I ended up walking (read: limping) the majority of mile 12 around the last lap on the track. (With about a quarter of a mile to go, I tried speedwalking, then jogging, then pushed it into an all-out for the finish.) Before my knee started screaming, I was on pace for a big PR (I estimate about 1:40 or so), and overall I'm happy with how I raced, if not how I spent mile 12. Plus, every time my family saw me, (including at the finish), I was running well, so in their mind, I rocked this race.
I've got some work travel and vacations coming up, so I'm going to take it easy for a couple weeks and make sure I don't over-stress my knee. IT band issues sidelined me for almost 8 months in college (on my other leg, oddly enough), so I'm going to err on the side of caution on this one.
Richard, it was nice finally meeting you and talking to you after the race! It was very strange how we met up, given that I really didn't know any of the people that I was standing around talking with when you walked over, but I'm glad you did. Hope to see you out at some other races in the (near) future!
Ross... Hope the ITB issues clear up soon. Oh, and it was nice meeting your wife and adorable little girls too. Glad they were able to watch you run.
Clive... Good luck with the 10-miler this weekend!
Put me down for the Knoxville Half Marathon with my 24-year-old grandson this Sunday, April 1st. You might remember I ran it with him last year too so I think we're making this an annual event. Last year I ran it right along "with" him and we finished in 1:59. I told him he's on his own this year and he said he's been training so we'll see... I hope so. Put me down for 1:35-ish again although it's a hilly one and coming off one this week I might be more in the 1:40 range (or slower). Still I'd rather shoot for 1:35 and go down in a blaze of glory if that's what it takes.
One other thing... I took my final test for the RRCA Coaching Certification this past weekend and passed so all that remains is to finish up the First Aid/CPR program, which I'll be taking through the Red Cross on April 5th... Yay!!
Richard Hefner Past Race Results (Athlinks)
Richard,
Math check....."24 year old grandson". Ok, I did a double-take when I read this, 24 yr old grandson...so if you were 20 and had a son, and then your son had a son at 20 (your grandson), and now that grandson is 24, hmmm, that adds up to 64? And 18/18/24 adds up to 62? And you just entered the 60-64 yr old age group?
Rob
Richard, Math check....."24 year old grandson". Ok, I did a double-take when I read this, 24 yr old grandson...so if you were 20 and had a son, and then your son had a son at 20 (your grandson), and now that grandson is 24, hmmm, that adds up to 64? And 18/18/24 adds up to 62? And you just entered the 60-64 yr old age group?
This sounds like one of those math word problems I couldn't do in school. The whole thing could be a TV movie but the quick version is that my son was born in April 1967 just after I turned 15. I was in reform school at the time. I knew about him but didn't meet him until he was 23 years old. History repeated itself somewhat when my son met his son when he (my grandson) was 22. Now we're all just one happy but somewhat dysfunctional family.
Richard, reform school at 14/15? A son at 15 (conceived at 14)? In 1967 this must have been salacious. You must have been the "Glenn" of the neighborhood in Ossning-NY where the Drapers lived (if you watch Mad Men you would know what I mean, although Don would have shot you if it was Sally that had your baby). I remember you saying that you grew up in upstate NY, if so, and in those times this would have been a scandal of epic proportions...you would have banned to...to....to a place like Gastonia. Now I realize why you were so quick to acknowledge your "jinx effect" (I don't understand why you didn't include some of this in your "About Me" here on RA since it would have been the right thing to do in the name of transparency). The important thing is not how you start but how you finish! And I'm glad that today your one happy (dysfunctional) family. Did you ever think about that based on your family history, that it would be a good bet that you have a great grandson who would probably be 8 - 9 years old (did you ever think of asking your grandson or will he follow family tradition and wait a few more years)?
Good luck at Knoxville -- and good luck tomorrow Clive!
Good race. Caught a guy very early who said he was looking to run 70min, so we ran together for about a mile. Then I decided to take what the downhills were giving, since the course had a good number of uphills in it. I went through 5mi at 6:49 pace per the Garmin, which was again recording mile splits just a smidge before the mile markers. The organizers had a volunteer reading splits at each mile marker, and I maintained a sub-70 cushion of anywhere from 21-36 sec up through 8mi.
I got another stupid stitch, again at about 6.5mi. This one was less severe but spread out over a larger area; I fought it to the finish but didn't have to slow down like last month.
I caught a girl right around 9mi, and we both started pushing to the finish. I'd slightly gap her on the uphills, then she'd catch me on the downs. The last 400m was an uphill curve, then fairly flat to the finish. I hammered the uphill part, gaped her, then tried really hard not to slow down from there. Beat her by something like 2sec!
And oddly, I'm wondering if I could have gone faster ...
Scheduled Races:
Tokyo Marathon (March 2020)
Boston Marathon (April 2020)
Nice job on the 10-miler Clive! And congrats on not getting chicked in the last mile! I had a similar nemesis in the last mile of the Knoxville Half Marathon in the form of an old man. As he passed me I asked him what age group he was in (subtle I know) and when I found out he was in my age group I thought about trying to catch him but I really wasn't in the mood to try to bust a gut. He ended up beating me by 42 seconds. We were the top 2 in our age group but I ended up getting bumped up to 1st place when he won the Senior Grand Masters. My final time was 1:37:42. It was my 3rd half marathon in four weeks and 4th in six weeks and each one has been a little slower but they've also all been a little more difficult. Lots of hills in this one.