Slowly Getting Faster?

That's my best 3.1 mile time of the spring and summer by over 20 seconds. Managed to go a little faster each mile, but didn't have a strong kick for the last tenth.

I didn't feel great today at the start. Tired, some pain in my left shin and ankle in the first half mile, but I just wanted to get this one over with.  When the cooler weather comes, I'll be ready.

The Comeback is Real

On Monday, I ran my fastest four-miler of the year.  Today, I ran a 33:54 5K.  That doesn't stack up against my 5K times from 2007-2012, but it's my fastest 5K distance since the beginning of February.  In the 3 good months of running that I've had, this is the first time I've been under 34 minutes and kept a better than 11-minute mile pace.

And they have been good months:

I was a little bit faster in January in February, but far less consistent in getting out there.  Since August, when I got the Garmin Vivoactive, which made tracking all this stuff automatic and totally Brian-proof, my previous highest monthly mileage was 21 miles in January, followed a 13-mile February and a 14.7-mile March.   In April, I ran 38 miles.  May was 43.2, and June, unless I run tomorrow instead of Saturday, will wind up at 42.1 miles.

I used to run 30+ miles every week, and sometimes I can't help but remember that and be frustrated, but the picture above tells the story of the longest stretch of consistent running since January, February, and March of 2016, and I'm sticking with it even as the weather warms up.  This is huge for me.  If I can keep this up during the dog days of July and August, it will be the first consistent summer of running that I've had since 2011.

That plateau that you see above, that's not going to get much higher over the summer.  I'm ok with that.  The mileage I'm running now compares to what I was doing in summer of 2008, when I was reliably running 2.8 miles (2 laps) 3-4x/week at Cousler Park. I ran for almost two years before I attempted a distance over 3.1 miles, but building that base helped me when I did move up to the 10K and half marathon, and it'll help me again now.  If I can grind through the summer, I'll be ready when fall and winter come.

Race Report: 2013 KidsPeace Trick-or-Trot 5K, or "Preparation is for the Weak"

For all my many faults as a runner and a human being, I'm usually pretty good at preparation.  I have all my stuff laid out the night before the race; I've trained; and I get to the starting line early so I have plenty of time for extra, ahem, bathroom breaks.  

This morning, Chris and I ran the KidsPeace Trick-or-Trot 5K, which started at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD.  Let's review my prep:

1. I had to stop for gas as we left, since I hadn't the night before.
2. I thought the race was at 9:00.  It was at 8:00.  We got there at 7:55.
3. I haven't run in a month, other than one or two 1-mile treadmill runs at PT.

We got there, picked up our bibs and shirts at approximately 7:55, thinking we had plenty of time to go back to the car and ditch my wallet and giveaway shirt.  Instead, the guy at the registration table said "Think of it this way, you're really early for a 9:00 race".  

So, I tied the shirt around my waist, zipped my car keys and wallet into the back pocket of my shorts, and set out for the start line.  Chris did the same, with the extra encumbrance of a zip-up hoody that she wasn't planning to run in.

The race started out adjacent to the Warehouse at Camden Yards, and within the first two minutes I knew I had a problem -- my shorts were going to fall down due to the bouncing of my keys and wallet.  Either I was going to have to keep one hand on my waistband at all times to keep hiking them up, or downtown Baltimore was going to see my ass.  I chose the annoying, but not quite as annoying, option of running the whole race with my phone in one hand and my wallet in the other hand, checking frequently to make sure I was holding it in a way that my debit card didn't go flying.

Still, despite our lack of prep and my complete slackerage as a runner over the past month, I think we did ok.  We stuck to Chris' run-walk plan of walking for a minute after every half mile.  I could tell I was out-of-shape, but except for two steep hills, we stuck the plan the whole way, instead of taking much more frequent walk breaks like we did at our last 5K, Boordy Vineyards in August (which, in our defense, was much hillier!).  I'm as heavy as I've ever been in my life, and I get winded chasing our cute kittens around the house, but my legs felt great during the race, with no trace of my compartment syndrome, so I think the PT I've been doing since the summer has really helped.

Race Report
As much as I sucked in preparation, the race organizers were the complete opposite.  I thought this was one of the best marked and best organized races I've ever run.  There were plenty of volunteers or police marking every turn; there was ample food and drink at the finish line (I love hot dogs, but not at 9am!  I had a delicious cinnamon roll, though); and there was a very nice presentation about the KidsPeace organization (which helps place kids in foster homes) that then continued into the awards ceremony.  And, the race finishes on the field at Camden Yards?  How can you beat that if you're a huge Orioles fan?  And how can you not take the opportunity to crash into the padded outfield wall as if you're Adam Jones robbing some Red Sox or Yankees jerk like David Ortiz or A-Rod of a steroid-assisted home run?

Really, really great job on this one by KidsPeace, the race directors and volunteers, Baltimore City Police, and the Orioles on this one.  This is definitely a race I'd come back to.

(The guy in all black in the middle is O's Manager Buck Showalter.  

The big bird on the right is the Oriole Bird.)

 

Race Report: 2013 Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K, Pottsville PA

I know I shouldn't complain.  One of our running friends ran a marathon in Michigan this morning with four big metal screws in her hip.  Her husband ran the half.  Both had a space-alien theme complete with probes, death rays, atomic cats, and flying saucers*.

 But, if you read this blog at all, you know that if I didn't complain, there would hardly be any posts at all.

So here we go:  This was the  Hilliest. 5K.  Ever.  This race was ridiculous.  I think Dreaded Druid Hills is hillier, but that's the only hillier race I've ever run.  (Which means it's the hilliest race ever, of course.)  Which totally excuses that this was my personal worst 5K.  I've had a few too many of those lately, but I don't feel badly about this one at all.

  I'll stop the complaining now, though, because Lager Jogger was fun.  The whole first mile was uphill (I thought it would never end), the second mile was a mix of gentle downhill and very steep uphills (yes, I took some walking breaks!), and mile three mostly a gentle downhill with a very steep downhill right at the mile 3 marker and a downhill finish for the last .1 (which seemed long to me.  I did take a walk break on the third mile, when my shins were bothering me.).  I can feel my conditioning starting to come back a little, since I've been able to run a little more w/the help of naproxen, and I'm happy with my effort,which led to a finish time of 33:01, smashing my previous P-dub of 31:24.

(I wore my sexy 2011Yuengling Shamrock Marathon pullover for part of the race and the after party, 

and Chris wore a Yuengling Shamrock jacket before and after the race.)

But, the crowd support was unbelievable for a 5K, the course was quite scenic, and the weather was very Brian-friendly (cold and windy).  Of course, Brian-friendly weather during the race makes for very chilly conditions after the race, but that didn't dampen the fun after party outside the Yuengling Brewery in downtown Pottsville, with plenty of Light Lager to be had.  I admit to being somewhat of a beer snob, but Light Lager is a very good light beer. (Yuengling Lager has been a trusty standby since college and Lord Chesterfield Ale and Yuengling Black & Tan are my favorites of the Yuengling line.).  

 (This photo is presented without comment.)

In addition to the Light Lager beer party, racers had the opportunity to tour the Yuengling Brewery.  Chris and I took advantage of this, and we had a fun time!  Yuengling claims the title of "America's Oldest Brewery" (that's one of two things the first tour guide wanted us to remember. I forget the other one.), having started brewing operations in 1829 and moving its brewery to its current location in 1831, after a fire destroyed its original building.  The tour was quite educational, and an interesting contrast if you've had a chance to tour a larger, newer brewery like Miller's main Milwaukee plant (which does have some neat old buildings) or Anheuser-Busch in Williamsburg (the other big breweries I've toured.).  Yuengling has newer, larger breweries outside of Pottsville and in Tampa (which is also outside of Pottsville, I suppose.)

  

 In summary, this was the hardest 5K I've ever run, but also one of the most fun.  I'm way not ready for Sole of the City 10K next weekend, but that's a topic for another post, and also the least of my worries right now, which is also the topic for another post!

(I got swag.)

*I just made this up. The Martian Marathon seems does have a fun Martian/alien theme, though.

Race Report: 2013 Movie Madness 5K, Manchester PA

In my last post, I basically whined about my injuries and complained about how I'm probably going to have to have surgery.

Today, on the other hand, I laid down a perfectly acceptable 30:01 at a local 5K.  How is this possible?  

Naproxen, baby.  Roughly 1000mg of prescription-strength anti-inflammatory goodness coursing through my veins.  I'm Lance Armstrong without all the trophies, yellow jerseys, fame, and fortune.  Though, in my defense, nor do I have a decades-long web of lies and intimidation, either.

I'm torn between taking a very conservative approach in my running and recovery right now, waiting to go off to have big needles stuck in my lower leg (see previous disgusting post), and trying to make it through the two upcoming races that I've already paid to run in : Yuengling Light Lager Jogger in Pottsville next week and the Sole of the City 10K in Baltimore the following.  With a little luck and a lot of naproxen, I should be able to get through Lager Jogger, but the Sole of the City distance is well outside my comfort zone these days.

But anyway.   That's all stuff for other posts.  I hadn't been planning to run this race, but after I bombed an indomethacin-assisted 3 or 4 miler after two miles on Thursday night, I decided that I might as well sign up for this.  Injured and out-of-shape as I am, today would fit into my running schedule anyway and two of my best recent runs were races in Baltimore and Virginia Beach.  Between trying a new anti-inflammatory and the adrenaline of race day, maybe this would help get me a little farther than I've been reliably able to go lately.

It did.  I started out very conservatively as the race began behind Northeastern Middle School.  The first 3/4 mile was mostly uphill, and I paced myself cautiously (starting out slower than my normal pace seems to have been another strategy that's helped in my good runs).  I seperated from Chris as we ran up a steep hill going around the Middle School toward Board Road.  We were now on my usual running route.  I hit the first mile marker right around minute 10, which means that after my conservative start I probably took off a little too fast.  Likewise, I think I ran most of the second mile in "overcompetitive asshole mode", because when I started out the third mile, the couple I was chasing started pulling away from me and I started to feel like I was running out of gas.  

Still, I ran the whole thing at a 10/minute-mile pace, improved over the Shamrock St. Patrick's Day 5K, and finished strong.  It wasn't one of my better times, but given the circumstances (which include that I'm just not in my best condition for reasons both within and outside of my control) I'm very comfortable that I gave my best effort today.

If I'd run the event in November, and scored an average time, I would have won my age group (at the time I was in my "month off" and couldn't have run a mile, probably), but today I think even my PR would have only got me third, I believe.  I'm in a tough age group here in the local running community!

The weather was very Brian-friendly:  cold and windy.  Great for running, in my opinion, but not so great for standing around for the medal ceremony!  I'm glad we stuck around though, because Chris took home her first-ever age group award!  Congrats to her for bettering her time from the last Movie Madness and picking up some hardware, to both of us for running good races, and to everyone who participated in today's Movie Madness Race Series.

I thought this was a fun event.  Chris ran a Movie Madness 5K in November in Manchester, and she said this course seemed a little tougher and that they seemed to put a little more production into the theme and the event itself.  I thought the course was moderately tough: a lot of uphill at the start, but then basically flat for most of the middle third of the race, and then mostly downhill at the end...with a finish on the high school track (which is not one of my favorite things, but it was just the finish, not a cheesy way to add distance). The t-shirts were nice (I signed up at the last possible second and didn't get one) and for the first time ever, in addition to the medal (I'm kind over getting medals for every single race, but that's probably also a rant for another blog post, too.), I got a FINISHER BOLOGNA SANDWICH! Awesomeness.

Overall, this was a fun little race.  I'm glad I ran it, and I think USA Road Running did a nice job.  (There was also a half marathon, which I think would have been a challenging and scenic course, based on looking at the map.)  

Now, excuse me.  I have to go grind up some Naproxen tablets.

Race Report: 2013 Kelly St. Patrick's Day Shamrock 5K

Every year, I say how much I dislike this race. And every year, I run it again.   Yesterday, as Chris and I were running down a very crowded Charles Street at the beginning of the race, I told her "I hate this race" and as I was coming back from the turnaround on Key Highway I was thinking, "Maybe next year I'll just skip the race and show up for the after-party."

Because it's really the after-party that keeps bringing me back to this one.  The race is what it is:  a big, crowded, chaotic, and vaguely Irish-themed race with beer at the end.  The positives are the incredible view of a sea of green-clad runners going downhill on Charles Street following the start and the pints of Guiness that I have at the James Joyce after the race.  In between is a hot, crowded, chaotic mess.

It's hot, because the 1:15pm start time leaves me running in temperatures 20+ degrees warmer than I'm used to and it's crowded and chaotic because there's 5,000 participants and no pace signs or corrals whatsoever.  There's a ton of people who take very sudden walk breaks in the middle of the road or run or walk it in a group 3 or 4 people wide, requiring me to cut and weave like Brian Westbrook. I admit, I'm probably being way too much of an overcompetitive asshole here.  Everyone else just has fun with this race; I should too.

Especially since I'm way too out of shape to be an overcompetitive asshole.  In 2012, my first crack at this race, I ran a 26:14 and was slightly disappointed in it. Oh, how jaded I was. In 2011, I was tapering for the Shamrock Marathon the following week and took it nice and easy on my way to a 30:15.  26:42 last year, which I was pretty happy with as I recovered.  This year, 31:24, my PW.  Even at the York Jingle Bell in December, when I needed a few walk breaks to make it around the hilly course, I finished in 31:10.

But, I survived.  I ran the whole thing.  I've just got to get my calf and shin problems straightened out or the Sole of the City 10K in April is going to be the death of me. 

Race Report: YMCA Armed Forces 5K

I wasn't expecting a very good race at yesterday's YMCA Armed Forces 5K, but I ended up with a better race than I thought I had in me after 7 miles on Friday morning and our most strenuous fencing class on Friday night.  

Saturday morning dawned gorgeous, with cool temperatures and bright sunshine over City Island in Harrisburg.  My legs felt good, but as we picked up our packets and took our shirts and bags back to the car, I was tired and still not anticipating one of my better 5Ks.   


Still, when the horn went off, I found that I felt great and I took off a little too fast as we started our loop around City Island.  I completed the first mile, most of the way across the Walnut Street Bridge, in almost exactly 8 minutes, and I continued to push myself as we ran northward on the walkway along the Susquehanna.  We ran up an incline to a garden along the path by Front Street, turned around, then ran back the river-walkway toward the Walnut Street Bridge.


Though PR pace was within site, I struggled here.  Since other runners were still on their way to the turnaround point, there was not much room for passing, and when I had an opportunity -- that is, when there was a gap in runner traffic the other way -- I would sprint ahead.  I think this caused my pacing to suffer overall, and though I held pace up the incline back to the bridge, I realized that a PR was unlikely, and I either unconsciously "took my feet off the gas" a bit, or just didn't have a good finishing kick left.

24:44 was my final time.  1:20 over PR, but still, since I usually come in in the 25s or 26s, it was one of my better 5Ks, a good effort on a beautiful May morning.  

 (I ran a good race, and Chris continued her streak of consecutive PRs.)

Race Review
There were some things I really liked about this race and some things I didn't like.  I really enjoyed the loop around City Island.  There were several displays of military vehicles for Armed Forces Day, and it was neat to the see them and I hadn't raced before on the island.  The course is and mostly flat and has a great deal of shade, which on this sunny day was much appreciated.  

On the negative side, since much of the course is narrow with runners in both directions, it was difficult to pass; it was a cool morning, but sunny and I still would have expected one water stop (to either take a quick drink or dump on my head); and lastly I thought the start line was not well-marked, so it was tough to tell exactly where to start my watch.  


Overall, though it was a fun race on a perfect morning.  I would run it again next year, and I'll know to bring my hydration belt.


And wear my "fast" shoes.

(Posing like a jerk with the Walnut St. Bridge in the background.)

Race Report: 2012 Kelly St. Patrick's Day Shamrock 5K

I kicked off the 2012 racing season with a third attempt at the Kelly St. Patrick's Day Shamrock 5K at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. This is now just one of three races that I have three or more attempts at. (The other two are the Harrisburg Mile and the Chocolate Miracle 5K in Hershey, where I haven't toed the line since '09.) In 2010, I ran a disappointing at the time 26:14 that looks much better with the benefit of hindsight, and last year, while tapering for the marathon, I cruised to a 30:15.

This year, I'd been undecided what my strategy for this race would be. I'm not in PR shape yet, and that's the bottom line. Even on my comeback runs in which I don't feel like crap, I just haven't had the speed over 3.1 miles that I had in 2010 and 2011. And this week, I've mostly felt like crap.

Even though I ran 5 miles yesterday, during which my legs felt like lead and I was sucking wind like a guy who'd never run before, I woke up this morning feeling excellent, Spring Forward be damned. There's no marathon for me next week, as anyone who has read this blog over the past two months is well-aware by now, so there was no reason not go for broke.

Our party of six walked from the Inner Harbor to the starting point at the intersection of Charles & Mulberry, and after a few minutes of chatting, we lined up. This 5K has about 4,000 participants, and the block is packed. I lined up a little over half of the way back.

My starting position proved to haunt me, as I was unable to really take advantage of the downhill start. Throughout the whole race I was weaving through the crowded feel, max effort the whole way. I hit the holes like Brian Westbrook, and on an unseasonably warm day, gorgeous for any purpose except running a 5K at max effort (and it wasn't that it was actually HOT -- it was in the low 60s -- just 30 degrees warmer than my run yesterday) I ran to a 26:49. Over my whole career of 5Ks, that's rather unimpressive, but after the way 2012 has gone so far, OMG!, I will take it.

It was over a minute faster than the 3.1 I ran last week at max effort, and I honestly think it was actually a better run than that. This field is so crowded, and I did so much weaving among other runners that I probably actually ran 3.5 (ok, maybe that's an exaggeration) and it was by far the warmest day I've run on since the comeback began. I don't think I could have PR'd today, but I think if I'd started myself further ahead in the pack, I could have been in the low 25s or the high 24s, which I would have been unabashedly thrilled with. I mean, it wasn't as good as Chris's race, in which she smashed her PR by over 2 minutes(!), but I'll take it and take it gladly. It was a worthy last race for the Supernova Sequence 4s and promising beginning to racing year 2012.


Event Review
This race is it what it is, and I accept that. It's supposedly a fast course, and I suspect it is for the elites, but for a middle-of-the-packer like me, the crowded field means I won't ever PR here. Hopefully, next year I'll be tapering at this time, but if I run this "for the money" again I'll really try to move up more in the crowd and see how much time I can shave off. But, it's a race with a fun atmosphere that has a scenic course (Yeah, of course you run out Key Highway and turn around, though!) that's an enjoyable way to kick off race season even though it's a race I'll probably never have one of my best times in.

The giveaway is really nice -- a Brooks long-sleeve technical shirt in neon green. It'll be a great shirt for running in the dark on cool spring and fall nights. I was just happy that they'd changed the design after identical shirt designs for the 2010 and 2011 race shirts.

After our experience last year, in which we waited in line for 15 minutes for our postrace beer and didn't move at all, we completely bailed on the official postrace party and headed straight for the James Joyce, where we toasted the start of what will hopefully be a fun and fast year of racing.

Race Report: 2011 HACC Dash York Campus 5K, or "Hey, I got a Medal!"

I hadn't planned on racing this weekend. I was going to try another longish run on Saturday to see if I could cope with the humidity better than I did on Thursday, and then lift or take a rest day on Sunday.

But, when Derek, a friend from college, sent me a text on Friday to ask if I was running in the HACC 5K on Sunday, I didn't see a reason not to, even though I'd never even heard that there was a HACC 5K on Sunday. It turned out that he'd learned of the race only a short while before I did.

I went out and died in the humidity on Saturday, running a slow 7 miles that left me feeling completely drained and sore, so I had low expectations for the 5K.

Indeed, I didn't even really feel awake when I got down to HACC (Harrisburg Area Community College) to register. I figured a 27 or 28 minute race was in order, and I was fine with that. Some days I've got it, some days I don't.

A few minutes before the race we got in line. Derek runs in the low 20-minute range and started near the front. I'm not quite there, and I felt slower than normal, so I moved about halfway back in the field, which I think was about 200 runners.

The gun went off, and I had the weird experience of feeling like I was in slow motion, but also having a seam up the middle of the road and quickly passing a lot of people. My legs, as I'd predicted, felt like lead weights, but when I looked down at Garmin it said I was going 9MPH, way above my pace.

Knowing I couldn't maintain that pace for any time at all, even if Garmin were accurate, I slowed down a bit but still cleared the first mile just under 8 minutes. There was a tough hill early on the course, and it was sneaky-hot, warm but very humid, but the race directors did an awesome job with three water stations on the course (really, it was two, but we passed one of them on the way out and the way back). With the help of two cups of ice-cold water dumped on my head, I held my pace and had passed the mile 2 marker with a time under 16 minutes. As I approached the HACC campus, I thought my PR (23:43) was in reach, but I couldn't quite get get to the finish in time and ended up at 23:55, the second fastest 5K I've ever run and only my 2nd time under 24 minutes in five years of running 5Ks.

As the race director and volunteers posted times, Derek and I quickly saw that he had finished 7th overall, in just over 20 minutes, and had won our age group. But, quite unexpectedly, I took third place in 30-34 year old men's division. Of course, celebratory donuts were consumed. Congrats, Derek, on a great race! (More pictures coming later in the week.)

(The silhouettes of the winner and 3rd place finisher of the men's 30-34 division).

Review
Unexpectedly, this was one of the most fun 5K's I've ever run. The course itself is visually boring, in a corporate park in York that I'm quite familiar with. There's nothing that can be done about that. But, despite the lack of interesting scenery, this race seemed to go by much faster than any other I'd ever run -- it felt like I was only running for about 10 minutes! I think they did a nice job mapping it out so that there were always enough turns that it never felt like I had a long way to go...I'm doing a bad job explaining that, but good job race directors! (The course was mostly an out and back, but there was a loop at the far end that cut into the longest straight stretch about halfway though -- it made the 2nd half of the course feel shorter to me than the first half. Awesome!)

I would have said this was a nice race even if I hadn't run one of my best races ever. The shirts have a cool logo on them; they had a great spread of food at the post-race celebration; the awards and medals were very, very nice (they're appropriately college-themed and have the race date and age group engraved on the back); and best of all, there was a Sheetz truck giving away FREE SMOOTHIES. I love Sheetz.

So, in short, both my expectations for the race and my own performance were surpassed by quite a bit.

Race Report: 2011 Bob Potts 5K

I ran the 2nd leg of my back-to-back 5Ks, the Bob Potts 5K, today. In short, I've probably never run a race this well that I prepared for this badly:

• Ate a big dinner of "Irish Nachos", ravioli, two beers and two scoops of Bruster's Birthday Cake ice cream for dessert.
• Wasn't sure of the starting time of the race as late as 11:00pm last night.
• Awful night of sleep.
• Feeling a bit queasy right up until the gun went off.
• Raced another 5K the day before. (I frequently run the day before a 5K, but had never raced on back-to-back days)
  

Still, I ran a 24:27, which I believe is my third-best 5K time ever. I guess I decided somewhere between dropping my wallet and phone back at my car after packet pickup that I was going to try for a fast time rather than take it easy.

(Registration was inside the gym. When I was first starting running, I did almost all my running on the indoor track pictured here.)

The race started and ended at the track outside York College's Grumbacher Center, and most of the course was down and back a section of the rail trail. Unfortunately, it was mostly downhill on the way out and thus mostly uphill on the way back. At the time, I thought I was on pace for a sub-23 at the halfway point, but in hindsight I think I did the math wrong. A PR was probably within reach up until the last half mile, but I just wasn't quite fast enough today. I'd stopped to tie my shoe early in the race, and that cost me precious seconds, and started a bit too far back at the crowd. There wasn't chip timing and I forgot to stop Garmin right as I crossed the finish line, so I was probably really 10-15 seconds under my official time.

Although I tried to sprint the half lap around the track that ended the race, I didn't have a lot of energy left. Although when another runner sprinted for the finish and tried to pass me within the last 50 yards, I found that I did have enough left to hold them off to hang on to 55th place. I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was probably about 12 years old.

(We're number 55!)

Review
This was a fun, well-organized race. It didn't have the novelty of yesterday's Preakness 5K, and so I think it was taken a little more seriously. The course itself is pleasant, a soft gravel surface for most of the race and the hills are not steep...just steep enough to knock me off pace at the end, but I think someone a bit better prepared would have a good shot of scoring a PR at this race. The biggest challenge is that since it's an out and back on a trail, things get a little tight in the middle of the race, when traffic is going in both directions. It was a nice event, too. The volunteers and staff were all really, really nice and the starter had a good sense of humor. There was a band setting up, probably to be ready for the bulk of the marathon finishers, but I didn't stick around. The price was right, too, at $15 with no shirt. (The shirts were nice, though! You just can't get a shirt if you don't pre-register.)

I will admit that I had a bit of marathon envy, but this is a race I'd run again next year if I don't sign up for the Bob Potts Marathon. So...we'll see how well I'm recovered from my revenge on Shamrock by late April next year.

Race Report: 2011 Preakness 5K, or "The Adventures of Detailed Wednesday"

Today was the first leg of my first ever double-race weekend, the Preakness 5K. Somehow, Chris and I had never heard of it, which is a shame because it was quite fun.

The race was about an hour and 15 minutes from our house। We left in plenty of time, but feared we wouldn't make it because of some mysterious traffic problem just minutes away from Pimlico Racetrack. However, we arrived in time get our numbers and choose how many layers to wear on this cool, rainy morning. The first of many fun things about this race was that, being a horserace-themed race, every runner got a horse-racing type pattern on his/her bib, along with a randomly generated horse name. I was hoping for "Seabiscuit", but instead got "Detailed Wednesday." Really? Detailed Wednesday? That doesn't make any sense.

The next fun thing about this race was that we ran through actual, authentic horse-racing starting gates to begin the race. Chris and I lined up behind the gates, and it this point I made a decision that will likely turn out to be the key strategic error that defines this weekend. I had planned on running either this or Bob Potts in pursuit of a new PR and/or a sub 23-minute 5K (a goal for the year), and since I thought this would be an almost completely flat course and it was a cool morning, I decided that today was the day. I set my Virtual Training Partner on my Garmin to pace myself for 22:59, and off I went at the sound of the gun.



Very early in the race this pace seemed comfortable, and I thought to myself "I got this. I think I can hold this pace." Famous last words. Less than half a mile in, the course veered off the pavement and onto the racetrack itself, which is a 1 and 3/16 mile dirt track that was the equivalent of running on the beach. I heard a runner next to me say "I guess I'm going to re-evaluate my goal pace." Not I. I was still going to push myself for a PR, but over the next grueling (approximately) mile and a half, which was one lap around the course plus bit extra to reach the exit, I found that I was falling farther and farther behind my virtual pal. I was worried about my left ankle, which has some lingering sprain-type injury, as I ran around the sand, but it held up ok. I know enough about horse racing to know that I didn't want to hurt myself while I was on the track.



As we left the track, I was about a tenth of a mile behind my pace, where I would remain the rest of the race. Though it was very nice to be off the dirt, I had pushed myself too hard to have enough speed left to make up the time I'd lost. I finished with a 25:04, a pretty good time for me, but well short of the admittedly aggressive goal I'd set.

(The course ran through this tunnel, which ran beneath the racetrack, near the end of this course. Not fair!)

After my wife, Materialistic Flack, and I had finished the race, we headed over to the finishers tent for our free beer. Well, actually it was Budweiser, but it was much appreciated after a tough race.


Review
This is a great race that we'd never heard of. Cool race shirts or fleece blankets, fee beer, and good live music. The race itself is an interesting challenge. Like the Fort McHenry Tunnel Run, this is a race that I don't think many people will PR at, but it's a fun opportunity to run at a strange and unique location. I will admit that I was kind of in "tunnel vision" mode, and didn't appreciate the crowd support and the fact that you could see some of the race horses at their stables. There were many little details that made this fun -- the race-inspired bibs, horse names, the announcer calling out people's names as if they were jockeys riding their horses ("Here comes Brian ***** on Detailed Wednesday"), free beer, and a good food selection at the finish make this a race I'd definitely consider for someone in the greater Baltimore area.

(One of the hallmarks of a good race.)

(The infield and grandstand of Pimlico)

(Materialistic Flack and Detailed Wednesday.)

Overall, it was a good personal effort at a fun race. I didn't come home with flowers around my head, but I didn't get sent to the glue factory, either.

Race Report: 2011 Kelly Shamrock 5K

I ran my first race of the year, the Kelly Shamrock 5K in Baltimore, today. I took it a little easy since I'm in taper mode, which makes for a weird race experience, and came in with a 30:15.

This is the second year we've run this race and there are a lot of things I love about it, and a few things that are frustrating. It's much bigger than any other 5K I've ever run; there were almost 4000 finishers this year and that is both part of the appeal and part of the frustration.

The race begins at the corner of Charles & Franklin in downtown Baltimore, and begins with a pretty steep downhill. Not only is this a nice, easy start to the race, seeing the green-clad crowd racing down Charles Street ahead of me is one of the neatest things I've ever seen as a runner. And since it's a St. Patrick's day race, there are lots of funny t-shirts and costumes.

The course, through downtown Baltimore and around the Inner Harbor, is very scenic and it has the obligatory u-turn on Key Highway that almost every Baltimore race seems to include.

It's a great, fun atmosphere, the crowd for the race is great since the race is the prelude to the St. Patrick's Day Parade, the t-shirt is nice, and in theory there's free beer.

That said, there are a few things that frustrate me about this race. Because of its huge size, it's very crowded on the course and there are a lot of people who aren't prepared to run the whole thing. And let me be very, very clear -- THAT'S OK! But, I wish that more run/walkers would be careful to not suddenly slow to a walk right in the middle of the road. I had to make a highlight reel's worth of Brian Westbrook type cutback moves to avoid a collision.

Similarly, there's never been a race that needs pace signs at the start as badly as this one does, there's no order at all to who starts where, which contributes to the crowding as faster people get caught behind less fast runners or walkers. To be fair, I probably should have started a bit further up in the pack since I usually finish right in the middle of the pack at most races, rather than as close to the back as I did.

Lastly, although "Free Beer" is a rare gift that must be appreciated and treasured, the post-race party has outgrown its venue (Power Plant Live) in my opinion. This year, we couldn't even get in because it was so packed. I'm not sure what can be done about that, it's the price an event pays for success.

Despite my gripes, this is probably a race that I'll run every year as long as I can. It was a beautiful day, and Chris and I met up with a friend from collage and some of her teammates in the Baltimore Dragon Boat Club (they're looking for team members if you like to row and live in the Baltimore area! Don't think of the little dragon-shaped paddleboats at Inner Harbor, this is more like crew) and had an excellent post-race party of our own at the James Joyce Irish Pub -- that's right, everyone's favorite incomprehensible Irish author is now a bar.



Overall, it was a fun first race of 2011, and hopefully helps set the stage for a good race next week in Virginia Beach.

(Don't freak out...don't freak out...don't freak out....)