Race Report: 2018 5unner's World 5K and Half Marathon

What do I say about these races? 

Oh yeah, hills.

I'll be honest, like most of my running stories, this is one of those things that seems like a good idea at the time.  I'd just had another great time at Shamrock.  I'd signed up for the marathon.  I'd been running more than I'd been running in years.

And then, summer.

Summer.  The season I used to look forward to has become the bane of my running existence.  This was not the hottest summer.  I could usually find temperatures in the 60s or low 70s.  With 100% humidity.  At 7am.  It sucked.  It was gross.  I'm not as skinny as or as tough (those two concepts are unrelated, but they both relate to my tolerance of heat) as I used to be, and I suffered.  Due to weather, bad luck, and just an uncommonly busy schedule in September, I just didn't nail the long runs like I usually do.  My longest training run was 8 miles, on the first cool Saturday of the year, one week before the hilliest half marathon I would ever run. (Creepy Foreshadowing Music).

The Runner's World Half & Festival seems to be the official name of the event, and they have a great variety of races over the weekend:

• Friday night -- 3.8 mile trail run (we did not participate in this)
• Saturday -- 5K followed by a 10K
• Sunday -- Half Marathon.

For those of you into multi-race challenge events, they've got a good thing going here.  To do all four is called the Grand Slam. You get a quarter-zip pullover for it.  To do the 5K, 10K, and Half is the Hat Trick.  Brilliantly, you get a hat.  To do the 5K and 10K is the five and dime, and you get socks.

Doing the 5K and Half is a big fat tub of nothing, and that's exactly what I did.


5K
Your HQ for the Festival is the SteelStacks compound in Bethlehem, PA, not far from Runner's World HQ in Emmaus.  (Hopefully that remains now that it's been purchased by Hearst.)  This provides a scenic and somewhat convenient center of events.  Scenic because they've...well, not renovated but used the decaying buildings of the old steel mill and turned them into a haunting and strangely beautiful backdrop to a multi-purpose event space.  Can you tell I'm a marketing writer?  No. Ok, carry on, then.

But anyway, all 3 of the road races start at the SteelStacks and head eastward from SteelStacks and head toward the Fahey Bridge, and they all end with a long loop around the ArtsQuest/SteelStacks compound via Sands Boulevard (adjacent to the local casino resort) with a finish in the center of SteelStacks.  The main difference in the races is how much time you spend north of the Lehigh River.

The 5K is not flat, but its biggest hill is still within the first mile, a steep climb right after the Fahey Bridge and then an equally steep descent.  It was here that I got my best advice of the weekend, a father saying to his probably 10ish old son, "We're going to go downhill now.  Don't try to speed up, just let gravity do the work and rest.".  Although the advice wasn't meant for me, I tried to follow it. 

My goal was to take this race relatively easy, since I knew I was undertrained for both the distance and hills the following day.  With that in mind, I tried to not to push myself. I succeeded, finishing in 35:36, which is quite a bit slower than my normal 5K training run finish times.  That was a little disappointing, given that I'm most often at 32 or 33:something, and it was a cool day, which usually makes me faster (#fasterinthecold).  Of greater concern was how tired my legs felt. 

I don't have anything bad to say about the race itself.  The scenery is interesting and the early location of its tough make this a course anyone can enjoy.  It wasn't my finest hour as a runner, but I was happy with it.

Half Marathon
I'm going to skip ahead of some things that I'll come back to later and just say that I woke up the next morning at the Overlook Hotel in complete dread.  I did not want to run the half.  I really, seriously contemplated telling my wife "Let's go home.  I'm not ready for this.  This is stupid.".  I've never been this scared before a half, even my first.  I was really having trouble getting my nerves and stomach to calm down that morning.

But, once the race started, I felt ok.  Stronger than I had during the 5K, and that strength just stayed with me longer than I had any right to expect it to.  I paced myself smartly and ran a careful race, trudging up the uphills and speeding up on the flats and downhills, and I felt great up until about the 10K mark, good up to about 8, struggling till 10, and then basically a mass of gelatinous goo for most of the last 3.1, the exception being a long, steep downhill just before mile 11.

I'll take it!

 I'm still about the same 40-minutes slower than my old PRs that I was at Shamrock, this was one of those unexpectedly very good races that I magically pull out of my you-know-where occasionally.  I'd heard all weekend that this course was hilly.  And it was very hilly.  But I ran 10 miles of it before I needed to start mixing in increasing amount of walking. I credit 3 things:

1. The cold:  I love running in the cold.  There's got to be some formula that converts hot miles into cold miles.   If there's not, I just invented it.  Let's call it "Brian's First Law of Thermodynamics", which states that every hot, humid mile equals 2 cold miles.  MH=2(MC).  You'll be quizzed later.  This was a raw, windy morning in the low 40s. The kind of weather that makes running blissful and standing waiting to run miserable.  I'm the idiot that used to stand in the Orange corral at the Philly half in a tank top, shorts, and light gloves in 35 degrees.  Now, at least I wear a light crumple-up jacket, which I wore till mile 4.

2.  The free advice I got from the dad.  Some of these hills were killers.  But, what goes up, must come down.  I've never ran a race that had the long, steep downhills like this one did, where I could rest and let gravity do the work.  As tough as the uphills were, I think these downhills let me run more of the race then I might have been able to on a completely flat course.

3. Crowd support and Bethlehem. Bethlehem is a beautiful old town, and this race is a great way to see its historic downtown as well as a lot of its neighborhoods, and people came out to cheer in droves. Both things distract from how most of the race seems to be uphill.

I'd like to especially give a shout-out to the Sub 30 Club, a group of people dedicated to supporting each other through their running adventures.  To make a long story short, the Sub 30 Club started as an online support group with RW writer Ted Spiker, who was attempting to train his way to sub-30 minute 5k.  It's become much more than that, a tight fraternity of runners who cheer for each other along the course, encourage each other in training, and make sure that no one finishes last alone and no one feels alone on the course or at the event.  There's always volunteers left to run in with other club members, including Jeff, who pushed out-of-breath me to a faster finish.  My wife's been a member of the club virtually for a couple years, and I just joined recently.  Check it out on Facebook. You'll be glad you did.  We're huge introverts and they made us feel very welcome.

I hit the 10-mile mark right at two hours.  I knew if I kept my walking pace up I should be good for under 2:45, but since there were some downhills, I was hoping I could beat my time from Shamrock.  I just didn't have quite enough in the tank, and came in at 2:40:03, which I am very, very happy with.  As I checked my results on line, my 1:59:33 from Philly in 2010 shows up as "other races".  Like this, that was a better-than-expected result that seemed to come from nowhere.  I'm equally proud of and happy with both. 

Throughout the race, I amused myself by thinking of the really cocky things I was going to say to Chris when I finished.  Should I quote my favorite speech from Lord of the Rings?  Butcher some Hamilton lyrics?  Drop some mad rhymes?  In the end, I was too incoherent to do anything.  I tried to make a funny funny face for the finish line cameras, and my chin muscles cramped up.  Oops.

Event
I have mixed feelings about the event.  On the place side, the races are great.  What else would you expect from Runner's World?  The course management is phenomenal, adequate water and aid stations, great volunteers, and excellent crowd support.

What's negative is just that this is a race you have to drive to, and that makes it a little inconvenient.  I'm comparing it to Shamrock, Philly, AC (which I didn't run), Baltimore, Wildwood, and Love Run, all of which we stayed locally and can walk to the race.  We stayed a little outside Bethlehem, since there was no room at the inn (wakka wakka wakka), but the start isn't walkable from most hotels in the area. 

I also expected more from the expo.  It's not the biggest race or the biggest town, but Runner's World IS running. I was hoping to be able to both load up on Runner's World swag and buy the things I'd forgotten (Sports beans in my case).  The pasta dinner was fun and the food was good, but I'd have liked to hear more from the RW staff or perhaps a VIP runner.  I've heard that Bart Yasso (who is as nice as everyone says he is) has brought the house down in previous years.

That doesn't change the fact that is race series is fun.  The camraderie of runners makes it fun.  The restaurants and breweries of Bethlehem (Fegley's Steelworkers' Oatmeal Stout, trust me on this) make it fun.  The Sub-30 Club makes it fun.  We probably won't do this every year, but this is a race series I'll definitely be willing to come back to.

Race Reports: 2016 Anthem Shamrock Half Marathon and 2016 TowneBank Shamrock 8K

Another year, another successful running trip to Shamrock Weekend in Virginia Beach.  For the first time, I competed in the Dolphin Challenge consisting of both the 8K and half -- except since I didn't register for it in time, I was really just separately running both races.  But the point remains...success!

TowneBank 8K

Don't tell the half marathon, but I think this is my favorite race of them all.  Year after year, this race has been a fun, flat, fast (definitions of fast vary by year) race with a great after party.  This year, I busted my a** for a sub 55-minute finish, my familiarity with the course helping me come in well under my pre-race goal of 60 minutes.

Conditions were near perfect for me: high 40s and dry, and I attacked the course more aggressively than I intended.  This race really is the best parts of the marathon course, boardwalk and downtown Virginia Beach, without any of the long quiet sections south or north of town.   Visibly excited, I pumped my fist excitedly as I passed Neptune for the finish before meeting Chris and enjoying a few more Yuenglings than I should have had.

I often say that while I enjoy being runner, I don't really actually enjoy running.  This race always reminds me that this really can be fun.

The after party was a blast, especially when TowneBank's hilarious mascot, Town E. Bear, went up in stage with the band.  After an 8K and X number of Yuengs, this was the funniest thing I had ever seen.

Anthem Half Marathon

This one was not fun.  Everything J&A can control always goes perfectly, but they can't control the weather (Everyone knows that's Pudge the Fish).  The weather at the start of this one was MISERY.  Gale-force winds and a driving rain.  I love to inspire Chris and I (Chris hates it) with Aragorn's speech from "Return of the King" bit I really did think this was the that the courage of men (at least this one) failed.

But...running in a cold rain is actually a slight improvement over huddling helplessly against a tiny tree to get out of the wind.  The first two miles up Atlantic were tough, but the rain slacked and conditions were nice as we ran through the woods along Shore Drive.  Then...Fort Story happened.  It was amazing how little of the Fort I remembered from the marathon in 2011, but both times I have run this section, I have found it to be challenging as the winds buffeted us again.  After leaving the base, I gratefully partook of cookies and beer offered by kindly spectators. 

The long trudge back down Atlantic was challenging and at times absurd, but the finish on the boardwalk was worth it as always.  It felt great to -- after 5 years -- earn a finisher's hat again.

The after party was again a blast, with more Yuenglings and Buckshot, a fun country cover band.  I'm not dancing because I'm cool...I'm dancing because I'm freezing and to keep my legs from cramping.

Honestly, I just can't write enough about how much fun J&A makes this weekend, and I'm already looking forward to next year's festival.

(This bear is the funniest mascot ever after a race.)

(The haul for the weekend.)

Race Report: 2016 Under Armour Kelly St. Patrick's Day Shamrock 5K

I hate this race.  Every year, I blog about how much I hate this race.  The crowds, the lack of pace signs, too-long beer lines at the postrace party, the crowds.

And every year, I come back to this race, mostly for the post - race celebration we always have at a local pub.

I've put down some good times here.  26:14 in 2010, our first crack at it, was my best.  Tapered to a 30 minute finish in 2011 a week before my first marathon, and came back strong with a 26:42 in 2012 while recovering (so I thought) from what turned out to be my compartment syndrome.  This year, I ran a 32:55 and said afterwards that "I ran the shit out of that race".  That’s not one of my best 5K times by any means, but it's quite a but faster than I've been in training this year, when I've pretty consistently been a 12 - minute miler.

It helped that most of the first mile is downhill, and the last mile mostly flat.  There's some hills in the second mile and beginning of the third (coming back up Key Highway toward Light St.) but I felt strong...or at least "not weaker" on the hills.  Thanks, Mt. Wolf.

I did have the feeling at about halfway that I was running this faster than I should have and wouldn't be able to finish without a walk break or two, but the cool weather helped me hang in to the end.

I'm very happy with a time that I would have been pissed about 4 or 5 years ago, but that's something I can work on.  I would like to get myself back under 30 minutes in the 5K this year, but I need to balance that with an overall focus on base mileage and long runs for a possible marathon attempt in the fall.

Whether or not that happens, I'm pretty sure you'll see me at the start of this race next March.

PROS:
Fast course, great crowd support, the crowd of green-clad runners heading down Charles St. is a cool sight, you can watch the parade afterward, and sometimes the Oriole Bird is in the parade.

CONS:
Crowded course, lack of pace signs, the name of the race is annoyingly long and I can't call it "Shamrock 5K" when so many people are familiar with the Shamrock races in VA Beach the next weekend.

Race Report: 2015 Wild Half, Wildwoods NJ

I'm having trouble putting into words my experiences at the 2015 Wild Half Marathon (but let me write a long, rambling blog post about it, nonetheless), because it's an accomplishment that still feels like a setback.  The accomplishment is that I finished my first half marathon since 2010, marking a significant step forward in my often-derailed comeback; and the setback is how I felt during the race, which I was clearly not as ready for as I had thought that I was.

Pre-race
Chris and I arrived in Wildwood on Friday afternoon, going from our hotel, the Beach Bungalow at the Blue Palms, to the Adventure Pier in time for packet pickup.  We then went for dinner at Capt'n Jack's Island Grille, on the Boardwalk, which featured one of the boardwalk's few liquor licenses, excellent fries, and good burgers and sandwiches.  After dinner, Chris and I retired rather quickly to our room, exhausted from the long travel day and in bed by 9:30.

We slept in till about 10:30 on Saturday, had breakfast (muffins that we had packed to save money) in our room, and then hit the boardwalk.  We did some shopping, picking up a few Christmas ornaments; had a small lunch at Capt'n Jack's again; and played miniature golf (a rare win for Chris) before heading back to our rooms to relax for a while before heading out to an early dinner with some new friends at Little Italy.  After a delicious dinner, Chris and I headed to the Old City Pub for a single pre-race beer, one of our longstanding race traditions, and then back to the room to get our race gear ready and turn in early.

I find the laying out of the gear the night before to be very soothing.

Race Day
Race day dawned warm and extremely humid, consistent with the weather forecasts.  We knew at that time that this race would be a struggle and not much fun. It didn't help that the bed in our room was very firm, and so neither of us had slept especially well and Chris' back (with her two herniated disks) was quite sore.

Ready for the race?  Not as much as I thought.

Ready to make dumb pre-race faces?  Of course! 

Still, we were as ready as we could be, and we kept to our Jeff Galloway-inspired plan of half-mile run intervals with a minute of walking in between, as the course went south on Ocean Avenue into Wildwood Crest (the southern part of Wildwood) before turning and heading back north on the Wildwood Crest bike path and the entire length of the Wildwood boardwalk.  We were hot, it was disgustingly humid, but we felt relatively ok and were sticking to plan. 

At about the four-mile mark, we left the boardwalk and continued in the same direction up JFK Beach Drive (I didn't know any of these street names at the time, I found a map with mile markers here) before making a series of turns that took the course in a more due-northerly direction through North Wildwood.

After the sixth mile, I felt that the course became more difficult, as we crossed a bridge over Gateway Sound and then just after the mile 7 marker another bridge taking us out to Mosquito Island.  It's really called Nummy Island, but I think my description of this swampy landmass is more apt.  During this stretch of the race, we began to struggle more and more with pain:  Chris' back and hips, and my right knee, which was very sore on the outside.  We made the turn shortly before completing 8 miles, and headed back over those bridges, walking the inclines at this point, my right knee and Chris' back and hips hurting badly at this point.

We made it to mile 10, back in North Wildwood, at which point we were walking more than running.  Every mile seemed longer than the next, until we were back on the boardwalk with a little over a mile to go.  At Garfield Ave, we turned off the boardwalk and then made a left on Ocean toward the finish.  The misery had ended.

The positives:  We made it.  The comeback continues.  No compartment syndrome symptoms.

The negatives:  The race just didn't go how we hoped it would. A possibly new injury or recurrence of ITBS.

I was internally kicking myself (with my non-sore leg!) through the last few miles of the race, but after further reflection, I think the positives clearly outweigh the negatives.  We both know that we rushed our training for this race, and I know that while I do my stretching and strength exercises after every run, I have to be more consistent in doing them on my "off" days (my knee injury felt to me like the return of the ITBS that I experienced in 2011.  I know how to manage this), and, to not lose sight of the big picture:  this was the longest distanced I'd completed in almost four years and my longest time out on a course since the Philadelphia Marathon that same year.  As recently as February, I didn't think a half marathon was something I could train for anymore, and it was GREAT to after almost four years to finally be a full participant in a "big" race and not just a spectator.  I am proud of Chris and myself for pushing through pain, in conditions we both despise running in, to finish the race, and I am thankful for her for pacing me (and putting up with me) during such a long race in which I didn't feel good.  Our accomplishment is not taken away by walking more than we wanted or by a sore knee or aching back.

But, I can see that my 10-miler of two weeks ago gave me confidence that was not warranted.  I was not prepared to run a long distance in such hot, humid conditions, and it showed.  I need to train more methodically and train in the heat, I need to lose weight, and I need to get in more l0+ mile runs to determine whether my knee is ok.  My plan going forward is to take it a bit easy with running the next few weeks, which are insanely busy, but to try to get at least one double-digit distance run in during each of the next 5 months with shorter runs on weekdays, whether or not I actually do a half marathon in the Fall.  I think that if I can do this and the legs are feeling good, that this would prepare me to train up to make an attempt at the Shamrock Marathon in March 2016, and that if the legs don't feel good, it would help me to figure out if the current knee issue is really a problem, and/or if compartment syndrome is truly addressed.  For what it's worth, my knee felt dramatically better the next day.

My quest for a revenge marathon took a significant step forward with this finish, but there is still a long way to go.

Despite a challenging race, the comeback continues!

Race Review.
I'm not sure if I would run this one again, just because of the likelihood of having to run it in the warm, humid conditions that I despise.  That said, I think Morey's Piers, CGI Racing, and the Wildwood Community did a great job with this event.  The course was clearly marked; the boardwalk was at least partially closed to pedestrians, giving runners a clear path; there were ample water stations with unfailingly friendly volunteers; and the experience at the finish line was very positive (no running out of medals or food, beer garden still open).  Wildwood is a fun destination and the race entry, which includes admission to the Morey's Piers amusement parks, is a good value. I'm sure this event was established as a way to introduce more people to the Wildwood area and all the fun it has to offer.   It definitely did that, and I will have to write in more detail in another post about the fun places we found to eat. Everything that the organizers could control, they did an excellent job with.  I likely would have had a much more positive experience in the race itself if I had been in the condition I was in 2011, when I ran longer distances in warm, humid conditions several times a month.  That's not in any way the race organizers' fault, of course!

If I could change one thing, I would add an expo or some merchandise.  This was my first "big race" since 2011, and I would have liked to have been able to buy a hat or windbreaker.  A friend said that there had been a small expo in a previous year, and theorized there was none this year because another organization had rented the convention center.  For the record, no expo was promised in ANY of the promotional materials or the event's website.  I'd probably also move the event to April, when cooler weather is a possibility, but in this case that would put this event up against several other big regional races and would mean, I suspect, that businesses on the boardwalk would be almost completely closed.  Again, I don't want my own personal weather bias to detract from my feelings that this was a very well-organized, well-run event.

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 Sole of the City 10K

I was really dreading the 2013 Sole of the City 10K.  I haven't been able to get even a 5-miler in since the 8K in Virginia Beach, and I have only one 4-miler. Even with aid of prescription-strength anti-inflammatories, most of my runs just haven't gone well.

This one didn't go all that well either, but it wasn't as bad as I was afraid it would go:  I ran 4 miles of the 10K course, but then needed some walk breaks to get through the last 2.2 as my compartment syndrome really flared up.  

The damage?  1:08:21 -- compared to last year's 57:17.  The good news, if I can call it that, is that it felt like my conditioning is coming back.  I paced myself well, didn't feel completely out of breath, and ran (most of) 6 miles for the first time since July or August of last year.  The bad news, and I can definitely call it that, is that even with a steady diet of naproxen leading up to the race, my symptoms were pretty bad.  There are sometimes where I've limped back to my car with aching shins and lack of range of motion in my left foot where I think I unconsciously exaggerate my limp a little because it's embarrassing, but I was really limping pretty badly during my walk breaks.  (I could run somewhat more normally, it was just more painful and I needed some breaks.)

(Race organizers suggested people wear blue and yellow to honor the Boston

Marathon bombing victims.  We also had a signs pinned to our backs, 

but mine ripped off when I put my long-sleeve shirt on.)

Review
I like this race, but there's not a lot to distinguish it from other local races.  The swag is nice, but other than that it's the generic Baltimore race around Inner Harbor and Key Highway.  The course is challenging, in my opinion, because the second half of the course is hillier than the first half, but I didn't struggle as much last year when I was less injured and better conditioned.  

(Men got a blue quarter zip Under Armour running jacket. 

 Women got a full-zip.  Hey!  I want a full zip!)

It was very crowded at the start and could perhaps use a waved start, but is generally a well-organized event.  I thought the start of the race was better handled last year; this year the race started about 15 minutes late and I wasn't able to hear announcements or the National Anthem at all (last year they had an amazing National Anthem singer, this year I couldn't even hear it well enough to know when to yell "O!")

The post-race party was more spread-out this year, with the beer truck parked farther back from the finish than it was last year, when everything was crowded by the Greene Turtle (the bar that is one of the main sponsors).  The array of snacks was good, they had several wrap options including vegetarian and free beer.  The beer was Bud Light, however.  I just ran a race -- I don't need to have a low-calorie, flavorless beer!  Still,I shouldn't complain; free Bud Light is better than no free beer at all, and it was cold and refreshing on a cold and windy day, but one in which I was feeling pretty heated since the sun was out for most of the race.


I'll probably run this race again next year -- and hopefully be about 15-minutes faster whether or not I have those pesky muscle fascias in my left leg weighing me down!

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.

The Pain, the Blood, and the Gore: Race Report Part 2: Pennsylvania Spartan Sprint 2012

 
In my previous post, I tried to describe my experience at the Spartan Sprint PA.  In this post I'd like to review the event itself in terms of organization, strengths and, in my opinion, a few things that could be done to improve the event, as well as my critique of my own performance and what I would do differently.

Race Review 
Course
This race was a unique experience, and three days later I'm still not sure how I feel about this one.  Did I enjoy it?  Parts of it I enjoyed very much.  Other parts were less enjoyable, and some parts made my question my own sanity and that of the course designers.  Would I do it again?  I'm not sure.  Am I glad I did it?  Absolutely.  It was an adventure, a great story, and a unique challenge that my best friend and I triumphed over together.  I went in as a somewhat jaded marathoner ("Whatever.  It's five miles.") and left with a true sense of accomplishment (despite all my burpees!).


The Pennsylvania Spartan Sprint definitely lived up to Spartan Race's billing as a super-tough obstacle race.   Sadistic, even.  (Having the monkey bars right after the pancakes?  Evil!).  The ascents and descents were brutal.  While I wouldn't say I enjoyed all the obstacles, I would say that they were generally well-designed to be challenging.  Some of them were really fun.  The mud pits were fun.  Climbing walls is fun.  Rope ladder is fun.  Spear toss, fun, even though I failed. Jumping over fire was cool, too.  And I think the others were generally tough but fair.  Being tall is an advantage the higher walls, but Chris and I both found ways over them, despite our vertical challenged-ness.  There was a mental aspect to most of the challenges that made them enjoyable.  Not just "can I do it?", but "what's the best way for me to do it?"

That said, I think they should change how they market this race.  Here's how a Spartan Sprint, the shortest Spartan Race distance, is described on their website:

Spartan Sprint - 3+ MILES / 15+ OBSTACLES. The challenging sprint obstacle trail races are a great way to get off your couch and start living. From beginner trail racers and mud run participants to hardcore warriors, tough guys and marathon runners, they all come out to test themselves on the insane obstacle races! 99.9% of all people who try this event will finish, and 100% will have their thirst for mud & trail racing fully satisfied! 

This is how they described the 2012 Pennsylvania Spartan Sprint (from their facebook page):

Spartan Staffers are currently testing out the PA Sprint course and the verdict is in! Our Pennsylvania event will go down as the toughest Sprint we've ever done.

More (from a congratulatory e-mail):

Hey PASpartans! Congrats on finishing the race! Spartan Sprint Races are typically 5K long...but we thought you were tough enough and made the course ~5 miles long!

Don't underestimate your potential! You are much stronger than you think!

It's cool to know I finished their toughest Sprint ever.  It also seems that the element of surprise and the challenge of the unknown are important parts of the Spartan Race mystique that the company is trying to build.  No course maps, no exact mileage given, and people only give vague hints given by on-course volunteers about inquiries about what's next, etc.  But when people sign up for "3+" mile Sprint, to then late in the game make it "The toughest sprint ever" and 5 miles long on really, really challenging terrain, well, I feel that crosses the line from badass/challenging to dangerous.   Two extra miles on this type of terrain is nothing to sneeze at.

I personally would warn anyone that when Spartan Race says a race is tough, they mean business.  (There's a lot of mud/obstacle race series out there now, and it seems as if there are several different niches of difficulty level, and the differences might not be apparent from descriptions or websites).  I just think people signing up for this should have had a little better idea of what they were in for.  

I'm not advocating making the course easier, or  suggesting that organizers shouldn't take full advantage of the rough terrain. I think just some fair warning for people before they sign up that this is longer and more brutal than a typical sprint would be a positive. Call it a mini-beast or just mention that this is significantly longer (again, two miles on this type of terrain is no small thing!) and tougher than a typical sprint.

One obstacle that I do have some really negative feedback on is the one I was looking forward to the most.  I either broke or bruised my coccyx on a rock underneath the slip 'n' slide.  While there were some obstacles I couldn't complete and I did some burpees, I felt like the slide was the only one where I was completely at the mercy of the course.  On the hills, I could choose to press for speed or  to go slow and steady.  I could choose my own strategy to carry Spartan pancakes.  On walls that appeared to tall for me, I was able to pause and think of ways to climb up (or I could have done the burpees).   On the slip 'n' slide, I slid into a lake and there was nothing at all I could have really done to try to avoid injury.  I enjoyed every second of the slide until I landed in the water in immense pain, but on this obstacle I feel (in hindsight) like I was completely and totally at the mercy of nature and Spartan Race for the only point in the whole race.

Please don't think this just sour grapes from a guy not up to the challenge.  I did finish, and in the process of doing so I got over obstacles that I didn't think I could, pushed my mind and body to the limit, and I found the experience of finishing to be very rewarding.  I am no stranger to endurance sports with two marathons under my belt (and more on the way next year) in addition to two half marathons and more races than I can remember at shorter distances.

Event/Culture

One thing that was really disappointing was that when my wife and I finished, the food vendors were closed and the merchandise tent was closing.  We started at 3:30 and did take 5 hours, so I know that our performance wasn't great, but we still rose to the challenge and had a memorable experience and we were by no means the last to finish.  I think those last finishers deserve the same finish experience as anyone who finished earlier and/or faster.  God forbid I want a cheesesteak or to buy a second beer after one of the most physically and mentally demanding things I've ever done!  (Thank you to the Long Trail Ale table for staying open!) And I didn't want to buy a hat or sweatshirt until after the event because what if I'd hated it, or worse yet, didn't finish?

 

I also thought all the staff and volunteers were responsive and extremely encouraging.  The EMT who rushed to assist me at the bottom of the slip 'n' slide was both professional in trying to make sure that I could physically go on but also understanding of me in the challenging situation of being in immense pain while also trying to make the go/no go decision, and in general there seem to have been adequate and responsive staffing to make this even relatively safe. In talking about the staff I must also say that I really appreciate the Race Director taking the time to read and respond to my previous post.  (He mentioned that elite Spartan Racer Hobie Call ran the whole course with the exception of the uphill sandbag carry...so I'm glad it's not just my imagination that this obstacle was super tough.)

The camaraderie and collaboration among participants was superb and I think was my favorite part of the event.  For example, everyone held the bottom of the rope ladder for the people after them, and I was happy to return the favor when I could help boost some people up some of the walls.  

The registration/bag check seemed well-organized and I appreciated that there was a post-race cleanup station and locker rooms. The medal and t-shirt are very cool, too. And I also wanted to add that honestly, I can't imagine the level of work that goes into setting up events like this one quickly and repeatedly throughout the country.  Spartan Races and other obstacle events seem to be quite a bit more expensive than similarly distanced road races, but it's easy to see why that's so.

Performance Review

Despite doing a decent amount of burpees, I'm pretty happy with how I did on the obstacles. I climbed high walls that I didn't think I'd be able to get up.  I gave a good effort on the monkey bars.  I don't kick myself for not being able to flip the tires.  That was so far outside the realm of objects that I'm able to lift that I was glad to take the burpees.  I should have been able to do the pulley obstacle...I know I can lift 60 pounds.  

If someone asked me what advice I'd give them about preparing for a Spartan Race, I'd say "Go ask Hobie Call instead of me."  But, if they insisted, I'd say do a lot of hill repeats and try to get really good at doing pull-ups.  

I'd say don't really worry about being a really good distance runner, just being in overall good cardiovascular shape and having good upper-body strength are more important than being able to actually able to run the whole course distance.  On this particular course, I, and I suspect the average participant, didn't do a great deal of running.  More upper body strength would have helped me quite a bit, though.  I think that even in my peak of lifting back in 2009 that I couldn't have gotten up a rope climb as high as the one on the course or flipped the 200lb tire, but I might have been able to pull myself up over some of the walls without having to precariously climb up the support beams.

 

In general, I still think of myself as a road runner and marathoner more than an obstacle race runner or ultra-endurance or multisport athlete, and I'll always run more "regular" races. I said after Mud Chasers, which was a cakewalk compared to this, that I wasn't sure that these mud runs were my cup of tea and I stand by that. But I'm grateful for the experience of this Spartan Race, because after finishing this unique and uniquely challenging experience, I feel like I can do anything.   

Overcome injury to get back in marathon shape?  Absolutely.  I've been through hell and back again.

Race Report: 2012 Dreaded Druid Hills 10K

I guess I talked a little too much smack after the Dreaded Druid Hills 10K last year, because they made the course tougher this year.  Well, that and I'm running half the mileage if that I was running at this time last year, but mostly I'm sure it was just that the course was tougher.

Of course, it's all fun and games at the start of the race:

(The two druids were hilarious.  And they can have their stinkin' hills back.)

(Do you like my sexy compression socks?  Yeah, I don't particularly like them, either.)

(And we're off.)

(Do you see me near the front of the pack?!!!
Well, except for all the many, many other people ahead of me that aren't in the picture.)

(You can see the druids running. One of them, at least, disrobed during the race.) 

And then...the pain.

I've never taken a walk break in any race shorter than a marathon, but I took three today.  There's a really disheartening point in the race at about the 2.5 mile mark (I tried really hard not constantly look at Garmin) where I had climbed a big hill and was running down a very long steep incline, and volunteers said "Stay the left".  Yup, we had to go back up it.  The course was more of an out-and-back compared to last year, but I got to about the four mile mark feeling pretty good, and sort of died.  I also made my classic mistake at the beginning of the race:  I started out in Jackass Mode, weaving through the crowd and passing people.  In this case, it probably wasn't the difference between having to walk a little and not having to walk, but I need to get back my feel for pacing and I especially need to be smarter if I run this one again to take a more conservative approach at the beginning of the race, which is hilly compared to most local races but nothing compared to the toughest parts of this course.

I credit the race directors, Falls Road Running, for a tougher course this year, but still most of this bonkage is on me:  much less mileage and a lot less hill work put in.   All things considered, I'm pretty happy with my 1:00:34.  I was hoping for a little better, but anticipating slower.  From here, I can see that I need to decide my running strategy for the rest of the summer, but that's another blog post. But know this, today the Dreaded Druid Hills got the best of me, but I will be back again next year, hopefully coming off another marathon finish and ready to improve on this showing.

(The finish line is always a welcome sight.)

(Sadly eating my post-race watermelon.)

Thanks to Chris for all the pictures, and for driving us home while I whimpered pathetically.  Now it's my turn to put on m spectator hat (It doubles as an Orioles hat) and cheer her on in tomorrow's Baltimore Women's Classic.

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 Hershey 10K

So...hello blog. It's been awhile. I ran the Hershey 10K today, but first, I'll catch everyone up on my boring running adventures.

When I last checked in here, I was worried about some left leg problems that seemed to be related to the mystery bump (varicose veins for any new readers) on my left upper ankle. I crashed and burned on Monday of last week after only a mile and a half. On Wednesday, I suffered through three miles but had a lot of pain in my ankle and left shin. It turned out that I had a pretty painful flare up of gout (more on this in another post) in my left two that peaked Thursday and Friday. I think dehydration (which seems to be one of the contributing factors to my gout flare-ups) also seems to make my ankle/shin problems worse, and I think the swelling from the gout made my mildly sprained ankle hurt more. I was going to run last Friday, but I took one step and knew my toe was too inflamed.

I hydrated carefully through the weekend, did lots of stretching and foam rolling, and made a decent comeback this week: 5 miles on Monday, 2 on Wednesday (cut short due to rain and I think a little sleet, which stopped as soon as I got back to my car), and 6.2 on Friday, though my legs felt very tired and weak, though not sore, during it.

I thought I could make it through the Hersey 10K, but I wasn't expecting great things.


Race Day
The start time for the inaugural Hershey 10K was 7:00am, and we wanted to be on the road around 5:15-5:20 to give ourselves plenty of time in case there was congestion around Hershey, since there were potentially 2500 participants (the race ended up not selling out). This means I got up at 4:00 so I would have plenty of time to get ready, eat half a peanut-butter sandwich, drink some water, and do all my IT band stretches.

It turned out, there was nothing to worry about. We left a little late, but there was no traffic and we got to Hersheypark Stadium at about 6:20. The temperature was in the mid 50s (I'm estimating...it was supposed to be 60 but it felt cooler than that) and it was misting a bit. The humidity would prove rather oppressive, but the temperature and rain wouldn't be too much of a problem.

I ran this race stupidly. The gun went off a few minutes after 7:00am, and I made some important tactical errors very early in the race. Typically, I line up too far toward the back of the pack, and find myself weaving through the crowd like Brian Westbrook. Today, I was too far toward the front. I found myself sprinting out of the gate and going full-tilt for the about the first 2K. As a result of my poor pacing, I found myself hurtin' very early in the race.

We're running two 10Ks in back-to-back weekends (Next weekend is the Sole of the City 10K in Baltimore), and my plan was to go hard for a PR in one of them.

I'd felt this race would be flatter and would give me a better shot, despite my pre-race tiredness. Well, after burning myself out early, I hit the 5K mark right at 27 minutes. While that wouldn't be one of my better 5Ks, it did put me on pace to finish under 57:37, my current 10K PR. But I was tired from my too-fast start, and the course was hillier than I was anticipating, with a long, soul-crushing incline up Hersheypark Drive before a brief respite right around the 5K mark.

Still, apparently, I rallied. I hit the 8K mark at 40:48, under my 8K PR time at the flat-as-a-board Shamrock 8K. I knew that as long as I didn't completely crash, I had a significant PR on my hands...er, feet and if I could run a great last 1.2 I could finish under 50 minutes.

Well, I crashed, but not completely. Though I felt like I had nothing left, I ran the last kilometer, entering the stadium and finishing the race in 52:33, a PR by over 5 minutes, meaning that I actually had a nice negative split on this race! I ended up running that last 1.2 miles at about my normal pace. Not bad at all considering that I felt like death.

I'm quite sore now, much more sore than I should be after this distance. I'm really thrilled with my time in this one, but it's clear that especially after what was basically an unplanned week off last week and a kind of mediocre week this week up until today, I'm not yet back in condition to have run this race this fast. I'll plan on taking it a little light this week, probably a 3-miler on Tuesday or Wednesday and then hopefully a 6-miler on Thursday. I'm not going to press myself for a PR at Sole of the City, just have fun and probably finish in about an hour.



Race Review
My enjoyment of this race was pretty much hampered by my idiotic sprint at the start, which left me in considerable discomfort for most of the race. I thought the Hershey 10K was a good event, and I'd run it again or recommend it to others. The course was hillier than I anticipated, but not terrible. It's fun to run through the park. (The course loops around the Hershey Entertainment Complex parking lot past the Giant Center, up Hersheypark Drive toward the outlets, and through parts of the park and then through the tram loop back toward the stadium). The race shirt is nice, the goodie bag is nice, and you get to see the Hershey Bears' mascot, Coco (Bears Bears Bears Woooooooo!). Mid Atlantic Timing had chip time results visible on a screen just past the finish line and had results on the web by the time we got home.

There's a few things I would change. The course markers were in kilometers. I've run two other 10Ks and both were marked in miles. I think in miles (I mean, come on! This is America.), and I forgot Garmin. The race directors did mark the course very thoroughly. In addition to large flags marking each kilometer, there were smaller signs marking distance every quarter-kilometer. However, the last quarter-kilometer seemed badly mis-measured. It was half a kilometer if not half a mile. I don't think it was just me -- I heard several other finishers talking about it as I watched for Chris to make the turn into the stadium. Still, basically I'm an idiot who can't pace myself and I'm a double idiot for not remembering my GPS.

I also wish Coco would have stuck around longer after the race for photos. What's the point of an adorable -- I mean intimidating! -- anthropomorphic hockey-playing bear mascot if he doesn't hang around for pictures?

(Coco in his natural habitat.)

Overall, though, good race and thanks to the race directors for a good time. Time for a nap.

Note: My apologies to my two Bad Race Photo Contest contestants. I'll announce winners and get prizes sent out this week.