Race History 2013

2013 - Season 17

Feb. 2 - Tackle the Tower Stair Climb, Cleveland, OH - 6:17.7
Mar. 2 - Green Jewel 50K, Cleveland Metroparks - 5:25:21
Mar. 23 - Buzzard 50K, Hinckley Metropark - 6:37:18
Apr. 20-21 - North Coast 24 Hour Endurance Run, Cleveland, OH - 75.66 miles
Apr. 27 - Yeti, Set, Go! 10K Adventure Run, Medina, OH - Finished
May 4 - Dirty Rocks 10K Trail Race, Rocky River, OH - 48:57
May 19 - Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon, Cleveland, OH - 1:45:00
July 27-28 - Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run, CVNP - 17:03:19
Sep. 28 - Akron Marathon, Akron, OH - 3:34:54
Oct. 27 - Run With Scissors Trail Half Marathon, Hinckley, OH - 3:42:02
Dec. 7 - A Christmas Story House 10K, Cleveland, OH - 50:49
Dec. 24 - Frosty 5 Mile, Hudson, OH - 38:54

6/4/13

I just got back from my first run since going to the track last Thursday. There was no pain in my ankle, however it wasn't exactly "normal" either. Not stiff, maybe just a wee bit tight in certain directions of movement. Road running should be fine. Trails are a different story.

Last night I decided I will not be running the Mohican 50 this year. Sure, it's paid for, but my time is more valuable than the entry fee. Two nights camping with an hour + drive each way is a lot of my time. I can thing of better ways to spend it given that I'm in no shape to be attempting a 50 right now. Best of luck to everyone who has put in the training and will be toeing the start line in a week and a half.

The Run Streak is Over

It didn't take long, but 5 days were the most days in a row I have probably ever run. My run streak ended on Friday. I am not disappointed. I enjoy/need rest days. While at the track on Thursday, I did something to my left ankle. I don't know what. It hurts, but not a lot and not all the time. I probably ran on it too hard without having the base in. Or maybe it was the lightweight more minimalist shoes. Whatever it is, I will need to work through it without making it any worse.

Which has me rethinking even going down to run Mohican. The race is paid for. I think I can cancel my camping reservation and get at least some of my money back. I can definitely save on time and travel by not going. It's Father's Day weekend and if I go I won't be home until Sunday afternoon. Decisions, decisions.

5/30/13 Part 2

D5 (Continued) - 6 miles - 50:36

Made it to the track tonight after work. It was hot. Did 6 X 800m repeats. They hurt.

-3:33
-3:23
-no time
-3:20
-3:24
-3:23

One mile warm-up and 200m rest after the first 800. One mile cool-down. (Ha! Cool-down? What cool-down? I was still sweating two hours after getting home!) It felt good to be out on the track again. It has been too long. My times aren't too far off where they need to by by the end of the summer and into Fall, so that's good. I'm not sure how well this run streaking thing is going to work for me. Doing even a mile tomorrow will be tough.

5/30/13

D5 - 1 mile - 15:45

Streak insurance run on the treadmill this morning. Hopefully I can get out tonight and log a few more.

5/29/13

D4 - 3 miles - 27:13

Three miles from the house. Pre-dawn but the moon, with the help of streetlights, was bright enough that I could see fine without using a headlamp. Humid and about 70 degrees.

Reboot (Again)

I think it's time to try something different, with both running and writing about it. I have been without motivation to do either for some time, although I can fake the running part pretty good. However, lately I've been feeling the need to get serious again. I need something different to keep my focus. Something to keep me honest to my training. Something BIG.

Big? What's big? An Ironman is big. But thankfully I've already done one of those. An Ironman is a bit much for right now. 100 miler? Well, I have one of those too, and I'm signed up for Burning River in July. But that's not quite what I had in mind.

A streak. I've never, ever wanted to run every day. Every. Single. Day. So that's what I'm going to try to do. I don't know if there are rules for streaking. How long does a run need to be to count? 1 mile? 2 miles? Can I walk part? Some? All? I will have to do some research into that.

My streak began on Sunday with a 10 mile run along the parkway in Strongsville with my brother. We climbed the long Royalview hill for some different terrain and hit the Handle Rd. hill on the way back as well.

Yesterday, I continued my streak with 2 miles at the MCRR Memorial Day Quickie. I ran with our dog Porter. This was his first "race" and he pulled me along faster than I would have liked. We finished in just under 15:00.

This morning I knocked out 2 miles on the treadmill. That sucked. I hate running on a treadmill. I hope to not have to do much of that this summer. I also hope to get to the track tonight for some honest to goodness speed training. That's a little overdue.

I am setting my sights on Akron this year. I need a good marathon finish. It has been too long since I've run 3:30 or less. Mohican 50 is two weeks away. I'm not ready for it. Since we get the full time limit, I have more than enough time to hike the entire thing with zero running. That's a legitimate option. I will start Burning River in July, but I have no plans on finishing. Whether I drop at some point or get pulled due to time will need to be seen. I'm still hurting from BR 2011 and I don't need to mess anything else up. I enjoy trails and I enjoy running long, but I am a better road runner. After some serious self-evaluating, it's time to focus on my strengths and get those strengths strong again.

Streak Start - 5/26/2013

1 - 10.12 mi - 1:27:06
2 - 2 mi - 15:00
3 - 2 mi - 22:45

Running Circles at Hinckley

Yesterday, I forced myself to go for a run. I would have been more than happy (and comfortable) to stay home instead of getting outside for a run, but I needed it, so I went. I was originally thinking of 15 miles around the Hinckley Metropark APT. 5 loops. I also had a somewhat arbitrary self-imposed time limit to which I wanted to adhere. So, there I was, running up and down and all around, mileage VS. getting home by noon. I compromised. I ran 4 loops for 12.5 miles and ran hard, averaging somewhere around 8:30. I got my run in and was able to get home and take the dog out for a 2 mile walk before the rain began. Then I took a nap.

Cold and Dark Run, #2

Last night I went for a run after work and after taking the dog for a short walk. I get out of work at 5:00, so by the time I get home this time of year, it's very close to being dark. It's so dark, I've been walking Porter with a headlamp so I can have light to pick up his poop by. Once I was ready to run, it was really, really dark. Except for the Christmas lights. I ran with a headlamp, but never needed to turn it on. Everyone's Christmas lights gave me enough light to see by. It was still cold, though. Running pants and facemask cold. Even with the warm days we've been blessed with this fall/winter, (It's December. That's winter enough for me.) we've still had our share of cold nights. Anyway, I was dressed properly and the run was quite pleasant. I had a relatively uneventful 4.5 miles, except for the barking dog. As I rounded a corner and was heading down a cul-de-sac one street over, I startled a dog across the street who was apparently in the middle of doing his business. He didn't appreciate being startled and let me know it. As he was barking and crossing the street his owner yelled, "He doesn't bite!" I've actually heard that before, and been nipped, so I stopped and held out my mittened hand. That dog didn't want to make nicey-nice with me, just bark and get ALL the other dogs on the street barking. It was actually quite humorous.

Towpath Twenty 12-1-12



What blog re-boot would be complete without some photos from the trail? The Towpath Trail, that is. Saturday, which the calender said was December 1 but felt more like November 1 if not earlier, I wanted to get in some miles. A long run, one could say. Trails would have worked, but I didn't want to be gone all day. After considering my options, I chose the Towpath for a flat out-and-back of 15 to 20 miles.

 

Parking at Lock 29, I ran north. As I was getting a later start, people were already out and about, but it was nowhere near crowded and I had a pleasant run with just my thoughts and a certain Christmas song, which shall remain nameless, that I couldn't get out of my head.

 



 

 Passing under the I-80 bridge near the Boston Store.

 

 

One of the first things I noticed was how much wildlife was out and enjoying the warm weather. I could hear critters everywhere, and with a little inspection, I could spot most of them. The squirrels were overhead chowing on their nuts. Ducks were in the canal sections the entire way, as were some geese. Blue jays and cardinals were the easiest birds to spot. There was even a turkey, which I could hear well enough, I just couldn't find it through the underbrush.

 

A squirrel eating a nut overhead on the Towpath.

 

 

I warmed up a bit running north. The breeze I could feel was very slight. Even though it wasn't as warm as the weather people were calling for, it was very comfortable. Hey, it's Dec. 1st and I'm running in shorts! No complaints!

 



 The Cuyahoga River just south of Station Road in Brecksville.

 

 

I ran past the Station Road spur feeling just fine at nearly 7 miles. I had my "ultra" pack on and didn't need to stop for fluids. I would need to eat something soon, however. I could feel myself fading already. But I had 3 miles to go before turning around and decided I would have some Clif Bar at the Frazee House a little further on. It turns out that the Frazee House is almost to my turn-around point and everything works out well. I run a little further to hit 10 miles and find myself on new trail. I've never been this way before. My turn-around is at Lock 37 which is behind an operating feed store that used to be a mill.

 



 Lock 37 looking south.

 

I turn around and begin my 10 mile trek back to the car. This is when I notice how strong the wind is. I had been running with a tail wind all this time! Now I've got a decent head wind to accompany me and IT'S COLD! Oh, well. It happens. I press on. Once back into the narrower sections of The Valley, the wind isn't so bad. I make a quick stop at Station Road to finish my Clif Bar and keep going. I'm feeling good, nothing is hurting, but I just don't have much energy. By the time I'm at the Jaite area, I take a gel to get me back in one piece. From there it's about 4 miles.

 



Crossing under the I-80 bridge heading south.

 

 

I finish my 20 in just over 3 hours, which is a good time for some LSD (Long Slow Distance). I get an interesting look from a woman, who also has just finished a run, as I enjoy a post-long-run Reese's Tree. I had a Reese's. She had a banana... and Reese's envy.



So, I Suppose It's Time to Begin Again

More for historical recording purposes than anything else. My memory isn't what it once was. For example, I never forced myself to sit down and write about my Burning River experience in 2011. While the memories are still there, they're not as vibrant as they were a year ago. As a quick scroll down the page will show, my blogging ended with my finish at BR. Why? I don't know exactly why. I didn't want to write about it. I didn't feel the need to write about it. Looking back, I kind of wished I would have. I'm sure my BR memoirs would have been much more interesting coming from a fresh experience rather than a year removed.

2012 was a "down" season for me. I was drained both physically and mentally. I had zero desire to write about any training, racing, or whatever. I stopped keeping track of my mileage like I used to. My training was sporadic at best and my racing suffered as a result. There was no consistency. 2012 was also "The Year of the Beer." Heather and I have drank our way through The Winking Lizard's World Beer Tour. THAT, as it turns out, is incompatible with training and I'm lucky I haven't put on a ton of weight. We've reached our 100 beers (apiece), receiving our tour finishers' jackets, and are nearly done with 150 as a team to achieve the stretch-goal of a hooded sweatshirt. It takes a lot of time (and $) to drink 100+ beers. That time has to come from somewhere. Training. I'm relieved the tour is nearly done, I'm excited to go after some major races next year, and I feel the need again to write about what I'm doing.

What's on tap for 2013? I'm hoping for a road 50K PR at Green Jewel in March. Since I have yet to run that race up to my potential, I think I've got a good shot. I would like to go under 5 hours, but we'll see. At the spring NorthCoast 24 Hour Endurance Run in April I want 100 miles. I could have had it last spring and I let it slip through my fingers. In May at Rite Aid, I hope to run a new PR for the half marathon, going under 1:30 if possible. June brings the Mohican 50 Miler. This will be more of a training run, but I've never run a 50 so it's an automatic PR, as long as I finish. I've decided to enter Burning River again and July brings me my big run for the year. I don't need to finish faster, I just want to finish, hopefully without the lingering hip pain I had after 2011. I originally signed up for the Akron Marathon the day after I ran this year with the desire for redemption. My run started out well enough, but fell apart mid-way and the whole second half was miserable. With BR now on my plate, I don't know what the plan for Akron will be. There may be additional small races thrown in, but those are the biggies.

Of course, the only constant is change, so plans can be fluid. I'm mad a myself for having such a crappy season this year, which is good because anger REALLY motivates me, and I intend to focus on these events, train for them with an intensity I haven't unleashed in a while, and push myself to achieve these goals. We shall see how this all plays out.

I'm also REALLY hoping the Mayans are wrong.

Race History 2012

2012 - Season 16

Mar. 3, Green Jewel 50K, Cleveland Metroparks, OH, 5:44:19
Mar. 18, Buzzard Day 50K FA, Hinckley, OH, 5:53:50
May 5-6, NorthCoast 24 Hour Endurance Run, Cleveland, OH, 82.87 miles
May 20, Happy Trails 5K, Medina, OH, 22:02 - 2nd AG
July 4, Twin Sizzler 10K, Medina, OH, 46:47
July 22, Double Trouble 10K, Medina, OH, 43:01 - 1st AG
Aug. 11, North Ridgeville Lion's Club 5K, N. Ridgeville, OH, 22:36
Sept. 9, River Run Half Marathon, Rocky River, OH, 1:40:25
Sept. 29, Akron Marathon, Akron, OH, 4:35:07
Oct. 28, Run With Scissors Trail Marathon, CVNP, OH, 5:37:28

Race History 2011

2011 - Season 15

Mar. 5, Green Jewel 50K, Cleveland Metroparks, OH, 5:47:34
May 15, Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, Cleveland, OH, 3:29:47
Jun. 4, Yankee Springs Trail Dbl. Marathon, Grand Rapids, MI, DNF
Jul. 4, Twin Sizzler 5K, Medina, OH, 23:47
Jul. 4, Twin Sizzler 10K, Medina, OH, 45:40 - 3rd AG
Jul. 30-31, Burning River 100, CVNP, OH, 27:06:32
Aug. 16, Cash 4 Cross-Cross Country 5K, Medina, OH, 22:43-2nd AG
Aug. 28, M-Star 5K, Medina, OH, 20:43 - 2nd AG
Sept. 17-18, NorthCoast 24 Hour Endurance Run, Cleveland, OH, 80.17 miles
Oct. 16, Columbus Marathon, Columbus, OH, 3:39:56
Nov. 6, Inland Trail Marathon, Elyria, OH, 3:42:28
Nov. 20, Fall Classic Half Marathon, Strongsville, OH, 1:40:16
Nov. 27, Buckeye Woods 50K FA, Medina, OH, 5:28:55
Dec. 31, S.A.R.C. Great New Year's Eve 5K, Stow, OH, 22:28

Quickly Touching Base

Today marks one month since I finished the Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run, but I have yet to write anything about it. That will change, in time, when I find enough time to do the whole experience justice. Until then I will just note that my finishing time was 27 hours, 6 minutes, and a handful of seconds.

I should also note that I haven't been doing nothing in these four weeks. I recovered for a week, went on vacation to Bar Harbor, ME for a week, and have raced two 5Ks, one cross country and one road. The cross country race was held at Buckeye High School here in Medina. I finished in 22:43 and was the 2nd male in the Open Division. The road 5K was this past Sunday, also here in Medina. I finished that in 20:40 and was 2nd in my age group. Afterward I ran with a group back into town for nearly 9 more miles.

I've been battling some aches and pains since BR, but they're slowly getting better. NC24 is 2 1/2 weeks away and I'm hoping to be healed and ready to go by then. Time will tell.

It's Almost Time

In less than 3 1/2 hours we're starting. All the gear is packed, except for the coolers. I slept pretty well considering the usual night before race jitters. I'll be making breakfast soon, something big to keep me full for a while. This is going to be a long one.

The LIVE race day Webcast can be found HERE. As of right now, before the start, it looks like I'm in 12th place overall! And I haven't even begun sweating yet!

Hopefully I'll have some good news to post sometime tomorrow about finishing, but until then, I'll see you on the trails.

And Then There Were Four

Four days, that is. Race day is almost here, tapering is coming along nicely, and I'm ready to just get out there and get this one started. I feel good. Not perfect, but good. No aches or pains save one: a painful area at the front of my left heel nearest the arch. This is a new one and I'm not sure if it's my first case of plantar fasciitis or maybe just a bruise from some hard trails in the recent weeks. It mostly hurts to touch, not while standing, running, or walking. If that's my only problem this weekend, I will be thankful!

It's gotten hot recently too. REALLY hot. And humid. So I've been trying to get in some heat runs. They've not been terribly long, or comfortable, but I've felt decent, and they've given me a chance to nail down my hydration.

I've also found some new shoes in the last two weeks: Hoka One One. They're fairly new to the market and are the anti-minimalist shoe to end all shoes. These things have some cushion! And the comfort! Don't get me started about how comfortable they are! It's like riding in a Cadillac. Not one of the new one's, but one of the old boats from the 70's or 80's. My feet have been the weak point during my super long runs and I'm hoping these shoes will help me solve that problem.

My last run will most likely be tonight, just some easy miles at the track. Then it's just a matter of getting all my gear together and organized. That's a job in itself. So much stuff. I'm glad this is a summer race and I won't have to worry about cold weather. Lots more gear involved with cold weather running. But right now I'm focusing on the heat!

Mile Repeats

Just a quick one tonight. I had a decent outing back to the track last night. The running club was meeting for possibly a 15K relay but with Heather out of town, I had too much going on to spend that much time away from home. So... I went to the track instead.

It was still warm, about 80 degrees, full sun, but less humid than Tuesday. The run would still be a warm one though. As I arrived at the track I still wasn't decided on what workout to do. I had been toying with the idea of mile repeats on the drive over, and that's what I decided on.

There was a group of either USMC recruits or ROTC students having a workout on the field when I arrived. And let me just say, I was glad to be running. I don't think I would have lasted very long with the drills they were doing! After a mile warm-up I was ready to get started.

Cutting to the chase, I did 3 X 1 mile with 400 meter recovery between. I felt good, to a point, and pushed when I felt I could. I was hoping for sub 7 minute miles and that's what I hit: 6:42 / 6:37 / and 6:32. I wasn't planning on the progressively faster thing, but that's a good sign. With about a mile and a half cool-down, I was done in 46 minutes. Much faster than going to the club run.

Running fast mile repeats has nothing to do with Burning River. I'm thinking beyond already to Columbus. I was hoping to run super-fast there so I need to work some speed back into the high mileage base I have prepared. Running in the heat was good training though. It should still be hot at the end of the month.

Good luck to everyone running the Buckeye Trail 50K tomorrow!

50 Mile Weekend

Originally, I had 4 to 5 of these really big weekends planned, but somehow I managed to miss each and every one of them. Except for this past weekend. On my last high mileage weekend before beginning my taper, I got my 50.

I was thinking of 30 Saturday and 20 Sunday, but as I was running Saturday, I was thinking about the possible routes in Hinckley, and how they are all divisible by 3 not an even number. So because of that, I modified my mileage to 29 Saturday and 21 Sunday. A mile easier one day and a mile harder the other.

For Saturday's run, I wanted to get back down onto the course and run some sections that I haven't yet. I wanted to see what the trail conditions were like and begin to fine tune my race-day strategy. Parking at the Boston Store, I headed north on the Buckeye Trail, the reverse direction of the BR course. What I noticed immediately was how dry the trails were. Completely recovered from the sloppy mess I encountered on Mother's Day.

I made my way up to the Piano Keys and made a mental note that climbing these steps is going to really suck at nearly 50 miles into the run. At least there's a handrail!

The Buckeye Trail was a busy place early on in my run. Now, granted, I did get a late start and the folks I met had been out there for a while already. My 10:00-ish start time wasn't intentional, but it would put me out there in the heat of the day. Good training.

Blue Hen Falls was relatively quiet, with no one climbing around and getting in my photo for once. The lack of rain has caused the creeks to become tiny little things. I didn't encounter any difficulty at any of the water crossings and the muddy patches were merely soft spots. No trouble at all. I could go for some softer trails for race day, but I'll take them dry over wet.

The day was hot so I carried three 16 ounce bottles with me. I had a rough plan of where I wanted to run and the route I wanted to go. I knew where I could refill my bottles. My only regret is not carrying Gatorade mix with me. I took only Nuun tablets. They worked for hydration, but I could have used the extra calories. In the heat I didn't have much of an appetite for the Clif Bars I was carrying.

I followed the BT into the Brecksville Reservation, through Ottawa Point, eventually picking up the APT. Stopping at Oak Grove I refilled a bottle before continuing on my way. I jumped back onto the BT before the last big descent along the parkway and popped out of the woods at Riverview Rd.

Passing quickly through Station Road, I was on the Towpath still heading north. This section is race course, and will be hot on race day. Fortunately for me, it was hot this day too. At the Frazee House, I turned back onto Buckeye trail and had some real peace and quiet. I didn't take the trail all the way to the Bike and Hike, but for the time I was on it I didn't see another soul. I decided to turn around when I hit an overgrown field and I didn't feel like pushing through more leaves and grass.

Reversing course, I made my way back down to the Towpath and eventually back to Station Road. There I refilled more empty bottles and had something to eat. I had a few miles of hot Towpath ahead of me and I wanted to be prepared. It was hot. And crowded. The cyclists were out in force! For the second time this year, I couldn't help but wonder how many of those bikers weren't going to ride as far that day as I was going to run.

I stayed focused and survived the heat with no problems. I even managed to notice some of the sights along the way! As I was pushing through the heat, I had two things on my mind: 1) I would need to go back out for a little bit after getting back to the Boston Store in order to get my 29 and 2) I needed the can of Coke I had in my trunk! I could taste it and I intended to down it before finishing my run.

The Coke was one of those small cans and didn't take long to empty. Then I was off for a short mile and a half out-and-back. This time I went south along the Towpath, took the left where the Valley Bridle Trail veers off, and climbed back onto the Buckeye Trail. More uphill. This section was pretty quiet with only a few others out there with me.

It was just me and nature. And this little guy I managed to hear rather than see. I know one of these days I'm going to run into one a little larger. After what wasn't too long it was time to turn around and head back. I was very tired and dehydrated by the time I finished. And it was nearly 5:00. That's a long time in the woods. My complete run data can be found HERE.

Sunday's run was much less adventurous, was harder, and had more company. I met up with the Sunday morning Hinckley group at 7:00. I just wasn't going to make the 5:30 start. I had no soreness or foot problems so I started out with the hopes of having a decent run. It didn't take me long to realize though, that my legs were pretty shot and I wouldn't be able to maintain a very fast pace. But that's kind of what I was hoping for. That was one of the possibilities for Rite Aid: Run Saturday and then run the race tired. Not only would Sunday's run be a physically training run, but a mental one too.

The big 9 mile loop kicked my butt and I walked the major climbs, including Effie. I really didn't want to go back out on that loop again, so for the rest I stayed in the park. Ladd ran with me for the first of my four 3 mile loops, then I was on my own. Two more loops on the APT and then I switched to the Lake Trail. 21 miles done! All the Hinckley data can be found HERE.

A big weekend for a big race. I hope it will all be enough to get me to the finish line in under 30 hours. Tapering has begun. I'm reducing mileage but maintaining intensity. As an example, we were at the track last night running 800 meter repeats in the sun and heat. I pushed hard and managed to be only a little slower than what I would have liked.

Race day is getting close. Less than 2 1/2 weeks now.

2011 Twin Sizzler 5K and 10K

After running Friday night/Saturday morning, I didn't know if I would be capable of turning out a race-worthy performance for either of the pair of July 4th runs. I rested the entire day on Saturday and took Sunday off to recover as well. When we began making margaritas late in the day on the 3rd, I began to doubt if I would even be able to get up early the following morning. But while watching Medina's fireworks display from the sidewalk around our little development that night, I felt pretty good. Good enough to go straight to bed afterward, get up early, and give it a go.

I ran up to the Square from home with money to register because it was a nice morning and I didn't feel like driving such a short distance. The 1.8 miles made for a very nice warm-up and I was literally dripping sweat as I struggled to fill out the registration form. I must have looked quite the mess. Soon enough I was back outside to bide my time until the start of the 5K. I would be running both, with the 5K as another warm-up. I wanted my miles!

Rather than race all-out in the 5K, I started very slow and way in the back of the pack. The start was downhill and I wanted no temptation to go out too fast. My 10K PR was 20 years old and if I were going to make an attempt on one of the two times, it would be that one. Once the field spread out, I settled into a comfortable pace and concentrated on maintaining good form and breathing. It wasn't really hot out, and we had solid cloud cover, but the humidity made for harder breathing.

The race was uneventful and I saw a few people I knew. We wound our way back to the Square and had a nice uphill finish in front of the Courthouse. My official time was 23:46. Not horrible, but not that good either. But it didn't bother me as I wasn't running hard. Race data for the 5K can be found HERE.

After finishing, I had about a 45 minute wait until the start of the 10K. I took this time to rehydrate and consume an entire pack of Clif Shot Blocks, a gummy version of a sports drink. I also took a gel to help with calories. I found an empty park bench and relaxed for a while. Yes, I had a good shot at beating my 10K PR because it was so old, but I didn't want to dwell on it. No pressure. Just a 6.2 mile run with effort.

The start of the 10K was the same as the 5K only a little smaller. Fewer people wanted to run the longer distance. I also lined up further forward, but not far enough that I would get caught up with the fast guys. Downhill we went, turned, and the long climb up Rt. 57 began. I settled into a solid pace and found myself working my way up through the field. "Not too fast," I would think to myself. I wanted to save any speed for the second half.

I didn't know the course, so I was in for a treat when I saw that we would run up the big hill off of Lexington Ridge. It's a great training hill so racing it would be even better! Again, I just maintained a steady pace and climbed. Pretty soon it was over, we leveled out, and then it was time to descend. This was the first real downhill with open space, so I just let the legs spin. Not pushing, just cruising downhill. At the bottom would be a turn, followed by another large uphill. I knew there was another downhill coming so again, I pushed just hard enough going up. The rest of the race would continue like that: pushing conservatively on the uphills and nearly hammering the downhills. And my mile splits were getting faster!

Pretty soon we were at the bottom of the hill to the finish. Time for one final push, so I switched into a faster gear. I like to kick at the end, but I wasn't too worried about getting the best possible finish placement. If someone wanted to kick and pass me going uphill, they were going to have to hurt and earn it. I was catching up to two men ahead of me, but we were so close to the finish chute, only an all-out sprint on my part would have put me past them. I had it in me, but decided not to pull the trigger. We finished one behind the other going into the chute. It would turn out, the first fellow was in my age group and took 2nd. I took 3rd. I didn't find out until Tuesday about placing, and just today about the placing. Anything can happen in a race. For me, I am happy with my performance. I had a good, solid run and achieved a new PR at 45:39, but left TONS of room to beat it again in the future. 10K race data can be found HERE.

I am 23 days out from Burning River and I'm racing short stuff. And it was FUN! That's what I've been hoping to experience. 100 miles is a long way and needs to be taken seriously or it will mess someone up. But for me, it needs to be fun or it's not worth doing. I hope I can continue in this direction and show up ready to have a grand time for 100 miles!

Firecracker 40 FA

Big thanks to Cyrus for forwarding the info for this run to me a week ago. I was aware of it's existence, but didn't know it was going to be this weekend. What it is, is a loosely organized group night training run on the last 40 miles of the Burning River course. Was it something I needed to do? Yes!

I was familiar with the BR course from just past Shadow Lake to the Perkins Loop with just a random hole here or there. Now I'm familiar with the entire course with the exception of the road section at the start and the trails (which I've heard are mild) leading up to Shadow Lake. And not only that, I've done the night sections in the dark. And they weren't too bad! Granted, the Perkins Loop is much more scenic and enjoyable by day, but I was expecting it to be a nightmare in the dark. And although I had company for the entire run, my concerns about what I might run into in the CVNP at night have been allayed. If it came down to it, I could push on down the trail by myself without hesitation.

Most of us met down near the finish line in a parking lot across the street from the Sheraton in Cuyahoga Falls. Thanks to Zack for offering me a lift to the start at Lock 29 in Peninsula. We had a large group, well over the 43 that were definitely attending, which made for an almost party-like atmosphere. There were a few people I knew, many faces I recognized, but mainly lots of new people to meet. We must have been some sight running down the street to 303 while everyone else was trying to either get to the Winking Lizard or returning home from a day at the Boston Mills Artfest.

On race day, there will be an aid station at the Pine Lane Trailhead, so that's were we ran to get onto the course. We take an old brick street to get there, paralleling 303, up and out of the Valley. Eventually it narrows down to a single wide path through the brush as nature reclaims another section of abandoned road in that area. A photo of the street is HERE from a previous run. Now, I've been through Pine Lane quite a few times, and I've never known there is another trail there. It's a section of the Valley Bridle Trail and it was awesome! Hilly, scenic ravines. It was great to run it with the sun still breaking through in spots. I will return there again for photos.

We followed the bridle trail until we hit an old section of Akron Peninsula Rd. Then it was some road miles until we joined up with the Bike and Hike Trial. While on the road section, I met a fellow named Mike. Our paces were very similar so we decided to stick together. From the Bike and Hike, we took a short path to join up with the Boston Run Trail, which we almost missed. Once on the Boston Run Trail, we had a decision to make: right or left. As that trail is a loop, it didn't really matter which direction we chose. We would eventually end up in the same spot. I suggested left because I had studied the map section earlier in the day and I thought we ran for a bit along 303, which would put us running clockwise.

The Happy Days aid station would be in the parking lot on race day. This night Dan B. was crewing us and had a roving aid station waiting for us. I was carrying much of what I needed on me, not wanting to have to depend on anyone else. All I would technically need was water, but I couldn't pass up a cookie or two. After Happy Days we looped around the east side of the Ledges, where the shadows were long and deep. Bats were already out and about in the darkness and I considered turning on my headlamp. We both waited on the additional light and enjoyed running in the restricted light that is sunset under a heavy tree canopy. There was one fork in the path where the Pine Grove Trail loop splits from the connector trail. Both Mike and I thought the loop was part of the course so we ran it. I'm not sure if everyone else ran it though. Once we were done and back on the main course we had a groups of runners "materialize" both in front and behind us.

Crossing Truxel Rd., we made our way around Kendall Lake and onto the Cross Country trail. I think it was along this section that we met up with the four other runners we would spend nearly the rest of the night with: Kyle, Mikaila, Suzanne, and Tim. A great group of runners! Every one's lights were on as we climbed the Sound of Music Hill on our way to Pine Hollow. Dan was there waiting for us with food, water, and Gatoraid. Good Gatoraid too! I'm usually leery of drinking sports drink that I don't mix myself, having had bad experiences doing so, but Dan did a good job mixing up something that was more than tolerable.

The Salt Run Trail loop was next on our journey. It's a hilly, rooty course by day, with long sections of steps going both up and down. By night, it really slowed us down. I could really understand how it defeated people so badly during BR as it falls around mile 70. We all made it through just fine. The Cleveland Orchestra concert (I think) at Blossom was just finishing and their fireworks going off as we wound our way through Salt Run. I'm curious if anything could be seen from up above because we could barely see the headlights of cars driving by on Akron Peninsula or Quick Rd the foliage was so thick.

After re-fueling again, we were off to find the Wetmore Trail to make our way to the Covered Bridge. I've gotten turned around on this section by day and was worried we might have problems in the dark, but Tim and Suzanne were up front leading us forward. It looked like the Lagnes Run trail was closed for re-building so that helped us have fewer decisions to make. I couldn't help but let my imagination do it's thing as we made our way back down into the Valley. My thoughts would range from what I would like to be eating, to how nice a margarita would taste, to "when will I see some coyotes", to "I wonder what would happen if a minotaur popped up in front of us". I was getting mildly delirious due to the late hour and that was just fine with me.

We reached the Covered Bridge and Dan was there, all set up. I've been around the Perkins Loop many times. It was the location of my first 50K just two years ago at Bills' Bad Ass. This would be my first time around in the dark. Surprisingly, I could recognize most of where we were, only getting disoriented in a couple spots. It definitely took longer to run at night, but we all made it through OK. Stubbed toes on tree roots being the worst injuries. When we returned to the Covered Bridge we learned the "sweeper" group had bypassed Perkins and was ahead of us. This was for the best as it allowed Dan to move on sooner and get set up for more runners. This also meant we were now the sweeper group. We would need to pick up anyone we might come upon and make sure no one got left behind. Safety first.

As we made our way down Oak Hill Rd at 2:30 in the morning, I would be on all new terrain, except for a couple sections of Towpath Trail. The road was deserted so we spread out. Mike even took his shoes off and ran barefoot, as he had done a little earlier on Akron Peninsula and Bolanz Roads. As the night wore on we took more walking breaks. Not everyone was feeling good either, so our progress slowed. The section of Buckeye Trail into O'neil Woods took it's toll. From that point we did a lot of walking. Stomachs were acting up and blisters forming. Things were really beginning to hurt.

Dan was again waiting with aid at Botzum. I had to use the restroom here. It just wasn't going to wait. I felt better but not everyone else did, so we still made slow progress. There was much humorous speculation as to why the City of Akron needed to build a barbed-wire-topped-ten-foot-tall-concrete-wall around their composting facility. Was it to keep people out or to keep something in?

As we kept moving south on the Towpath the birds began singing. 4 AM already? Sure was. And with that the sound of something moving toward us through the heavy vegetation to the side of the Towpath. My brain slowly tried to think of what it could be and decided upon a deer. I hoped it wouldn't hit one of us as runners seldom come out on the winning side of human VS. deer collisions. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was no animal. It was the sound of big ole fat rain drops beginning to fall. Just lovely. They let up but the lightning and thunder began. Something was brewing and I really began hoping we would be done before it hit. The only problem was I didn't know the remainder of the course or exactly how much further we had to go.

It was light out as we left Dan's aid station for the final time at Memorial Parkway. This is where we left the Towpath, following some streets to Cascade Valley Metropark. As the rain returned I was glad to be in the trees and on a trail. We followed the trail along the banks of a still small Cuyahoga River, making mostly correct course decisions. By this point our group had split with Mike, Tim, and Suzanne going ahead and Mikaila, Kyle, and I bringing up the rear. We missed only one turn, having to double back when the trail we were on ended.

Through slow but relentless progress we eventually made our way back to the parking lot across from the Sheraton. We had been out there for over 12 hours. Slow? Yes. But it was good training to just be on our feet for that long. We covered 43 miles by my Garmin. Data HERE. This will be the hardest part of the course due to it being the second half of the run. Hopefully I will be able to run that section at Burning River.

I did learn some things while out there. Like, I can't wear compression tights or calf sleeves for long runs. The lower elastic band rests right on my retinaculum, causing me swelling and pain. This is probably what caused my left leg problems earlier this year. My right leg was aggravated during this run. I combined bottles of my Gatoraid/Nuun mixture with a bottle of just Nuun and my hydration was not a problem. No dehydration. I ate three Clif Bars and could have used some more. I need to learn to eat before I get hungry. I ate most of the energy chews I brought with me. Not only were they beneficial nutritionally, but they gave me something to snack on. I like to think of them as "Energy Candy"! I think I've made the decision that I can't run long in the Brooks Cascadias. I wore less constricting socks, but my feet still got beat up. I think multiple shoe changes, including road shoes, will be a necessity on race day. And I still have an unanswered question: How the hell did I get ants in my gaiters? I couldn't feel it at all, but when I changed into clean socks and shoes for the drive home I saw ants and that they had decided to bite me all over my ankles. Stupid ants.

So, a fun time and a great run. I'm glad I went as I got to meet some new people. And most everyone there will be running the race, so I will get to see them again. HUGE thanks to Dan B. for crewing everyone all night long and for his concern that every runner be accounted for. I don't know how he fit all that gear into his Honda Fit! We're less than a month out now and I think that will be my last super long training run. Now it's time to heal up and taper down.