Hi friends - still sad over missing the RA masters dinner last night.
In Maine alternating doing stuff to close up the camper for the season and trying to rest.
4.1 hacking miles this afternoon. Hope to get one last 10 mile run in Maine for the season tomorrow but will depend on how this cough lets me sleep tonight!
Happy Friday!!
denise
Love the picture of the meet-up!
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
Here's my meetup from Monday. Me, Rockenmomof5 (Pam) and Wannaberunner (Kristen)
For the benefit of the many RW Masters refugees here, I found Size12's Chicago RR in another forum here and with the cut & paste hints I picked up from someone recently, copied it below. Enjoy! - I certainly did.
Here's my race report. As it turned out I actually set a PR/PB yesterday. My previous best (from 2015) was 5:10:48. Yesterday was 5:10:25. A whole 24 second PR/PB!!! Woooo!!!! Hoooo!!! The Big Moment yesterday was being part of a 5-runner pileup on Inner Lake Shore Drive, just past Mile 7. All I remember from it was seeing someone out of the corner of my eye either stumble and/or hit another runner. I guess when that happened, I stopped paying attention as either I then stumbled on something on the road or perhaps I got clipped from behind by someone else. The next thing I remember was seeing the pavement rushing up to my face. As I ate the pavement, I felt someone fall onto my back. Lots of fellow runners helped out everyone and one of the pacers from the 4:55 group turned around and ran back towards the pileup to see if everyone was OK. Other than some road rash (and what's a little road rash among friends?) there were no serious injuries. I got some on my left hand and elbow and as I later found out got some on my right knee (more on the knee later). I THINK there were 5 runners in this event. But I do know that sudden events like this can trigger false memories. But it took me a mile or so to really get back in the groove. By the time I ran past "the acts on stage" in Boystown was feeling OK, though at this point I was beginning to feel the heat a little bit. Someone mentioned that yesterday I "must have" passed lots of runners. Yes, I did lots of bobbing and weaving to get around lots of other runners and this no doubt burned up a lot of my energy early in the marathon. Why organizers put the 4:40-5:00+ pace groups into the last corral is beyond me. Would have been helpful if the 5:00 and the 4:45 groups could have started at the head of the last corral, just to get the once-in-a-lifetime marathon walkers behind them. Saw Mrs. Size12 just after the 20K timing mat on Franklin then saw RA at his aid station. At this point and beyond was still maintaining about a 4:53-4:55 pace and was feeling pretty good, despite the Inner Lake Shore Drive Big One and the heat. Had my first serious walking break (other than at an aid station) on Taylor just before the Mile 18 station. By now the heat was getting pretty bad and the road rash knee was telling me it didn't feel too good. It wasn't the road rash that was the problem, but I must have pranged the thing in the fall somehow. The really hard stretch on this course for me is on Damen Avenue, just before PIlsen. I find this stretch, other than that double railroad underpass at the end, just before the turn onto 18th Street, to be so desolate and depressing as there's this lack of trees or much of anything else here. But yesterday I got through this stretch by running several blocks at a time then walking about a half a block before running again. It was also at this time I finally lost track of the 4:55 pace group. I wanted to hang with them until I made 20 miles, but came up a bit short in that regard. On 18th in Pilsen I got mad at myself as I ran right past the "pool of sponges" and didn't notice them until later when I saw someone with one. But there were lots of sprinklers out on course so getting watered down wasn't generally a problem. I dumped a lot of water onto my head and down the back of my shirt throughout the day. That helped a lot. As I was approaching Chinatown I concluded that sub-5 wasn't going to happen but a PR/PB was still in play. I knew my PR/PB was 5:10 but didn't remember how many seconds. So I sucked it up and kept going by running 4, 5, sometimes more blocks, then walking about a half a block so my knee would quit yelling at me. Or until I was able to dump some more water on me or to drink some more fluids. At the water stop just south of Chinatown on Wentworth had a panic attack as after the Gatorade was in the water area and saw empty table after empty table. The volunteers were out on front with gallon jugs of water. But no cups. Found one jug that had about a cup of water in it and emptied the jug right into my mouth. At the very last table, they had about 100 cups of water on it. Looks like they ran out of cups for those who came after me. My annual Michigan Avenue Death March wasn't much of a death march this year. By this stage I could run 2-3 blocks, but the knee would chime in and I had to walk for a bit. Had what was my fastest MADM and that no doubt gave me my PR/PB. After finishing and getting my medal (but not from some mega marathon star like Docket) the plan Mrs. Size12 and I had was we were to meet at the Balbo Hospitality Tent. I got there and didn't see her at the appointed place. She was to be along the finish straight and take some pictures of me, As it turned out, she never saw me, though I certainly ran past her. I didn't see her either. At the tent I sent out a FB message to her asking where she was. After no response, sent the message again, but no response. I was worried, but decided to go get a massage and sent a message about that (they looked at the knee and said there appeared to be no damage other than some bruising but "go to your doctor if pain persists"). As I was leaving the massage area, she just appeared. She explained that her phone had dropped to a 5% battery reading and that she'd forgotten to bring the spare battery packs we have. Hence, she was hesitant to start her phone. When she started her 5% battery phone, she saw I had finished. The real positive I took is that despite the pileup and the heat, I know a sub-5 was there. The stars just didn't align as I lost about 15 minutes from about Mile 18 to the end. Maybe I'll do two marathons in 2018. We'll see. In the later stages when I was doing the walk/run thing, I noticed that I ran far faster than just about everyone around me. Had I been able to maintain that for a longer period of time, a sub-5 would have been a slam dunk. Spending the bucks for the Balbo Hospitality Tent ($125 per person), though expensive, was well worth it. In addition to the aforementioned massage (included in the deal) there were chairs for all, one could see the start of the marathon on TV, lots and lots of food and drink, gear check, changing rooms and, what was most important, port 'o potties with NO LINES. Seriously. NO LINES. I got to the tent (non runners have to wait until 9 a.m. or something to get in) about 10 minutes before the Wave 1 corrals closed, so the place was pretty empty. No lines at the port 'o potties? Priceless. We will do the Balbo Hospitality Tent again next year. Guaranteed. Putting my name on my shirt was another positive. Lots and lots of people called out my name throughout the race. It really helped me keep my mind on my running and not on the sore knee and the heat. And it thrilled my male ego in that it seemed well, well over half of those calling out my name were middle-aged and older females (much to Mrs. Size12's chagrin). Well I WAS a "hot" runner yesterday. As I've now done 5 consecutive Chicago Marathons, I'm guaranteed entry for 2018. I'll be back next October. This morning, the knee is fine but with some very, very mild pain. But the left AT is now talking to me. And it didn't even bother me one bit yesterday. This will be an extensive rest/nap day. There's my report. Thanks for reading.
Here's my race report.
As it turned out I actually set a PR/PB yesterday. My previous best (from 2015) was 5:10:48. Yesterday was 5:10:25. A whole 24 second PR/PB!!! Woooo!!!! Hoooo!!!
The Big Moment yesterday was being part of a 5-runner pileup on Inner Lake Shore Drive, just past Mile 7. All I remember from it was seeing someone out of the corner of my eye either stumble and/or hit another runner. I guess when that happened, I stopped paying attention as either I then stumbled on something on the road or perhaps I got clipped from behind by someone else. The next thing I remember was seeing the pavement rushing up to my face. As I ate the pavement, I felt someone fall onto my back. Lots of fellow runners helped out everyone and one of the pacers from the 4:55 group turned around and ran back towards the pileup to see if everyone was OK. Other than some road rash (and what's a little road rash among friends?) there were no serious injuries. I got some on my left hand and elbow and as I later found out got some on my right knee (more on the knee later). I THINK there were 5 runners in this event. But I do know that sudden events like this can trigger false memories.
But it took me a mile or so to really get back in the groove. By the time I ran past "the acts on stage" in Boystown was feeling OK, though at this point I was beginning to feel the heat a little bit.
Someone mentioned that yesterday I "must have" passed lots of runners. Yes, I did lots of bobbing and weaving to get around lots of other runners and this no doubt burned up a lot of my energy early in the marathon. Why organizers put the 4:40-5:00+ pace groups into the last corral is beyond me. Would have been helpful if the 5:00 and the 4:45 groups could have started at the head of the last corral, just to get the once-in-a-lifetime marathon walkers behind them.
Saw Mrs. Size12 just after the 20K timing mat on Franklin then saw RA at his aid station. At this point and beyond was still maintaining about a 4:53-4:55 pace and was feeling pretty good, despite the Inner Lake Shore Drive Big One and the heat.
Had my first serious walking break (other than at an aid station) on Taylor just before the Mile 18 station. By now the heat was getting pretty bad and the road rash knee was telling me it didn't feel too good. It wasn't the road rash that was the problem, but I must have pranged the thing in the fall somehow.
The really hard stretch on this course for me is on Damen Avenue, just before PIlsen. I find this stretch, other than that double railroad underpass at the end, just before the turn onto 18th Street, to be so desolate and depressing as there's this lack of trees or much of anything else here. But yesterday I got through this stretch by running several blocks at a time then walking about a half a block before running again. It was also at this time I finally lost track of the 4:55 pace group. I wanted to hang with them until I made 20 miles, but came up a bit short in that regard.
On 18th in Pilsen I got mad at myself as I ran right past the "pool of sponges" and didn't notice them until later when I saw someone with one. But there were lots of sprinklers out on course so getting watered down wasn't generally a problem. I dumped a lot of water onto my head and down the back of my shirt throughout the day. That helped a lot.
As I was approaching Chinatown I concluded that sub-5 wasn't going to happen but a PR/PB was still in play. I knew my PR/PB was 5:10 but didn't remember how many seconds. So I sucked it up and kept going by running 4, 5, sometimes more blocks, then walking about a half a block so my knee would quit yelling at me. Or until I was able to dump some more water on me or to drink some more fluids.
At the water stop just south of Chinatown on Wentworth had a panic attack as after the Gatorade was in the water area and saw empty table after empty table. The volunteers were out on front with gallon jugs of water. But no cups. Found one jug that had about a cup of water in it and emptied the jug right into my mouth. At the very last table, they had about 100 cups of water on it. Looks like they ran out of cups for those who came after me.
My annual Michigan Avenue Death March wasn't much of a death march this year. By this stage I could run 2-3 blocks, but the knee would chime in and I had to walk for a bit. Had what was my fastest MADM and that no doubt gave me my PR/PB.
After finishing and getting my medal (but not from some mega marathon star like Docket) the plan Mrs. Size12 and I had was we were to meet at the Balbo Hospitality Tent. I got there and didn't see her at the appointed place. She was to be along the finish straight and take some pictures of me, As it turned out, she never saw me, though I certainly ran past her. I didn't see her either. At the tent I sent out a FB message to her asking where she was. After no response, sent the message again, but no response. I was worried, but decided to go get a massage and sent a message about that (they looked at the knee and said there appeared to be no damage other than some bruising but "go to your doctor if pain persists"). As I was leaving the massage area, she just appeared. She explained that her phone had dropped to a 5% battery reading and that she'd forgotten to bring the spare battery packs we have. Hence, she was hesitant to start her phone. When she started her 5% battery phone, she saw I had finished.
The real positive I took is that despite the pileup and the heat, I know a sub-5 was there. The stars just didn't align as I lost about 15 minutes from about Mile 18 to the end. Maybe I'll do two marathons in 2018. We'll see.
In the later stages when I was doing the walk/run thing, I noticed that I ran far faster than just about everyone around me. Had I been able to maintain that for a longer period of time, a sub-5 would have been a slam dunk.
Spending the bucks for the Balbo Hospitality Tent ($125 per person), though expensive, was well worth it. In addition to the aforementioned massage (included in the deal) there were chairs for all, one could see the start of the marathon on TV, lots and lots of food and drink, gear check, changing rooms and, what was most important, port 'o potties with NO LINES. Seriously. NO LINES. I got to the tent (non runners have to wait until 9 a.m. or something to get in) about 10 minutes before the Wave 1 corrals closed, so the place was pretty empty. No lines at the port 'o potties? Priceless. We will do the Balbo Hospitality Tent again next year. Guaranteed.
Putting my name on my shirt was another positive. Lots and lots of people called out my name throughout the race. It really helped me keep my mind on my running and not on the sore knee and the heat. And it thrilled my male ego in that it seemed well, well over half of those calling out my name were middle-aged and older females (much to Mrs. Size12's chagrin). Well I WAS a "hot" runner yesterday.
As I've now done 5 consecutive Chicago Marathons, I'm guaranteed entry for 2018. I'll be back next October.
This morning, the knee is fine but with some very, very mild pain. But the left AT is now talking to me. And it didn't even bother me one bit yesterday. This will be an extensive rest/nap day.
There's my report. Thanks for reading.
Started running at age 60.
AG 60-64 PR - 5K 25:45, 10K 53:28, HM 1:57:39, Marathon 4:32:09
AG 65-69 PR - 5K 26:11, HM 2:02:39, Marathon 5:04:47
Was looking at the Chicago Marathon results and pulled out some interesting statistics (at least I think they are interesting) on how participation decreases with age.
The M35-39 AG had 3804 finishers
The M40-44 AG had 3818, so no significant difference
The M45-49 AG had 3449 , a decline of about 10% from the previous AG
The M50-54 AG had 2332 , a decline of about 32% from the previous AG
The M55-59 AG had 1393 , a decline of about 40% from the previous AG
The M60-64 AG had 716 , a decline of about 48% from the previous AG
The M65-69 AG had 290 , a decline of about 60% from the previous AG
The M70-74 AG had 90 , a decline of about 69% from the previous AG
The M75-79 AG had 13 , a decline of about 85% from the previous AG
There were 8 in the 80-84 group and 1 age 85, but the sample is too small for reliable results.
Perhaps that is why they are referred to as our declining years!
Carolyn
Nice pictures of the RA meetups! Erika looks like she had a great birthday party in Boston! And I've met Kristen from RunnerKSA's photo!
Tramps, so sorry to hear about your prognosis for very little running in your future. Not sure how well I would deal with that! At least you seem to like cycling. See any cycling races in your future?
It was a perfect fall day here, with temps in the mid 50s and endless blue skies and sunshine. I met my usual Friday trail group for a 12 mile run, and then I went out for another 10 miles, so 22 for the day. It's 3 weeks till the Moab Trail marathon! Holly did that one with me a few years ago - awesome race!
I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.
I love seeing the pictures of the RA get-togethers too. Carolyn, you always have the greatest photos on FB, I'd love to do a race in Colorado sometime. I'd have to do a lot of training but it would be a goal. Tomorrow my goal is to get 108 spring bulbs planted, hopefully before the rain.
I haven't posted since I had that root canal on Wednesday. The DDS was superb and It went great. I even felt OK to do some shopping afterwards. We ordered replacement windows for the house, ouch, that's a bite out of the checkbook. We are finally getting the basement remodeling project started too so we'll be eating beans and rice for quite a while. MrStarr went back to work today after a year of retirement. He is a self-employed home inspector and is able to work again.
I got up at 7:05 this morning and made it to work by 7:30! We've been short-handed at the office Thurs/Friday with 3 of 6 people out on vacation. Today was one of the busier days with a steady stream of customers paying their utility bills. Fridays are always like that. I did get out for a 3 mile walk on the campground trail before supper.
Twocat, I have the app and your number plugged in. I sure hope that rain isn't in the forecast! We are likely to get soaked here but Sunday will be nice.
Good running and racing everyone!
“Courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall, but by those who fought, fell, and rose again.” — Adrienne Rich
MM #5615
Hello everybody!
Sorry--again, no time to chat. I did 10.1 miles today. 4.1 with the team, then 6 on my own.
That's it. See ya!
Just a quick post as it's been a long day and I need to get to bed. RunnerKSA, what was your meetup from?
Last night was such a good time, thanks so much to Marj and Henry for doing that! And Jay, thanks so much for the awesome cake. We left some with La Tortuga and took some with us. Ran 5.6 miles today while La T was doing her radio DJ stint, but got back to hear the last 20 minutes or so. We left Boston around 1 pm or so, and headed off to Vermont. Made it here by late 6'ish and had a really good dinner at Blue Paddle Bistro in South Hero, VT, just south of us. Now just catching up on all the e-mail and web stuff we couldn't do earlier with bad internet connections. Sort of a necessary evil if you don't want to drown when you return to work!
Forecast for Sunday's race isn't great, with humidity (again??) forecast for tomorrow and wind with rain for Sunday. Geez, what's with the carpy weekends around here? Anyway, this race is just for fun and to check off another state so I'm not concerned with time.