Race Report: 2011 Celtic Solstice 5-Mile

Today was the Celtic Solstice 5-Mile, the last race of the year, and one that I'd been both looking forward to but also dreading. I'd heard form many people that this was one of the best races of the year, but a Baltimore race at 8:30 means leaving at 6:15, and parking looked like a huge mess, with four or five e-mails with instructions and multiple facebook posts going out with parking and shuttle instructions. Stressed out by work and holiday stuff, I just wasn't sure that I was feelin' it, either. I figured I'd show up, collect my premium, and put down a time that I'd be secretly disappointed with, and go home.

As we drove down to Baltimore I was just feeling less and less up for it. We easily got a parking space, and walked approximately a mile to the starting area, where chaos reigned. The starting area is in a big tent, and it just seemed like it wasn't big enough for the masses of people that were picking up packets, tying chips on their shoes, and trying to stay warm. Luckily, the only giveaway item was the premium Brooks long-sleeve racing shirt. We'd not been aware that there was a bag check and had no bag, so Chris tied her premium around her waist and I attached mine to my hydration belt.



We headed for the starting area. The temperature was around 40, and I was freezing in my shorts, long-sleeve technical shirt, and cheap-o gloves. I dress for the middle of the run, not the beginning, and I love these temperatures, but my equipment strategy breaks down on race day when I have to wait around before the start. I'm not one for running before the race...every mile I run prior to the gun is one less I can run after! There were about 3000 people in the race, and with anticipation of an about 50-minute finish time, I started about 2/3 of the way back.



After a procession featuring bagpipes, Irish wolfhounds, and the race director, the race started...and the next five miles passed in a blur. I'm not sure where in those first moments my attitude toward the race changed, but the course started on an incline and I know that I charged up it. I used the stress and frustration I am feeling and I ran this race as aggressively as I've ever run one. Druid Hill Park is very scenic, but I might as well have been running in a tunnel. All I noticed through most of the race was the other runners I was weaving through. I hit mile 1 at right around 9-minutes, mile 2 at 18, at which point I recall making a conscious decision that I was going to run this as fast as I possibly could. I hit mile 3 just under 24, and I don't recall mile 4 but I believe it was in the 32s. I felt like I was running out of gas at mile 4, but at that point the remainder of the course was the flat path around Druid Lake and a downhill back to the starting line. I held my pace around the lack, picked up speed down the hill, and kicked as hard as I could across the bridge that was the final approach to the finish line.

42:44.

Is it a PR? I'm not sure. This is the only 5-mile race I've ever run. My official chip time for the Briggs & Al's 8K in Milwaukee was 42:42, and I consider that to be one of two best races I've ever run. I'm not sure whether my official time for this race was 42:44 or 42.43, but I assume that since 5-miles is three-hundredths of a mile more than an 8k, and the course much hillier than Al's Run, that it's fair to say that I ran a better race today. What I am sure of is that more than any race I've ever run, I left it all out on the course today.

Event Review
I was in a bad mood on Saturday morning and completely prepared to not enjoy this race and to rip this event, but I think the only problem where I might have a legitimate complaint is the chaos of the registration tent. There just wasn't enough room for all the people who were trying to collect their bibs and put on their chips. I'm not sure there's an easy answer to it, and I also suspect that I'm probably making too much out of something small because I was so ill-tempered at the time.

I also think pace signs would have been a good idea. 3000 people ran this race and the course was very crowded. It probably wouldn't have helped me today, since I ran this about 7 minutes faster than I expected I would, but in general I think pace signs are helpful for a race of this size that is large enough to get crowded but not big enough for waves. That said, I definitely don't think I approached this race in the spirit of fun which it seems to have been meant.

There is a lot to like about this race. While I can't say I appreciated it enough, the setting is beautiful, the course challenging, and the post-race party excellent. There were christmas cookies, soup (I didn't have any), and heated wine from Boordy Vineyards. Crowd support along the course was good (and I'm very thankful to our friend Ada, 1/4 of the original Earn Your Donuts marathon relay team, who showed up to cheer us on!). I also think that the Falls Road Running Store really did do a good job in letting people know exactly what to expect. It's a race that's very crowded for its setting, and they sent out plenty of e-mails and facebook posts with detailed parking maps and instructions. The premium is a very nice Brooks Equilibrium long-sleeve tech shirt. It's quite heavy, the equivalent of a light jacket in my opinion, so for me this is a piece of gear that's going to be saved for days when it's 20 degrees or less.

The bottom line is that I've run two Falls Road events this year (Druid Hills being the other) and they both exceeded expectations. While the logistics of a Baltimore race vs. a York race may send us back to one of the local Jingle Bell 5Ks next year, I would highly recommend this race for anyone in the Baltimore area.

Saturday Long Run: Four-Mile Failure

I was scheduled for 14 miles today. I stopped at 10. The big, black clouds and increasingly booming thunder that was being down on Manchester just gave me an excuse. There was no way I was going to be able to finish 14 miles today.

My confidence is kind of shaken right now. I'm not sure if I should try 14 again on Monday or just wait until next week's long run, which is 15 miles. I know that 'm probably over-reacting to one bad long run, but I'm not sure I could have gone 11 today, much less 14.

I don't want to panic. There are a few extenuating circumstances that I have to be sure not to repeat this coming week and beyond:

1. I ran 10 humid miles on Saturday, and then we were without power on Monday and Tuesday. Since we didn't have plumbing and I had to go and work from my parents' house, I didn't get out for a run either of those mornings. Of course, both days were cool and beautiful. I got out 10 in on Wednesday, but didn't have time on Thursday. I need to get more than one midweek run in or I'm setting myself up for failure.

2. I need to eat healthier on Friday nights. Pizza, beer, ice cream the night before long run isn't going to cut it. I know...pretty obvious, right?

3. I need a little bit of luck. One of these weeks I'll have a Saturday morning that's not oppressively humid, right?

4. PT Exercises. I do my IT band stretching and foam rolling before every run, but I need to get back to doing the step-ups, step-downs, balance exercises and core exercises. In October 2010, I bombed pretty badly on my 7-mile leg of the Baltimore Marathon Relay. That bad run was a wake-up call that I was a long way from ready for the Philly Half. I came back strong and ran the best race of my mediocre career. There's a lot of work to be done, but I have the benefit of time.

(Sometimes, you're just better off staying in -- or hiding under the -- bed.)

Don't Call it a Comeback -- A Tale of Two Runs

Running has been a bit of a struggle since coming back from vacation. I had my very tough 12 miler on Saturday, and went out for a run on Monday morning that definitely ended up not meeting my expectations.

It was a gorgeous morning, in the low 60s if not the 50s. The humidity was a bit high, but nothing unreasonable. I ran my usual 10-mile course (I'm kind of ignoring Higdon this week because schedule is permitting fewer than recommended midweek runs) and just sucked. I'm usually between 1:36 and 1:39. My best 10-miler this year is 1:33:26 back on May 8, and my slowest was 1:40:28. On Monday -- 1:43. Ouch!

I can explain this. It was a cool morning, with humidity no worse than most of August; I felt fine, ; level of effort seemed good (I don't race these didn't feel like I was taking it easier than usual); and I was on my usual route through Manchester and Mt. Wolf.

Today, ignoring Higdon again, I set out for another 10-miler. I was running a bit late, and it's the first day of school and my usual route has a lot of bus traffic and students walking to school, and since it was another cool, beautiful morning (around 60 degrees) I decided it was a good day for "Pain Lies On the Riverside", which I think is a tougher route.

When I run this route, I try to make it to the flagpole at the square in Goldsboro, 5 miles away, in 45 minutes. I hardly ever make it. Today, I seemed to have a good pace and felt great, but it was almost 48 minutes when I got to the square. Since the second 5 miles in this run is tougher, in my opinion, than the first, I know that I could be on my way to a similar pace to Monday's debacle. I dug in, knowing I had to make up time before I got to the steep, half-mile hill right at Mile 8, where I'm lucky to be able to go over 4mph. I climbed the hill faster than usual, and now, thinking I had a shot an under 1:35, which would be excellent, ran as fast as I could the last two miles, which are mostly flat or downhill...until a brutal quarter mile hill at the end that ended any chance of 1:34:xx.

Still, a much better pace than Monday, and I don't know why. I felt better Monday, they were equally nice days, and if anything I was better rested on Monday. Sure, there's some variance from run-to run, but this is a seven-minute difference on a distance in which I've been really consistent. A few theories:

1. My subconscious caused me to run slower on Monday in order to delay my return to the office. If that's the case, it should have impelled me to run even slower.

2. The East Coast Earthquake, which I didn't notice as I drove through the Philly suburbs in the mighty Neon, changed the magnetic field of the earth which somehow made me, and probably everyone else, faster.

3. This is just regular variance -- look at any runners marathon or half-marathon times and there's a lot more variance than this.

4. Monday's run was an outlier to even my normal variance.

The answer, I suspect, lies in numbers 3 and 4. So, in hindsight, this blog post is probably an over-analysis of nothing. But, not only did I have fun writing it, it made think about my two favorite local routes, how I attack each one differently, and how the one I thought was a lot tougher may not be so tough, after all.

Here's the elevation chart for "Pain Lies on the Riverside", aka York Haven to Goldsboro and back (click for a bigger view):


The tough climbs in this route are within the first two miles and at mile 8. But there's a five-mile continuous stretch of relatively flat roads in the middle of this, before the very steep climb at mile 8 (and it is devastating -- during my first year of half marathon training on this route, I walked this hill every time), and then a downhill stretch on the upper plateau for most of the last 1.5 miles in which I can make up some time.

Here's my usual route.


Until the end, the hills are not as steep, but the 2nd half of the course is mostly uphill. The overall incline is gradual enough that I can make up time on the 2nd half, but not as easily as the flat stretch of the other route, and by mile 8, I'm done. The steepest uphills are still both ahead of me so there's no real chance to make-up time.

What does this mean? Maybe I haven't gotten slower...or as much slower as I thought. Maybe the 1:33s or low 1:30s I'd been putting up in a flatter part of the county in the spring of 2010 aren't as unreachable as I thought. I'd love to be able to come in under 1:30 at the Broad Street Run next year, if I can get into the next one before it closes, that is.

Race Report: 2011 Dreaded Druid Hills 10K, Baltimore MD

This was my first time at the Dreaded Druid Hills 10K, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Internet chatter about this one had led me to believe that this would be hilly well beyond any race I'd run before, but I do normally run a hilly route and had done pretty well on what I thought would be a decent simulation of it.

I wasn't sure what to expect as far as a finishing time, either. My 10K PR was screaming to be broken, since I've run only one 10K in my life, the 2009 MCVET 10K. I'd never run six or more miles, so I paced myself very conservatively and came in at 59:40. I generally come in at six miles at about 55 minutes on my normal runs more recently. Still, based on all the reports I'd been reading, I did not expect to beat my PR at this race.

Pre-race
Races in Baltimore are tough for me. I'm a morning person -- I try to be out running by about 6:15 during the summer, but since I like to get to races early, a 7:30 start time in the middle of Baltimore means I try to leave my house not long after 5:00am, and since I need to do all my IT band exercises before leaving, this means I was up at 4:00 and going on 4 hours of sleep.

I left my house at 5:20 and was at Druid Hill Park at 6:29 -- right before they opened the lake gate
for race day parking. I went in at what I guess is a main gate and easily found parking, but since there was nothing to indicate which way to go from there for packet pickup, I wandered in the general direction of where I thought it would be (near the pool and tennis courts).

Druid Lake Park (home of the Baltimore Zoo), is really very pretty. The first glimpse you get of the park from 83 South is The Moorish Tower, a tower at the corner of the park on one end of Druid Lake. As I got out of my car and wandered, I was rewarded with a gorgeous sunrise over the lake.

(Yeah, I recycle pictures a lot.)

I still didn't see packet pickup, though, so I headed in the general direction of the tower, since I knew that was the finish line. Luckily for me, I turned off the lakeside path and ran right into a pavilion where I saw people walking up and getting their packets. I picked up my race bib and giveaway, a very nice Orioles orange Asics sleeveless technical shirt with the race logo on it, and headed back to my car to drop off the new shirt and grab my Garmin and hydration belt.

(Druid Lake. The tower seen in the distance was the site of the finish line.)

Nothing I saw or overheard before the race made me feel more ready for it.

am not one to run t before the race. I stretch, and I'll walk around to loosen up, but I've always figured that I have a limited number of miles I can run each day and that each mile I run prior the race is one less I'll be able to run during it. I've NEVER seen as high a percentage of racers jogging prior to the race start.

As I was stretching, I overheard one gentleman tell a friend that "whatever your 10K PR is, you should add five to 10 minutes to it." I also heard, while in line for the port-o-potties, a woman tell a friend about the time she was at a Muddy Buddy run dressed as a rhinoceros and neglected to properly lock the port-o-potty door. I, though not dressed as a rhino, made extra sure that mine was properly latched.

I lined up about 3/4 of the way in the back of the pack at about 7:25. A few minutes after 7:30, we heard bagpipes, and a piper, followed by the race organizer, parted the crowd and walked to the front of the pack. I never heard an air horn, gun, or any signal, but shortly thereafter everyone in front of me started running and so I headed for the hills. too.

The Race
The first two miles of the course were rolling hills. If the whole race had been that hilly, I still would have said it was probably the hilliest race I'd run to date, but it was nothing terrible. After mile 2, the route started to get windier and the hills became much steeper and longer. Miles 2 through 3.5 were all uphill, very steeply at times, and then a steep decline, followed by a steeper, not as lengthy a climb and then a gradual downhill toward the finish line starting at a little past 5 miles (sorry for the guesses at mileage, Garmin didn't get a signal for large portions of this race) and flat 1/3 of a mile around the lake to the finish at the Moorish Tower.

I'd heard that the first half the race was easier than the 2nd, which was true, though as above I think the real distinction was that the this was a moderately hilly two-mile race followed by an extremely hilly four-miler.

My strategy was to try to keep an easy pace to save strengths for the hills. Early in the race, my legs just felt like lead. However, within a half mile they'd loosened up and I started to feel very good. The field was still very bunched at that point, and in the quiet park it was really net to hear nothing but the sound of thousands of footfalls. I hit mile 1 at about 9 minutes, a little faster than I wanted that early in the race. The second mile, mostly downhill, was probably the easiest mile of the whole course. At mile 3, the hills began in earnest. I also lost time to remove a stone from my shoe, but I reached the halfway point in great shape at about 28 minutes.

The hills were quite steep, but we had several things going in our favor -- it was an overcast day for most of the race, with a nice breeze, and even after the sun emerged there is a TON of shade on the course. I've never run a race that was mostly in the shade and it was gorgeous! At one point after the sun came out, the course went outside the park and onto the streets of Baltimore for a few blocks, and it was sweltering. Even though a turn back into the park meant a return to hills, the shade was welcome. Just past the fifth mile marker, the course emerges from the woods. "No more hills", the volunteers told us, just a short, not-steep incline followed by a shallow decline and a mostly flat finish. Warming up quickly in the sun, I dumped a cup of water on my head and charged for the Moorish Tower.

(The aforementioned Moorish Tower)

I knew as I reached the last water stop that I had a shot at a PR, and I wanted to pick that admittedly low-hanging fruit! I'd paced myself as well as I had any race, I feel, and I had enough left for a great finishing kick to round the lack and finish in 57:37 (unofficial watch time, no chips in this race), a PR by over two minutes!

Review
I had a lot more fun at this race than I thought I would, and it was also much-better organized than I thought it would be. The race didn't really have a website, and we didn't receive ay e-mail communication at from race officials until this week, and when we did it included a note that Active.com's ordering function had malfunctioned and my size shirt might not be available.

Instead, it ended up being both a nice event and very enjoyable race. I talked a little trash in my last post and on facebook, but I won't lie, it's hilly as hell. I know I only PR'd because of small sample size when it comes to 10Ks. That said, I think if you either pace yourself convservatively, like I did, or walk some of the uphills, that this race isn't as bad as people say. I mean, some of the quotes about this race make it sound like you're going to die if you're not some extreme hill runner. The uphills are bad, but the downhills are just as long and make up for them.

The location made it more enjoyable than an average race in York or even Baltimore (run up Key Highway and turn around!). Like I said before, Druid Park is very pretty. The lake (Druid Lake reservoir) is picturesque, there are some nice old buildings that I believe are admin buildings for the Zoo, and the finish at the Moorish Tower is a great exclamation point to the race.

(Druid Lake as seen from in front of the Moorish Tower)

The post-race spread was great, too. I don't mean to complain about the weather, because I really couldn't have asked for a nicer day at the end of June, but it was a warm day. Finishers were greeted with strawberries, grapes, bananas, apples, and best of all, in my opinion, ice-cold slices of watermelon.

(I will run hills any day for fresh strawberries.)

I should also mention the schwag. For $30, I got a very nice Asics sleeveless technical shirt. The shirt was optional -- you could omit it for a lower price -- but since I'd heard such horror stories about this race I wanted to have one. The excellent thing about this giveaway is that it's something that's actually useful. I have no need for more cotton t-shirts, and even technical t-shirts are of limited use for me, since the range of temperature at which I wear them is very narrow. I'll get a lot of use out of this shirt as a running shirt, and I chose orange over grunge green so that it could double as Orioles gameday wear for super-hot summer day games.

(Every finisher also got a free Moorish Tower.)

The only area for improvement, in my opinion, is communication. A website with more information about the course would be a bonus (I think a new baltimorerunning.com is under construction) and some signs directing people to packet pickup would have made things a bit easier. Overall, though, this race was great. Challenging, unique course; very nice schwag; excellent food after the race; beautiful location.

A tip of the cap to the Falls Road Running Store -- this one might have to be the summer running tradition that I've been looking for.