Busy Busy Weekend!

What a great weekend for training! Saturday was a little unpredictable with the hit-or-miss rain showers coming through, but today proved to be wall to wall sunshine just like Dick Goddard predicted.

While some people were running a 100K "fun run" on Saturday, I decided it's time to take the ultra thing down a notch for now so I can focus my training on triathlons. After all, I have a doozie coming up in September. With the scattered rain on Saturday I chose to stay indoors and swim instead. The pool was busy but there wasn't a shortage of lap lanes. We were just sandwiched between the pool party kids on the diving board and the scuba class on the other side of the pool. I wanted a long swim, and that's exactly what I did. 2 miles in 1:35. I'm still not the quickest one in the water, but I'm getting better. My half mile splits were 22:52 / 22:09 / 23:35 / and 26:28. I don't know why that last half mile took so long. I felt really good and thought I was keeping pace with the previous marks.

Today Mrs. P wanted to go for a long bike ride in the morning, so my workout would be later in the day, and would most likely be warm. It was. Sunshine with only a few clouds. 80 degrees plus humidity making it feel even warmer. Today I took the road bike out for the first time since Steelhead last year. Equipped with a shorter stem and a new Adamo saddle, I was also trying out a new fit for the first time. Parking at Buckeye Woods Park I set out on a large loop of rural roads, some of which are part of the Twin Sizzler Bike Races held on the Fourth of July. I completed two 14-ish mile loops for a total of 29.4 miles in 1:50. That's a 15.9 mph average. Not great, but it gives me something to work on.

After stowing the bike in the car and changing gear, I was then off for my run. I was hoping for 10 miles, but it wasn't to be today. 7.1 was the best I could offer before my fluids ran out. This afternoon was just too warm to push too much. It was a great bike/run brick none the less.

Finally, here are some photos from my run along the Reagan Park mountain bike trails this past Thursday evening. Enjoy!

2010 Boston Marathon, A Photographic Report

Hey howdy hey! As I promised earlier (much earlier) I've been working on a full photo gallery chronicling our journey from Ohio to Boston and back. Well, it's now complete and ready for viewing here. I hope you enjoy!

2010 Flying Pig Marathon

Man, I keep getting behind. Here is the race report for the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati two weeks ago.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of this race is: Wet! We had a deluge on the walk from the hotel to the start line that continued through the first few miles. Water everywhere! Rain falling from above and splashing from puddles rising from below.

A photo of Mrs. P and I before we were soaked.

We stayed at the Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel while we were in town. What an amazing building it was! I would like to go back and spend time walking around and photographing it. It was Art Deco straight out of the 1920's. Amazing! We had our normal running around to do on Saturday, including picking up our race packets at the expo, making a trip to The Party Source in Kentucky (where astonishingly enough we didn't buy anything), and meeting an old college friend of Mrs. P's for dinner. Upon getting back to our hotel, we spent some time sitting in the lounge, had a couple drinks, and listened to the three-piece jazz band. They were really good!

The Pig was a 6:30 start, so we were up super early. The rain had been falling all night, with some thunderstorms thrown in as well. The only saving grace was that it was nearly 70 degrees overnight. The run would be wet, but it would be warm. Lightning was still striking as we walked down to Paul Brown Stadium in the downpour. The trash bags we were wearing helped a little, but not much. It was dark and extremely hard to see, so we just followed the crowd down. The four hour pace group was as far as we made it in the corral before we couldn't go any further. I was still hoping at this point to make an attempt at re-qualifying for Boston. Once I crossed the starting mats I began bobbing and weaving through the mass of people. Since my shoes were soaked already, the puddles everyone else was avoiding became my personal running lane. Sorry if I splashed anyone.

I appreciated the challenging course, which I didn't think would be as tough as it was, although I may not have enjoyed it at the time. Having seen my mile splits not getting much faster, by mile four I decided 3:15 was out of the question and so I instead began aiming for 3:30 - 3:40. In fact, I caught the 3:40 pace group and hung with them awhile. To be more specific, I couldn't pass them. Either I wasn't strong enough or they were running too fast. I just got stuck behind them for a good eight miles. I eventually made my push past them on a long decent and just kept running. It would take them a while to catch me again.

A while being around mile 24 or so. I was just tanking at the end. I've been in worse shape, but the rain, humidity, and the hills had taken their toll on me and I was on the verge of completely falling apart. I had some minor leg cramping which I was able to run through, but the legs were threatening to lock up completely if I tried to go too fast. So I settled into a slow trot to the finish. 3:41:45 was my official time. I'm good with that considering I ran hard in Boston two weeks earlier.

I would like to return to The Pig someday and do it for fun. The crowds were great and there were many street parties along the way, similar to Boston. As serious as I was for part of the run, I did try to embrace some of the "fun". At mile 18 I got lei'd, and finished my race proudly wearing it around my neck.

Mrs. P ran a 2:18:12 half marathon. She was stuck in a large group of people for her entire run, missing some aid stations because she couldn't get over to them. I suppose we weren't prepared for the size of this race. We'll know better next time!

Lunch Swimming

I'm just back from another visit to the pool during my lunch hour, and I must say how much I enjoy escaping this prison called work to do something enjoyable for a little bit. I can squeeze in half a mile during my lunch and have been trying to do so on a semi-regular basis. There are two things I find amazing about my short swims:

1. My splits are getting faster! My time today was 21:15 for 800 meters! No negative split today though, with the first 400m in 10:16 and the second 400m in 10:47. But those are faster splits than I had when I started going.

2. I can literally forget about work problems, life issues, aches and pains, etc... When I'm in the water there's NO room for miscellaneous thoughts in my head. Every brain cell is concentrating on NOT DROWNING! Quite the opposite from running, where my thoughts touch on hundreds, if not thousands of topics. It's very refreshing.

2010 Boston Marathon

The entire lead-up to Boston had me worried. I was in pain while running that wouldn't go away. Something new for me and something I've since learned to put up with. My training quality and quantity were both down. Neither to the level I would have liked them to be. I lacked confidence in what I was going to be able to do there. I didn't expect a great run, let alone to re-qualify.

Well, I didn't re-qualify, missing out by four minutes. My time: 3:19:50. I'm thrilled because I didn't expect to be able to run that! But the trip to Boston was more than just a run. We had a mini-vacation in April, pulling Jr. P out of school, something we've managed to avoid doing so far.

Our trip began on Friday night with us leaving after Jr was out of school. Although the forecast was for rain, we found blue sky and sun on our way toward Pennsylvania. We reached Erie, PA by dinner time and were trying to select a place to eat based upon the road signs. One in particular caught our eyes: Boston's Gourmet Pizza! Is that a "sign" or what? They were tasty pizzas too, Mrs. P's more so than mine. Back on the road it was getting dark. Our intention was to get through Buffalo and possibly to Rochester. We were all tired when we finally reached Rochester and pulled into a Hampton Inn, which fortunately wasn't full.

Day two began early, with us having some of the complimentary breakfast. Saturday also began with rain, and there would be no more blue skies for a couple days. The drive across New York on I-90 is pretty boring. Sorry, it just is. We did drive past a park where there was a race taking place, just a local 5K. Since there was no one driving around us, I honked the horn as we passed the runners. Traffic wasn't bad at all until we crossed into Massachusetts. That's when it slowly began to get more congested. We left the Interstate and exited at Hopkinton to check out the little town at the start.

Hopkinton was busy! The final touches were being put on everything. We parked and walked around, seeing sights that I would miss seeing on race day. Our original plan was just to stop and find the sign (above), then to get back on the Interstate to get to our hotel in Boston. But Mrs. P had the idea to drive into Boston on the marathon route. We had the time, so why not? The drive in was grey, rainy, and crowded in spots. I was concentrating intensely on making sure I was staying on the correct roads, obeying the local posted laws, and studying the topography of the course, while Mrs P was taking photos and Jr was playing his DS.

Downtown Boston, or at least the area immediately around the convention center, was a nightmare to drive in. Utter gridlock. Cars weren't moving. Period. After much stop and go and burning down of my patience we found the recommended parking garage and began looking for a spot. Funny side-story: Most parking garages loop around and as they loop around they go up a level. Here I am driving around this garage, under the impression we were going to higher levels, amazed at how crowded it was. There must have been a TON of people there already. As it turns out, the level was flat all the way around and I needed to take a ramp to go up a story. Mrs. P thought I was trying to catch someone leaving their space and thought it was hilarious that I didn't realize we weren't going up!

The Expo on Saturday was as packed as the streets were outside the Hynes Convention Center. Once we picked up our numbers, we tried to make our way through the expo. Wasn't going to happen that afternoon. Shoulder to shoulder people with others trying to push their way through the jam. We got out of there as quickly as we could.

Due to the lateness of the day, my patience ground down to nil, and our desire to just relax already, we made the decision to not try to meet up with the others in town for dinner, which I'm sure was really good, and just find the hotel and stay local for the night. We managed to reach the Courtyard by Marriott - Cambridge fairly easily, and after waiting my turn in line to check in, we were in our room on one of the higher floors, overlooking the Charles River. For dinner we walked around the corner and ate at Whole Foods, where we also bought some food for the room.

Sunday morning was the BAA 5K and Mrs. P was running. The weather was still cold with hit and miss rain showers. Completely gray. Rather than mess with public transportation, we took a cab over. He was the best of the three cab drivers we would have while in town. Friendly and talkative. He mentioned he was taking Monday off because he didn't want to deal with the street closures and traffic headaches. We arrived with plenty of time to spare. Maybe too much time due to the chill in the air. We walked around and spotted a Dunkin Donuts where Jr P "needed" a glazed donut. After that we were back out on the street to wait.

Mrs. P was excited to run but was worried about the weather and what she should wear. After hanging out for a bit, it was time for her to go line up and for Jr and I to find a spot to watch the race. We found an empty corner where the runners would pass just after the start, then come back through just before hitting mile two. But go figure, as we were waiting, all these other people came and stood right in front of us. I said out loud how rude that was, but have know idea if anyone actually heard me.

The eventual 5K winner on his way toward mile two with a significant lead over the chase group. His winning time was 14:something. Mrs. P finished in 28:something and thought she may have just run a new PR. But when the official results came out, she just missed a PR by a couple seconds. After the run we headed back into the expo and I'm glad we did. It was so nice to be able to walk around the exhibit space without the massive crowds. It was more like a trade show than a race expo. There was even a map available so you could find specific vendors.

We decided to walk back to the hotel to see how long it would take. The nearly 3 mile walk took about 50 minutes, but was scenic, even though the clouds were still blanketing everything.

For lunch we decided to hail another cab and travel to the Faneuil Hall area to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. We always seek them out when we're visiting somewhere new. Except we couldn't eat there. Not unless we were willing to wait half an hour, even with our All Access membership. So we went a building over and ate at Cheers! While not an "exact" replica of the bar on TV, it was pretty cool and filled with Cheers photos. And they had Sam Adams Boston Ale on tap. I had two.





We were able to meet up with Debbie, Dan, Debbie, and Dave while there. We had seen them earlier in the morning before the 5K while they were out for a short run, and they were looking for something to eat after having braved the expo that afternoon.




We all did a little walking around the Boston Harbor area just behind the Quincy Market. It may have been there that I decided that Boston would be a cool city just to vacation in, to visit without worrying about having to run.




That afternoon the clouds were slowly beginning to break up, but there was still the occasional shower passing through. The forecast for Monday was holding at mostly sunny with very decent temperatures! For dinner on Sunday we decided to walk a little further toward the Harvard campus and find a little take-out Italian place called Basta Pasta. WOW, was that worth the walk! We left with a large pepperoni pizza which we didn't expect to be able to finish, but somehow managed to eat everything but a slice and a half. It was so tasty and light! Definitely would recommend to anyone staying in the Cambridge area. Bed time came a little later than I would like the night before a big race, but I wasn't too worried about it. I was thrilled to find Rocky on TV and stayed up to watch it all before falling asleep. What a great movie to watch the night before a seemingly overwhelming challenge.





Marathon morning found me up and eager at 3:30. Breakfast consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a banana, and a slice of pizza. Since we weren't starting until 10:00 I was bringing a Cliff Bar and a nut bar for later, plus a bottle of Gatorade Endurance to sip on up until the start. I felt good, surprisingly relaxed and calm, considering how big an event this was and how much anxiety I had experienced in the lead up. I met Dan and Dave in the lobby, as they were staying in the same hotel, where we caught a cab to take us to Boston Common.

The scene at the Common was unreal. The photo above really doesn't do it justice. Buses were lined up all the way down the street and lines had formed to board each one. All the buses would fill and leave together. Then another entire set of buses would arrive for loading. Just imagine how many buses were needed to transport 28,000 people to the starting line!

We must have gone through part of the "Big Dig" because we went underground at the beginning, surfacing in time to go through some toll booths. Those booths, it so happens, were vi sable from our hotel room, where Mrs. P got a kick out of seeing hundreds of school buses lined up! Our ride took about an hour but didn't feel that long. Still, I wasn't getting too nervous or over-excited. Upon arriving at Hopkinton High School, we visited the porta-johns (Mine was awesome! It had a sink with running water and everything!) and someone suggested we find where the pre-race massages were taking place. All I need to say about that is, thank you Stephanie (my masseuse) for a fabulous massage! She worked my legs over pretty good and had me so relaxed I could have fallen asleep on the table.

Once the three of us were all done, we ventured out into the chill to find a place to sit and wait. We found a sunny spot just outside one of the large white tents that had been erected on the school grounds. What we didn't foresee though, was the line for another set of porta-johns stretching right past us. Well, the lines got long and having people standing right over the top of you gets uncomfortable after a while. A little scoot over made all the difference and I was happy. Eventually the P.A. announcers began calling numbers to head to the start. Dave, Dan, and I were all close together in starting positions and were called at the same time. Of course, with the masses of people heading to the buses to drop off our bags, we were split apart. I wouldn't see Dan again until mile 23.

The photo above is the last I took on race morning. That is the view of the .7 mile walk from Hopkinton High School to the starting line. One long column of people. The sunny morning at least had people's smiles out, helping to ease the nerves. My main concern was finding a porta-john for one final visit before the start. I had about 35 minutes till start time when I got into a line. I had 5 minutes when I finished my business. I wasn't exactly happy about that, but what was I going to do? I missed the military fly-over, but I could hear them coming from inside my plastic potty. I found corral 5 and was one of the last few to be able to squeeze into it before it was closed. Then, it was go time!

I'm not going to go into great detail and description of the course and the experience that is running the Boston Marathon. Part of what I expected was true: We ran in a pack, sometimes tighter sometimes looser, for 26.2 miles, from Hopkinton to Boston. But I was happy when the great mass of runners I was embedded within didn't take off at a faster pace than was prudent. One of my worries was that I would be pulled along by everyone else, running too fast at the start and blowing up my legs later in the race. I'm thankful that didn't happen. We ran comfortably, some people passing, some being passed. But for the most part, I recognized the same people all the way along. The hills weren't that bad, even Heartbreak Hill. Sure, it was tough, but I'd run bigger and badder hills in Hinckley during training. I just kept my head down and focused on my breathing. The women of Wellesely were amazing. Imagine running down a half mile long line of screaming co-eds! And that wasn't the only spot where the spectators amazed me. Except for a few spots, the ENTIRE course, all 26.2 miles, was lined with people! It was amazing! I've never experienced anything like that anywhere else I've run. I think it's that fact, the coming together of so many athletes and so many more non-runners, makes me want to return to Boston again. I don't need the noise and the cheering, I'm more than happy to go run in the woods by myself, but it was such a unique experience, I look forward to doing it again some day.

Jr. P out on the course with his cowbell. I suggested they try to find a spot somewhere in the Boston University area where the crowds might be thinner, giving them a better chance to see me and for me to see them. So what happened? They made their way onto the corner of Hereford and Boylston, the final turn before the finish. They never saw me go by and I didn't have a prayer of picking them out of the crowd. They did, however, get to watch as the fastest marathoners in the world ran by.

Women's marathon winner Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia. She ran a 2:26:11.

Men's marathon winner Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot from Kenya. He finished in 2:05:52 setting a new course record!

Ryan Hall, first American, finishing 4th in 2:08:41.

Meb Keflezighi, second American, finishing 5th in 2:09:26.

My time? Not quite so fast. But like I wrote in the first paragraph, 3:19:50 is a time I can be very happy with given everything I was dealing with this year. There was no resting upon crossing the finish line, however. We were hearded down the street, past all the different finish-line stations. First we got our mylar blankets to keep us warm. Next were the finisher's medals. (They're nice too!) Then an assortment of food, snacks, fluids and the like. Finally we found the school busses filled with our drop-bags. I caught my bag from a bus window, squeezed my way through the throng, found a quiet place to put some clothes on, and called Mrs. P to find where they were. From that point it was walking time. Walk to meet them. Continue walking back to the hotel. Just short of 3 miles worth of walking after running 26 miles. Once back at the hotel, the shower felt great, then I zoned out in bed for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner that night was at P.F. Chang's China Bistro and was very tasty. Jr. P, as picky an eater as he is, even enjoyed it!

Tuesday morning dawned warm and sunny. Very nice weather for us to make a short drive north to Maine so Mrs. P could visit some of her business vendors. First time for us in both New Hampshire and Maine. I'd like to go back to the Northeast for a vacation some day.

The beach in Ogunquit, Maine. Schools were out that week for spring break so there were families and kids out on the beach enjoying the nice weather. The water was a little too cold for anyone to venture in!

Our stay in Maine didn't last long and we were heading back west. Our plan was to make it all the way to Syracuse, NY, but we didn't know if we would make it before it got too late. In the end we did make it, staying at the Embassy Suites which Jr. P really enjoyed. He enjoyed the large rooms but the courtyard inside with the plants, paths, and streams even more.

We decided to make a stop at Niagara Falls on the drive home on Wedensday. We had been there once before many years ago and would be so close this time we just had to stop. The Falls were still impressive. The crowds were thin as it wasn't the season to visit yet. The American side was still disappointing, filled with tourist traps straight out of the 1970's. We walked through a musty smelling shop in search of some postcards only to find some great vintage ashtrays. Ashtrays! There were the glass ones and the stamped metal ones. Classic! I would have bought one if they weren't so expnsive. You don't see those as much any more.

We arrived home Wednesday afternoon, weather still beautiful. There was a local 5K that night in Medina. A FREE 5K. So, me being me, changed real quick and headed up to The Square. I felt better than I thought I would and ran harder than I probably should have, finishing in 22 minutes and some change. I felt something tug in my inner quad area and developed some pain which would last a week or so. Running that hard probably wasn't one of the smarter things I've done. Fortunately it was all healed up in time for the Flying Pig a week and a half later.

I hope to qualify for Boston again and to go run it again someday too. It's an expensive little trip and not one we can make every year like some of those people do. For Dan H, it was his tenth Boston and (so he says) his last. I doubt I will ever run there 10 times, but I could be happy with a few more times. Maybe one of those times Mrs. P or Jr. will be running too?

April 2010 Numbers

Swim - 8.5 miles

Bike - 14.48 miles

Run - 101.54 miles

Not the greatest numbers, but considering I was dealing with injuries, not bad. Well, I shouldn't say that. The swimming numbers I'm ecstatic about! My weakest event and I devoted some serious time toward working on it. I've been feeling better in the water than any time last year. The bike is laughable though. I mean, really? Not even 15 miles? That's just wrong. I need to work on that. The run takes care of itself, so I'm not worried.

Still working on my Boston race review. This thing is so BIG! It's taking much of what little time I have to work on. But I'll keep going.

Boston Teaser

Really, I've been working on a Boston post. This isn't it. This is just a teaser to show I've been working on it. I've uploaded some photos and have a draft post started, but it's still a work in progress. As are all the photos we took on the trip. I've uploaded over 1,000 images online and am sorting through them to tell a pictorial story. That may take a little longer to finish. Once it's done I'll link to it from here. With the Flying Pig Marathon this Sunday I was hoping to complete my Boston post, but we'll see.

Good luck to everyone heading to run in Illinois and Cincinnati this weekend!

Food, Inc.

Don't worry, my big Boston re-cap is coming. I promise! I just still need to get a handle on the photos.

But in the meantime, I wanted to make a quick movie recommendation. We watched Food, Inc. last night. If you're anyone interested in food production, animal welfare, the American farmer, mega-corporations, or just what you're putting into your body, you should really make it a point to see this film. It's a PG rated (nothing bloody) documentary about America's food system, how it's changed in the last 50 years, how it's controlled by only a handful of too-large companies, and how it's detrimental to the health of the planet.

We have become more careful eaters in recent years, but watching this movie will have an immediate impact upon what we buy to eat, where we eat out, and what companies we will choose to avoid. When it comes to avoiding companies, I'm a pro, as it's been around 10 years since I've given Wal-Mart a dime. But, as crazy as it may sound, that personal boycott may come to an end soon, at least as far as certain food products are concerned. Wal-Mart's new "locally grown" food program may actually get me to give the OK to shopping there. That company is so large, it has the teeth to effect change, as it has with selling milk from non-steroid injected cows. As much as I dislike Wal-Mart's business practices of squashing local retailers and dictating costs to the point manufacturers are forced to move production overseas, I have a bigger problem with the near monopoly a handful of companies have over the ENTIRE food industry. I can, and have, easily avoided purchasing from one company, but to walk into any and every store and have the same products from the same food manufacturers on the shelves, that's a much bigger problem in my book.

What's the saying? "The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Well, that's something I'm going to have to think about. Until I reach that decision, we will be shopping the farmers' market and from local growers, and you should go watch that movie!

Finished Boston

I finished the Boston Marathon in 3:19:50 yesterday, four minutes off my qualifying time. I was closer than I expected to be and am very happy with my performance. I will be working on a full race report upon returning home.

Marathon Monday

I'm awake and having some breakfast. I laid all my stuff out in the hallway last night. I kind of know what I'm going to wear today. I may tweak it last minute. The weather is supposed to be upper 30's to 40's at the start with 50's at the finish. Partly sunny. Almost perfect! My nutrition is nearly all set. I need to mix a bottle of Gatorade to sip on before the start. The course is serving both Gatorade Endurance and PowerBar Gels, both of which I use. Less to carry with me today. In an hour we're leaving the hotel to get to Boston Common to climb aboard a bus to drive us out to Hopkinton. That's going to be a long ride. I feel good. No pains in the last few days. I really hope the pains stay away today. I'm as ready as I'm going to be, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Boston

My Thoughts About Running Boston

(Stream of Consciousness Style)

I still don't really believe I'm going to be running the Boston Marathon on Monday.

I'm not as prepared as I would like to be, but it will have to be good enough.

The pain in my feet and ankle tendons is unpredictable but tolerable.

The pain in my lower back is unpredictable and disabling.

I really hope my back doesn't start bothering me.

Part of me wants to just go out and have a fun time.

Part of me wants to try to re-qualify at my 3:15 time.

Part of me hasn't decided what it wants to do yet.

The hills worry me, even though I've trained on them pretty hard the past few months.

I like hills!

My feet don't like hills, particularly the downhills.

Boston has many downhills.

It's out of my hands at this point. I'm just going to run and do my best based upon how I feel that morning. If I have the opportunity to push hard, I most likely will. If I hit 3:15, great! If not, oh well.

Best of luck to everyone I know running Boston on Monday and the BAA 5K on Sunday, and everyone I don't! I'll see you there!

2010 Fools 50K

Two times around a course consisting of a variety of terrain on multiple trails. That is the Fools 50K course. The second race of such distance I had pre-registered for. I did not run the first, but had every intention of running the second, no matter what might happen physically.

The day began dry but finished very far from it. The first loop, consisting of roughly 15.5 miles, went very well, and saw a nice group of us Medina runners sticking together in a pack and enjoying ourselves. We had some sloppy sections. We walked up some hills. We ran WAY too hard down some others. Sometimes we would spread out, but would eventually re-group. By the time we hit the mid-point we were split in half, and that's the way it would stay. For me anyway.

The rain really began to fall right as I was finishing the first loop. My aches and pains were beginning to show themselves too. Plus another most unwelcome pain: my back. That's the one that really did me in. It was like Last Chance all over again, only worse. Ladd and I were running together for a bit on loop two, but I was just slowing him down, so he took off to see who he could catch. I just kept moving as best I could. Every step seemed to send pain shooting from my back down my legs. It was all I could do to not stop.

Eventually, a very upright posture, combined with a very short choppy stride, kept me moving at a slow pace. I was running up hills I would have walked just because walking hurt more. I had a few chances to drop out, but knew that wasn't an option. With the rain falling steadily and the trail turning to swamp, I just hoisted the hood of my rain jacket over my head and pushed on.

The final trail of the course, Salt Run? I think, was especially bad. Lots of ups and downs and the trail was 100% mud. I couldn't wait to finish, but knew I had about three miles to go. It was pretty tough to keep going. Somehow I managed to pass three people on that final section. They must have been feeling even worse than me! The worst part of that last section, mentally, was that as we began it, there's a point where you pass within sight of the finish line. It was right there, but it wasn't. My finish time was 6:35:03, a new PR for a trail 50K by 11-ish minutes.

Chuck, armed with my camera, was out and about on the course taking all kinds of race photos. They can be viewed in an online album here. Again, many thanks Chuck for coming out on a crappy day to stand around and watch muddy people run by!

2010 S.A.R.C. Shamrock 15K

After having an absolutely HORRIBLE run at Last Chance, I knew I wasn't going to be able to run a 50K the following week at the Green Jewel. So I decided to instead crew for the other Medina runners taking part, and giving Chuck my number so he could run instead. I had a great time being Mr. Manager for the runners, keeping track of everyone's order and pace, what they needed, and taking LOTS of photos, which are posted here. But, spending a beautiful day driving around watching runners left me with a longing to run. Fortunately, there was a race the following day: The Shamrock 15K put on by the Summit Athletic Running Club.

This race is 9.3 miles of down, flat, and up. Lots of hills as it begins and ends at Woodridge High School in Cuyahoga Falls. The course took us down into the Cuyahoga Valley and back up, running the sometimes nearly vertical hills on Steels Corners! The weather was once again amazing, with lots of sun. Definitely shorts weather! I started off strong, and feeling good, stayed strong. I didn't know how my feet and ankle were going to treat me with all the downhill impact, but they let me run. I finished in 1:07:11, averaging 7:13 per mile. This was a HUGE PR over my one previous attempt at the distance from 2006.

Next up: Fools 50K? (If I can squeeze it in)

2010 Last Chance For Boston

Now that it's the week before Boston, I'm going to try to get caught up on my race reports. First up is the Last Chance For Boston Marathon, held on Sunday February 28, 2010. There was much talk within the MCRR about sending a large contingent down to run, as it was just down the road in Dublin, OH. I was in at first, but with my aches and pains I developed in the 24 Hour, I decided I probably shouldn't run it.

For whatever reason, I got it into my head to register to run the marathon the day before. That was a decision I would come to regret. Just like all my long training runs, the pain in my feet, ankle, and now my lower back, hit me hard. Where as just a few months earlier I could go run 26.2 without barely thinking about it, I was hobbling around the one mile loop course nearly as badly as I was in Morganton. It was all I could do to keep moving and finish.

The photo above was at a point when I was feeling pretty bad and it shows. I really just wanted it to be over. But there were too many people I knew there so DNF'ing wasn't an option. I just had to keep moving. My back was the worst. I could deal with the feet and ankle, but the back was sending pain shooting down my legs and leaving me with no strength at all. So I just limped along.

My finish time was 3:55:07, which was under my 4 hour goal time and not a PW, so I had that to be happy about. But that was all. I shouldn't have run it. It really messed me up for the rest of the week, and I had the Green Jewel 50K the following weekend. That was a no go. I was able to get my number transferred to Chuck, who went out and ran great!

Mrs. P had a good run in the Last Chance Half Marathon, running a 2:23:47. She had some pains requiring her to slow down, but at least put on a happy face!

Negative Split in the Pool

Today was a first! Got my first negative split in the pool during my lunchtime swim. First 400 meters = 10:53, second 400 meters = 10:47! I'm not sure how it happened. I wasn't trying to do it. Although I've been trying to start more conservatively and finish stronger, I wasn't making it a point to neg split, but it happened. I'll take it! These half mile swims at lunch are finally making me feel like I'm improving.

Easter Egg 20

20, as in twenty miles on the Buckeye Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley NRA/NP. (Not sure which it is exactly anymore, a National Recreation Area or a fully fledged National Park) We were up and running just before dawn, a large group of around 40 people, with the barest minimum amount of light to see where we were stepping. Temperatures in the bottom of the valley and ravines were a little on the chilly side, but up on the rim of the Valley and on the hilltops, add another 10 degrees to make things very comfortable. I would find myself longing for those cool spots later in the run. I forgot my Garmin and Ladd grabbed one that hadn't recharged yet so we were running blind with no sense of time or distance. Fortunately, the scenery kept my attention during the run. That and making sure I wasn't going to trip on anything!

Dawn breaking on the run.

Brown was still the prevailing color, but that will soon change.

Believe it or not, it was pretty sturdy.

Blue Hen Falls

Signs of Spring were poking out of the ground.

Ladd climbing the Piano Keys ahead of me.

Soaking my aching feet in the chilly waters of the Cuyahoga River.

Looking upstream towards I-271.

A beautiful run in beautiful weather, though uncomfortably warm towards the end. But it beats snow or cold rain any day! We finished in just under 5 hours by our estimate, with an extended break at the turnaround point. I'm looking forward to getting back down there and running that route again.

And just as an update to the BIG Swim post, I neglected to add my data. I did indeed end up swimming the full Ironman distance + a little bit, 2.5 miles, in 1:58. Everything felt great and I had a very enjoyable swim. Hope I get more of those!

BIG Swim

I'm still trying to get a handle on all the things I have going on and get back into my blogging routine, but it's still hard. However, I had a HUGE swim yesterday I wanted to note. Rather than hitting the pool for just a half mile at lunch, schedules worked out so I could go after work for a long swim. Something that has been lacking so far this year. I have one 1.25 mile swim under my belt, but nothing else in that range, so I wanted to do at least 1.5 to 2 miles, if not my full Ironman distance.

Cutting to the chase, I felt GREAT yesterday! Everything was working together like a well oiled machine. Still, I wasn't that fast, but I felt fast! My breathing came easy and regular and I didn't need to think about it. My strokes were smooth and even. I was able to maintain a freestyle stroke for the most part and only used the breaststroke when I needed a rest. I didn't dilly dally de-fogging my goggles and just kept going with limited visibility. The only problem I had was some cramping in my toes and feet, something I've always dealt with during longer swims. I don't know why. Maybe it's a lack of foot strength? Whatever the reason, I just eased back on my kicking and was able to work through it. My shoulders were SO tired afterward, I thought I was going to be in for a world of hurt this morning. But fortunately things aren't too bad today.

Getting ready for a nice 20 mile trail run in a little bit. The weather has been OUTSTANDING this week and I want to enjoy as much of it as possible. Happy Easter!