Race Report: 2015 Sole of the City 10K

I guess the Sole of the City 10K, held every April since 2012,  has become an annual tradition for my wife and I.  We've run each race since its inception; in 2012 we did very well, she PR'd (part of a ridiculous string of consecutive PRs of various distances) and I finished just under an hour.  Despite our participation in every Sole of the City 10K, I was very determined before the start of the race that we would never run this one again.  At least I'd picked up our packets the night before, so we didn't have to take stuff back to the car and then walk back to McHenry Row.

You see, the Sole of the City 10K is a logistical nightmare for someone coming from as far as York.  The race begins at the McHenry Row shopping and residential complex in Baltimore's Locust Point neighborhood, near Fort McHenry and the Baltimore cruise terminal. Knowing that parking for this race is a nightmare, because the McHenry Row tenants (understandably) don't want race traffic parked in their garages, Chris and I were determined to get down to the race an hour early.  We tried parking in the Phillips Seafood lot next McHenry row, heading behind the building where the parking attendant indicated.  Already, people were leaving this lot because it was full.  We then parked in an empty space in Phillips front lot, unable to believe our good fortune, only to be told that this was employee parking.  We ended up parking quite a few blocks away in an Under Armour lot.  It honestly wasn't that far, but I was so frustrated at that point, that I determined that this would be our last Sole of the City.

But then the race happened.

The gun went off, and I quickly remembered what I like about this race:  Its unique course around downtown Baltimore.  Don't get me wrong, lots of races run down Key Highway and back, and Key Highway is part of this race, but also gets over to Fells Point and Harbor East, which aren't part of the Kelly Shamrock 5K, or the Kids Peace Orioles Trick or Trot 5K, or (I'm told) the Baltimore Women's Classic.  The course has been changed the past two years from the first two, when it was a pretty flat loop first around Inner Harbor and then through the Federal Hill area, making for a fast first half of the race and a tough second.  Now, I think it is probably equally hilly the whole way through, although the fifth mile is mostly around the Inner Harbor and is quite flat.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  In sum, think the new course is nice.

And, despite the heat, I felt great.  It was in the mid 60s at race time, which felt very warm to me.  I'd run 6.2 the previous weekend when it was in the 40s.  This was HOT, and I was not prepared for that.  I felt very good through the first three miles, which took us down from McHenry Row; around the Inner Harbor via Key Highway and Pratt Street; then down Wolfe Street toward Fells Point,  and pretty good through mile 4, at which point we had crossed through the Harbor East area and approached the Pier 6 Pavillion.  The heat started to get to me around the 4 mile marker.  The fifth mile, around the Inner Harbor promenade to the Science Center, was the flattest, but without shade and I was dying.  I took one walk break at the fifth mile and another at about 5.5, and made it to the finish in 1:11:04.3, a little over 3 minutes slower than my 6.2 a week before. 

Have I ever mentioned that I don't like running in warm weather?  Note the gross uneven sweat pattern.  Now I'm worried that I have some sort of weird sweating disease.

Considering the heat, I'll take it!  The best part was that my legs felt great, it was the heat and my still getting back in condition that hurt me.  This distance was a stretch for me, so I was really happy with this result.

Race Review
So, despite my frustration with the parking, I think Charm City Run does a very good job with this event every year.  The course is interesting, there are sufficient water stops (mile 2 and mile 4 markers), the finisher celebration is good, and the swag is excellent. 

Men's (navy) and women's (aqua?) Under Armour hoodies.

The weather is a crapshoot in Mid-April ,(it was MUCH cooler the next day) but CCR can't do anything about that. 
 
There is one small thing that maybe they can (pun intended) do something about: light beer.  Look, there's no better beer than free beer, but why is it always low-calorie beers that sponsor these races?  I think a lot of runners "run for beer" and I run so that I can try new and exciting beers, with actual flavor. Beer snob though I am, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the cold Miller Lite tasted damn good on a warm day after a tough race.

Gotta respect the O's can, but get me something with some hops!

That said, I stand by remarks about parking, and I wonder if this race has outgrown its location.  Baltimore area runners should know that Charm City Run has a store on McHenry Row by now.  Maybe it's time this race moved downtown where there are plenty of garages. 

But, even if it doesn't, I'll probably be out on the course running the 5th annual Sole of the City 10K.

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: Sole of the City 10K

There is a time to go for broke, and there is a time to not go for broke. As a runner who is a shadow of what I was last year at this time (not that that was elite or anything), I have to pick my battles.  Not every race can be a PR, and in a busy racing season, it's probably not wise or realistic to even have that as a goal.  (Though try telling that to Chris, who's PR'd in seven straight races going back to November!)  That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.  Maybe I even believe it.


I'd decided several weeks ago that I was going to push hard for a PR at either the Hershey 10K last Sunday or the Sole of the City 10K today, but not both.   I went way too fast out the gate at Hershey, died, somehow had an excellent negative split and finished with a 10K distance time that is a pretty significant outlier from any 10K time (race or not) that I've ever run before.  With that already under my belt, I decided I was going to take today nice and easy and have a good time, especially when I saw that the temperature was going to be quite a bit above my preferences.  I'd continue breaking in the new Brooks Adrenalines and try to run a good race, but not worry about busting my butt for fortune and glory.


So, in one sense:  mission accomplished. 57:17, much more in line with my usual 10K pace.  I felt like I paced myself better; my legs hurt a lot less than they did after both the Hershey 10K and my 6.3 at Cousler Park on Wednesday; and considering what a warm, sunny day it was, I felt good.  I followed my plan perfectly.

On the other hand, I thought I could come in a little under this, especially when I hit the 5K mark at just over 27 minutes, almost the same point I hit it at Hershey.  There was no sweet negative split this time, though.  In my defense, I see that my second-best 10K time this year was a 56:10 that I ran on a chilly night a month ago.  It was warm out there in Baltimore, and the sun was beating down pretty heavily for a good portion of this.  Don't get me wrong -- it was a beautiful morning, but a cold night is much more Brian-friendly running conditions.  But there's no arguing that I'm just not in the same shape yet that I was at Dreaded Druid Hills last year, where I was only 20 seconds slower than this on a much hillier course.  (I'm currently undecided whether I'll give the DDH 10K another try this year or wait till next.)

Race Review
I had a good time and I would run this race again.  There's nothing super distinctive about it that I would really plan my schedule months in advance to make sure that I'm around for it, but I think that's true of the vast majority of races; it's not really meant as a criticism. Other than the Shamrock races in Virginia Beach, I'm not sure that I've found that "Wow!  That was such a fun race I have to run this every year!" race (and since Virginia Beach is 1000 hours away, every year is not going to happen there, either).  I like that we're trying some new ones this year, and I enjoyed this one.

I thought it was well-organized, a challenging course, and the post-race festivities were fun, although we didn't stay very long since our friends were leaving and we felt more like breakfast food than Greene Turtle wraps (I have mine in the fridge, though, so I'll update in a future blog post if it's notable either way.)  Charm City Run did a nice job with it, and yes, we did check out their new McHenry Row store, which was probably their point, anyway.

A couple things stood out about it.  Whoever sung the National Anthem (I'll try get their names) was spectacular.  Great job!  The swag was nice. (The Under Armour quarter-zip pullover premium is nice and the regular race shirt seemed nice, too.)  And lastly but certainly not least, Chris and I both appreciated that we ran the Inner Harbor-Key Highway loop that every downtown Baltimore race seems to have in the opposite direction of the other races we've done (I've done MCVET 10K and the now-defunct Orioles 5K, she's down the Baltimore Women's Classic, and we've both done the St. Patrick's Day Parade 5K).  However, the Key Highway to Inner Harbor and back direction definitely made the second half of the race hillier and tougher than the first half!  


My only criticism (other than to have the race on a cooler day!) was that I didn't think the mile markers were prominent enough.  I missed mile markers 1, 4, and 6 (if there was a 6).  Only of our group of friends saw all of them, and I heard others say that they missed them, too.  On the plus side, at least they were mile markers. (Yes Hershey 10K, I'm looking at you).

Shins, Swag, and 10K Friday Ramblings

Thank Goodness It's Friday bullet points, again:

• During my run on Tuesday night, I left the Shuffle at home since I didn't want to get hit by a car.  That left me plenty of time to overanalyze my splits from the Hershey 10K, and even more than before I am wondering if some of the course markings were misplaced.  I didn't have my Garmin, but here are the splits that I remember:
  - 5K: 27:00
  - 8K:  40:48
  -10K:  52:33
  Individually, each of these make sense.  27:00 is a pretty average  5K training time for me (I'm usually faster on race day).  My 8K PR at super-flat Shamrock was 41:40, so to be ahead of that is surprising, but out of the realm of possibilities.  My 10K finish time is in line with where I was at the 8K mark and how I was feeling at that point -- on my tired legs I was back at my usual 10minute-mile pace for the last 1.2 miles. And while it's considerably faster than I what I thought possible in this race (I thought the 54s or 55s was best-case scenario), I ran this very aggressively compared to my only other 2 10Ks (The first was my first time at that distance, period.  The second was the super-hilly Druid Hills 10K).
  
  What doesn't make sense is the combination of the three.  At Shamrock, I hit the 5K mark at right around 25 minutes.  At Hershey, it appears I ran 3K, almost exactly 2 miles, in 13:48.  I can get into into the low 6-minute mile range for one mile, but I'm just not that fast over two.  If anyone reading this ran the Hershey 10K, let me know what you think of the mile markers? (I'm pretty sure that last quarter km, at least, was super-wrong!).
  
  Or, maybe I did run the fastest 3K of my life in the middle of a 10K.  Do not try to bend the spoon — that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no spoon.
• I picked up our packets for the Sole of the City 10K last night. I admit that I love swag, and this is a pretty nice premium:

 

• My strategy for this race is still to take it conservatively and just have fun.  My legs still felt tired on Tuesday, and yesterday morning's 6.3 mile run at Cousler Park ended with considerable soreness in my left shin.  Not the usual place, this time, but closer to the knee.  I don't think it's serious, because I feel better this morning, but I hope it's not my the new Adrenalines which I really like.  It was cool yesterday morning, but the humidity was oppressive.  I've always felt like the humidity takes a lot out of me and that I feel worse all over after a really humid run, so I'm just going to blame that, hydrate, and foam roll the crap out of it, and whatever happens at Sole of the City happens. The weather sounds like it'll be in the high 60s and either rainy or very humid, so this is not the time to be a hero. Race report on Saturday or Sunday.

Until then, Run Happy or Get Revenge!

A Race Plan Takes Shape

In a previous post, I complained wrote about how Shinsplints & The Mystery Bump (That's what I'm going to call my band if I'm ever in a band.) had wrecked havoc on my spring racing schedule.

Well, I think things are starting to sort themselves out. I signed myself up for the "Sole of the City 10K" in Baltimore on April 21. I'll have build my endurance up, but I did a half our of high-resistance hill training on the stationary bike followed by a half hour of elliptical at the gym, and it seems like my conditioning will be fine, I'll just have to get used to the impact of running again. A couple weeks of rest seems to have done wonders for the legs.



If I'm committed to doing 6 miles on April 21, I should probably be back in 5K shape by March 11, so "yes" to Kelly Shamrock 5K as well. Townebank 8K at Shamrock Sportsfest in VA Beach? I think I'll wait as long as I possibly can to make that decision.

Broad Street 10-miler on May 6? That's probably pushing it. Instead, we're considering the Fit to Run, Fit to Dream 8K in Williamsburg, VA. If we run that one, it's because a race happened to occur when/where we were planning a trip, rather than planning a vacation around a race!

I'm sure I'll run the usual assortment of 5Ks in the summer, but it would probably be wise to pick my battles instead of running every single one for a PR. And the Harrisburg Mile, of course. Health permitting, of course, it's 5:59 or bust.

I'm still debating a full or half marathon in the fall. Right now, I'm leaning toward a half. That'll keep me from having to log 30-some mile weeks in the summer, when running is not my friend. I had a great summer of running, but I think pushing through the heat was part of the reason why I was so burnt out on running by October. And though the sample size is very small, it seems like going directly from the fall marathon to training for the spring marathon took too much of a toll on me. A fall half seems like it would give me my best chance to go to the 2013 Shamrock Marathon healthy and motivated. I could try an earlier fall marathon than Philly, I think my feelings about hot weather long runs are pretty well known!