Whoa, I missed a week

This is a catalytic converter. I think this is where all the noise is coming from on my car. It got a LOT louder last night coming home from running trails and I am finally forced to take it in and have it looked at. I was hoping to go swimming today after work, and maybe I will still be able to, but I'm heading over to the garage to have the exhaust system inspected.

Back to that trail running thing. We had a small group last night in Hinckley to run. We were getting some storms and steady rain earlier in the afternoon which I was under the impression would continue throughout our run. Unfortunately that did not happen. I kept waiting for the rain to start, but it never did. I would think, "now would be a really good time for it to start raining," but again, no such luck. You see, last night after the earlier rain, under the now full trees, with no wind, in FOG, it was 100% humidity and very uncomfortable. The rain would have felt really good. And it would have kept the bugs down too. I could see them and feel them. One even decided to fly into my ear. Right after his buddy decided to land in my eye. Like there was nowhere else for them to fly! We were out for 2 and a half hours and covered somewhere between 13 and 15 miles. It's always hard to tell exactly how far we go in there.

Sunday I was able to get my first brick workout under my belt. I rode from Strongsville to Rocky River and back along the parkway for 40 miles and followed that up with a strong 7 mile run in the heat. I felt good on the bike and since I chose to ride on the roadway instead of the all-purpose trail I was able to stay on the aero bars for most of the ride. My neck and shoulders were stiff and got sore later from that, so I think I'm going to raise my bars back up a spacer or two. The run felt good. Not as good as what the Garmin was showing, but good. I don't know if it was losing satellites and giving me a low pace or what. I certainly did not feel like I was running as fast as it said I was.

We had visitors on Tuesday so I missed the speed work. It sounds like I picked a good one to miss too as they were running 24 X 200's! Yuck! Rob and Becky, two friends of ours from when we lived in Denver were driving through our neck of the woods with their two sons Alan and Gregory, and stopped over to have some Romeo's with us. It was nice to get caught up with what's been happening in the last 9 years since we moved back to Ohio.

Other than that, just some early morning runs before work on a couple days for 4 or 5 miles. It depends on how quickly I can drag myself out of bed. I'm hoping to get another long bike/run brick in this weekend as well as get my behind back into the pool. I'm running out of time to get it together before Wendy's. Just 2 weeks to go.

Early Morning Weekday Run #2

I decided to get up and enjoy the nice morning weather this morning and go on my first post-marathon run today. It was mid 50's, calm, and quiet. I felt I was ready to hit the pavement again Wednesday night, but decided to wait till this morning when it had cooled off a bit. I did 4.3 miles around the neighborhood at about an 8:40-ish pace. I could feel that I was still tired, but the first couple miles actually felt pretty good. The sore muscles didn't bother me at all. The second half was another story, as I could feel the overworked areas fatiguing very quickly. Definitely not ready for a long run yet, but maybe some more short ones.

I also took out the new Garmin 205 this morning. It's very nice. I like it better than the 101 already. It arrived the day after the marathon, go figure. Not that I would have worn it anyway.

I took today's photograph this morning before leaving for work. Our chive plant in the garden is blooming right now and the sunlight was hitting it just right.

2009 Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon

If it looks like we were cold, it's because we were! (I'm the one wearing the garbage bag!) We were in a shadow as well as a wind tunnel at the Free Stamp. Otherwise it would have been just peachy. The Medina County Road Runners really turned out for this one. As a group we had some successes and some disappointments. But that's how it usually goes.

Without further waiting, my results: I finished in 3:22:45, which is a PR by about 12 minutes or so. I averaged 7:44 per mile, which is amazing for me. Granted, we started out faster than that, but the last few really got me. I was 24th of 690 in my age division and 189th overall out of 9539. But that doesn't sound right. There couldn't have been that many marathoners. The course was too empty.

Ladd, Joe, Debbie, and I all started out together. Debbie was running the half but her pace was going to be the same as ours. We lined up in between the 3:10 and 3:20 pace groups and there was a decent amount of elbow room. Not like what the scene was further back in the pack. I heard that it was impossible to even get through the gate from the sidewalk to the street back there. By starting up front we were only 15 seconds off the clock time.

We were all still together until mile 3 passing the West Side Market, with splits of 7:48, 7:37, and 7:23. That's when we pulled ahead of Joe. He was trying to maintain a steady pace for 3:20 and the rest of us felt like going a little faster. Ladd and I lost track of Debbie somewhere around mile 4, with a split of 7:20. He had his Garmin and I was taking mile splits and we were flying! Although it felt good, we knew there was a chance we might pay for it later, and that we did! But we kept going faster, running mile 5 in 7:14 and mile 6 in 7:10. We were really building a cushion for both Ladd's 3:20 BQ and my 3:15. Yes, I had decided to make an effort to hit my time. Something I was undecided upon up until the race was underway.

Mile 7 passed in 7:12 and we turned around in Lakewood, heading back toward downtown along the lake. Mile 8 saw us intentionally slow down a bit, with a split of 7:26, but mile 9 was back down to 7:20. Then we ran mile 10 in 7:07, our fastest split and a pace that we just couldn't hope to maintain. We slowed after that, but not because we were pulling back. We hit the Shoreway bridge and began climbing. Mile 11 was a 7:48. And that was good considering the uphill and the headwind, which we were hoping would be a tailwind but wasn't. Heading back into downtown, we ran mile 12 in 7:39. Going past Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame brought us to mile 13 and the halfway point in 1:37, which is a decent half marathon time for both of us. Our mile 13 split was 7:34.

From there we just kept heading east along North Marginal Rd. This is maybe a tie for the bleakest part of of the race course, tied with the section along St. Clair. I missed the mile 14 marker and had a 15:44 split for miles 14 and 15 combined. Somewhere just before mile 16, Ladd and I parted company. We were going a little too fast for his finish time, but I really wanted to try for my BQ. My mile 16 split was 7:52, followed by 17 in 7:37, 18 in 7:33, 19 in 7:21, and 20 in 7:23.

This is where the going got tough, in the University Circle area. I started cramping. At first it was just one muscle. But I was able to run through it and it went away. But then it was multiple muscle groups, and they didn't go away. I had no intention of stopping to stretch or walk, although I really wanted to. I knew if I stopped running, I was done. So I kept running. Down onto MLK Blvd. Back up onto St. Clair. I saw the blighted areas and the guy walking his pit bull down the street. But the pain in my legs was too much for me to care about anything other than going forward.

Mile 21 - 7:43

Mile 22 - 8:03

Mile 23 - 8:16

Mile 24 - 8:38

Mile 25 - 8:52

Mile 26.2 - 10:56, and I was done. I could finally stop running. I had known I was going to miss my BQ time since mile 21 and had accepted that. But I knew that if I could somehow keep running, I would have a new PR and be under 3:25. And I am satisfied with that. For now.

Now it's Wednesday. I haven't run since Sunday and I'm still very sore in spots. My left quad, right calf, and lower left calf are the culprits right now. At least my knee was better yesterday. That's the one that worries me the most since it isn't a muscle. I may head out tonight for a couple after Bailey's open house at school. Or not. But for now I need to get into multi-sport mode. More precisely, triathlon mode. The challenges, they aren't stopping this year.

Quick Rite Aid Update

I just wanted to pop on here quickly to post our results from this morning.

Heather - Half Marathon = 2:16:50

Dan - Marathon = 3:21:46

That's all for now. Will be back at some point with a full race report. Now it's off to get some grub. I'm starving!

Twas the Night Before Rite Aid

Twas the Night Before Rite Aid, and all through the expo hall

All the runners were stirring, except Mr. P, who found a GIANT jar of Smucker's All Natural Peanut Butter!

I couldn't resist. This is my two year anniversary of discovering Smucker's All Natural Peanut Butter. I tried a sample at the 2007 expo and have been hooked ever since. All the peanut buttery goodness, without all the guilt!

Advertisement over. Not a whole lot going on. Lots of resting. Lots of eating. Maybe too much eating. We had some offerings from Buca di Beppo last night, the Quatro al Forno, Fettuccine Alfredo, and Raspberry Cheesecake (they were out of Tiramisu); hit the Great Lakes Brewing Co. for lunch, Stilton Cheddar Beer Soup, Pretzel Crusted Chicken with mashed potatoes and asparagus, and a Dortmunder (of course), after picking up our stuff downtown; and plan on having some spaghetti at home for dinner. I must not be eating too much because I just made myself hungry writing about all that!

Tried to nap this afternoon with a nice breeze coming through the windows. Early to bed tonight because it will be a VERY early morning. Weather is changing as I write. The front is going through, we're getting rain, and the temperatures are dropping. That's good. 40's in the morning with highs only near 60 and sun. Sounds quite lovely for a run, doesn't it?

Last Track Workout

Four more days till Rite Aid and another new item on the sidebar. Today I created a list which I will update after every race. It's a list tallying the number of races I've done, broken down into each individual type and distance. I may be the only one interested, but I'm putting it up none the less.

Last night was the final speed work session before race day and we took it easy this week. I had some mileage, but I took it easy. I ran to the track, warmed up, ran 4 X 400m repeats, did a half mile cool down, then ran home. Total mileage was 7.5 miles and we pegged each 400 right at 93 seconds. The first 200 built gradually, then the second 200 was hard, but not an all out sprint. It left us breathing hard, but not drained.

So far, race day weather is looking good. We'll see what they're calling for on Friday though.

New Widget

I've got a new widget on the sidebar today. I finally found a countdown timer that I both like and am able to get to work right. It will be dedicated to highlighting the next major race in my schedule. Now if I could just figure out how to post multiple photos within a post and have them be nice and organized like I want them to be.

And Then There Was One

One week, that is. One week till the Rite Aid Marathon. I'm supposed to be tapering and taking it easier. So what do I do? Two hill workout days this week, swim a mile Friday afternoon, and 9 miles with Ladd today with heavy wind and at a sub 8 minute pace. Tapering is hard!

In defense of our pace today, we had very strong headwinds for most of the run and didn't realize we were going that fast. The pace feature on the Garmin was always showing something in the 8:30 or longer range. It wasn't until we were finished and scrolling through the miles that we saw how fast we ran. Oh well, chalk it up as near-pace training run one week out. I see one to two days of running for this week accompanied by more cross-training than usual.

5/7/09 Trail Running

As beautiful as yesterday was early, it was the opposite at 5:00. We had steady to heavy rain falling with no end visible to the naked eye. The radar was a different matter. It at least offered hope of drying out! Which it did. Right at 6:00 when we were beginning our tour through the trails of the Hinckley Metropark.

In fact, it didn't rain a drop for the entire run. Which was disappointing as we could have really used a little relief from the muggy, buggy air. But even drenched in sweat it was a great run. Ladd and I did one loop staying on the main trails and not venturing onto any of the winding single track paths. We were out for 1:36 and estimate our mileage to be about 11 miles. We went a little harder than I anticipated, but that was OK. The hills took their toll on both my legs and my lungs, but that may have been due to Tuesday's hill workout.

It's amazing how fast everything is greening-up over there. There are leaves on the trees when there were just buds two weeks ago. The forest floor is covered with plant growth now. Soon there will be legitimate underbrush. We encountered numerous wildlife including about four deer crossing about 30 feet ahead of us, birds, squirrels, buzzards (of course), one horse, and, get ready for it, the MOSQUITO'S are back! Yeah!!! I wasn't ready for them. They can go back to the pits of hell for all I care. Need to remember to pack the Off next time. Which won't be next week as I'll be cutting WAY back for Rite Aid.

9 days and counting!

Cross Country

The weather Tuesday night was nearly perfect for running. And doing other things as well, as both tracks/fields were in use during our speed work session. There was a track meet at Claggett and some lacrosse at the high school. So it was off to Reagan park for a little hill work. (Or so I thought.)

Connie had another idea, creating a .55 mile cross country loop. I'll do my best to describe the course:

-Start in the north end zone of the football field.
-Run the length of the football field and proceed UP the sledding hill.
-Pick up the paved path and run around the baseball diamond (game in progress).
-Pass the port-o-potty and non-working water fountain and hang a right toward the basketball court.
-Down a big dip and back UP to the basketball court.
-Go around the court where there is a pick-up game being played, but don't run over the girls having soccer practice.
-Down (finally) a dirt access road to come out behind another baseball diamond (empty).
-Across the baseball field back to the football field and hang a right down the sideline to the end zone and left behind the goal post to where we began.
-Recovery jog down the field and back.
-Repeat...

I was pretty tired after one lap, but we pounded out three more. Each lap was supposed to be faster than the first. I managed that, but it was tough. I felt like I was on the verge of becoming sick on the last one. One (who shall remain nameless) DID become ill on the last loop!

After that we did a slow jog of the course before heading back to the sledding hill. This time 5 sets of hill sprints. The hill isn't too steep, too long, and it's grassy, so this wasn't as bad as it could have been. I pushed hard each time, causing my right elbow to start bothering me. It did that the last time I sprinted hills with Patrick and Dan back in the winter.

It's better today. Every thing's better today. I'm planning on hitting the trails tonight for an easy off road run. Nothing too hard or technical. Up until now the day has been sunny and nice. We're supposed to have chances for rain and thunder today, and the clouds are beginning to push in. If it's storming I'll cancel. If it's just raining, I'll run. I'm going to get wet anyway! I'm just planning to stay on the bridle and larger trails anyway.

10 days till Rite Aid and I'm ready. I feel more ready for this marathon than any other I've done. I've got so much hay in the barn for this one I wonder how I could possibly fit any more in! As of today the game plan is to go out at a 3:15 pace for the first half and see how we feel. That would give us a buffer to still come in under 3:20 for Ladd to qualify for Boston. I get a little nervous when I think about trying to hit 3:15, but Connie thinks I should be racing them at 3 hours or less. Having someone of her caliber think that gives me a little extra confidence. I get MORE nervous when I think that Steelhead is less than 3 months away. Where did all my time go?

5/3/09 Panera Group Run

Yes, this is my third post today. But I promise it will be the final one. For today!

We had a group run this morning, leaving out of Panera. Since the weather is so nice and I'm so close, I just ran over there, getting myself an extra mile and a half. I met Ladd and Chuck in the parking lot prior to the group run so we could get some extra miles in. We went out the Double Trouble course and wound around a development I had never been through before. But I'll be back! It was flat, quiet, and nice.

We were back in the parking lot by 8:15 to meet up with everyone else. Then we headed out again. We made our way here and there, going through Reagan Park, and eventually through the high school, where we made our turn back. We thought we would meet up with the ladies' group, but never did find them until the last leg back to Panera. It was getting hot and I was overdressed for the weather. Catching up to them near the end of the run, we were able to slow it down to a more comfortable pace. My legs still felt toasted from the effort Friday night.

Once at Panera, I ordered a Frozen Caramel and a chocolate chip cookie. I was hungry on the run, but didn't want anything too big and sweet. The drink was amazing! It would be even better with a shot or two of Bailey's or Kahlua thrown in! But those kinds of drinks need to wait for vacations.  :(

So I managed a good 15 and a half miles this morning at an 8:22 pace. I was only scheduled for 12. I'm not too worried about pushing things too much during my taper period. I might push a bit on the runs, but I'm going to add in more rest days!

2009 Schoolhouse Run 4 Fun 5K

We had another rainy run this year for the Schoolhouse Run 4 Fun 5K. Except this year the rain held off until after I was done, but before Heather and Bailey finished. And it picked up considerably after they finished and we got back to the car. I was so wet I was freezing, although the run itself was just fine.

I saw a lot of familiar faces at the starting line this year thanks to being involved in the running club for the past year. There was a nice little club pocket front and center  and we got out quick enough to avoid the worst of the bottleneck congestion at the end of the parking lot. What congestion we did have dispersed quickly once we hit the streets.

I felt good so I just pushed. I saw Bob up ahead of me and tried to keep him in sight for as long as possible. Ladd and Connie, who were right with me, fell back a little, but I just kept pushing. I REALLY wanted a new 5K PR in that race. Once I was pretty much by myself and running down an occasional runner, I just focused on maintaining my form and a high leg turnover, just like at a speed workout on the track. When my breathing became labored, I would back off a bit and recover. Into the wind, I would attempt to minimize my frontal footprint and dig in a bit. I grabbed two swallows of water at the second water station, but I don't think I should have done that. I was starting to get nauseous at the end and that may have had something to do with it.

Everything must have come together for this race because I finished in 19:44, taking a HUGE chunk off my 5K time. That's an average of 6:22 per mile, but they were more varied than that. My mile 1 split was 6:06, with some of that on a sub-6:00 pace. Mile 2 split was 6:29, mile 3 6:37, and the final 10th of a mile was 34 seconds. There was a fellow I was catching heading into the last half mile that would keep speeding up every time I would try to go around him. I wasn't going to duel him, I knew I was going to PR by that point, so I just settled in behind him. It turns out he wasn't in my age group anyway, so it was no big deal.

After finishing and grabbing a cup of Gatorade, Ladd and I started backtracking the course looking for Heather and Bailey. We didn't have to go too far before finding them. They were making pretty good time! We rand them in. I had my name announced as a finisher again. And then the rain started picking up, which is evident in the photo above! We quickly grabbed some grub, said our goodbyes, and headed for the car. They were going to do awards in the gym, but I never place in these short races so we ordered a pizza and left.

As it turns out, I won my age group. My time was decent, but still a couple minutes behind the leaders. I guess it all depends on who shows up at any given event. Bailey and Heather finished in 35:38 and 35:43 respectively. We had a very good club showing and I think everyone had a good night. The Great Potato Ranch Pizza we picked up from Romeo's on the way home tasted really good. As did the bottle of wine it was accompanied with!

2009 Buzzard Duathlon

Yeah! Our official results are officially up for this year's Buzzard Duathlon! And we weren't the only mixed gender team that was MIA. There were two others as well. One was faster than us and one slower. Meaning we finished in 2nd. Not a bad outing considering the heat of the weekend, the hills, and the miles the day before. Our official time was 1:50:26, about what I got when adding the splits from Heather's watch and my bike computer.

The day started out warm. Not even on the cool side. The clouds helped to delay further heating, but they even cleared out eventually, leaving the day free to become unseasonably warm, as Saturday was. Run 1 was probably the most comfortable of the three legs. I was even hot on the bike, draining my aero-bottle dry before completing the 15 mile course. Run 2 was very hot. It would have been nice for there to have been at least one fluid station out on the run course. Oh well. Just have to remember that for next time.

This was a nice early season test, even though I only did the bike leg. That's the one discipline I need to concentrate on right now. Swimming is coming along, but the bike is where I can make some significant improvement.

2009 Crime Victims' Awareness Week 5K

This is a very informal 5K put on by the Medina County Prosecutor's Office during Crime Victims' Awareness Week. I've known about the race, but this is the first year I've run it. And since it was held the night before the bigger Schoolhouse 5K, I wanted to take it easy and not push too hard. That was the plan, and that's what we did. Sort of.

Ladd and I ran together but went out a bit harder than preferred, without the benefit of a warm-up run. Frank challenged for the lead, but couldn't catch the fellow who won it in 19:10, settling for 2nd place. Ladd and I crossed the line together in 21:39 for a solid 3rd place tie.

My shin was still bothering me last night, and is today as well. I'm hoping it won't distract me too much in my PR attempt tonight and will heal up quickly in the last couple weeks leading up to the marathon. There is a chance for storms again tonight so I'm expecting it to be either wet or very muggy with temperatures in the mid to upper 60's. Last night's run was a bit on the muggy side, with rain threatening but holding off.

In other news, the waiting is over for the Buzzard Duathlon results. Or is it? Seems like Heather and I are missing from the results. Completely missing. I've contacted the race director but haven't heard back from him yet. Seems to me that if they have no record of us finishing, and haven't provided us with finisher's medals, then the $50 entry fee should be refunded to us. I'll provide updates as information becomes available!

One more thing. I've added a PR section to the sidebar. I was asked the other day what my 5K PR was, and I couldn't find it as up until today I kept all that on paper at home. Now I can finally access that information from anywhere in the world.