Saturday, February 8, 2003
Chinese New Year 5K
Well, I did manage to get up in time to run the Chinese New Year 5K this morning. That's not really impressive since it started at 9.
I was able to do something that I've known for a long time would help me improve my 5K time, but I've been failing to do. I was able to get there in time to run over the course as a warm up. It's not that the course was complicated or anything. It was just a big, flat, square lap on some streets west of downtown Phoenix.
Last night after work, I got the distinct smell of mud, which means it's raining somewhere in the area in Phoenix, but there were just a few scattered clouds. The clouds were thicker this morning, and it sprinkled while I was running my warmup lap. I hit the porta-john with about 10 minutes to spare, and was all set to go when the race started.
It was a crouded start, and I was a little boxed in at first, but it loosened up within a half mile, and I was able to run at my own pace. I hit one mile in 6:22.
I was feeling good, and I thought I probably wasn't totally out of the running for race junk, but I lost ground to the runners around me in the second mile. 7:11. I think maybe the mark for the second mile was misplaced, but I'm sure I could have done better.
I ran better in the last mile, I passed a couple of people, but I also got passed, by about four men who looked like they might be in my division. My mile split was 6:35.
I found myself in a battle at the finish. I was catching up with one guy who had passed me a minute before, so I poured it on. At the same time I heard another runner gaining on me, which put more pressure on. In the end, we finished in a bunch, but in the same order, me in the middle.
Final time was 20:39.
A new over 40 PR for this distance!
One of my objectives for this year is to get under 20 minutes in the 5K. I'm pretty sure now that if I get my weekly mileage back up above 40 and do one track workout a week, I can easily find the 40 seconds I need.
I was able to do something that I've known for a long time would help me improve my 5K time, but I've been failing to do. I was able to get there in time to run over the course as a warm up. It's not that the course was complicated or anything. It was just a big, flat, square lap on some streets west of downtown Phoenix.
Last night after work, I got the distinct smell of mud, which means it's raining somewhere in the area in Phoenix, but there were just a few scattered clouds. The clouds were thicker this morning, and it sprinkled while I was running my warmup lap. I hit the porta-john with about 10 minutes to spare, and was all set to go when the race started.
It was a crouded start, and I was a little boxed in at first, but it loosened up within a half mile, and I was able to run at my own pace. I hit one mile in 6:22.
I was feeling good, and I thought I probably wasn't totally out of the running for race junk, but I lost ground to the runners around me in the second mile. 7:11. I think maybe the mark for the second mile was misplaced, but I'm sure I could have done better.
I ran better in the last mile, I passed a couple of people, but I also got passed, by about four men who looked like they might be in my division. My mile split was 6:35.
I found myself in a battle at the finish. I was catching up with one guy who had passed me a minute before, so I poured it on. At the same time I heard another runner gaining on me, which put more pressure on. In the end, we finished in a bunch, but in the same order, me in the middle.
Final time was 20:39.
A new over 40 PR for this distance!
One of my objectives for this year is to get under 20 minutes in the 5K. I'm pretty sure now that if I get my weekly mileage back up above 40 and do one track workout a week, I can easily find the 40 seconds I need.
Friday, January 24, 2003
Lost Dutchman Marathon
Sorry this is so late, I was lost in the desert for the past week.
I rate this as a great course and a well run marathon. But if you look at the times that won it this year, with about 350 runners, prize money for first place male and female with a bonus for setting a new course record (which was almost certain for whoever came in first) you can see it is not an easy course. The winning time for a man was 2:45. and the winning woman ran a 3:10.
We were bussed out into the desert by about 7:20 AM, for a 7:45 AM start. It was a narrow dirt road, but the drivers seemed to be very experienced and comfortable zipping over the gullies and washes and around the turns, sometimes passing each other, in these big, yellow school buses.
At the starting area, we were under a huge, strange-looking rock formation. We could see the approaching sunrise by watching the edge of the sunlight crawl down the rock face. There were campfires for the runners to warm themselves by. It was nice to have them there, a good idea, but it was a mild enough morning that we would have been all right without them.
I had gloves and a long sleeve shirt, but I tossed them into my sweats bag before the start. The sheriff was there to start the race with a shogun blast, but when he went to fire, he must have had the safety on or something. Anyway, we heard it go off behind us when we were a hundred yards away.
As I told Edward, the downhill part at the beginning was not all downhill, but it was enough to make it pretty easy. And we were starting on that dirt road, which was a nice running surface, for the first six miles.
Mile 4-5 I checked my blood sugar, and it had dropped to 63. I think part of being out of shape is that I burn glucose out of my blood more rapidly. I gobbled a Carb BOOM and started to feel better. The course goes onto streets at this point, and levels out somewhat.
The differences in paces in those miles generally match differences in slope. When I passed the volunteers at the half marathon point, I actually told them, "Awesome marathon!" and that's how I felt at that point. The desert mountain scenery was pretty spectacular, and there was nothing I could find fault with in
the race management.
There were more hills here, and I thought they were pretty mild, but as Alan has described it, "the wheels were coming off."
I was broken and hanging on at this point. A totally predictable result given my preparation. Someone on the sidelines asked, "Is it too soon to say don't leave anything in the tank?"
I thought to myself, "The tank is empty and the tires are flat."
Right after the 22 mile mark is a short, steep hill called the "Dutchman's Revenge." I started walking as I approached the aid station at the bottom, but after I got my water, I decided I would go ahead and run up it. There were a lot of others, probably smarter than me, who were walking. A woman who started running with me, stopped and said, "I'll run at the top."
I ran over the top, but I didn't speed up after that, and I think everyone I passed there eventually passed me.
But I kept moving to the finish.
A few more canopies to get exhausted runners out of the sun after the finish is the only way I could improve on this marathon.
Oh yeah, and it would be nice to have some beer there, too, but I think it was against park rules.
Anyway, I would recommend this run as an adventure to anyone who's interested.
I rate this as a great course and a well run marathon. But if you look at the times that won it this year, with about 350 runners, prize money for first place male and female with a bonus for setting a new course record (which was almost certain for whoever came in first) you can see it is not an easy course. The winning time for a man was 2:45. and the winning woman ran a 3:10.
We were bussed out into the desert by about 7:20 AM, for a 7:45 AM start. It was a narrow dirt road, but the drivers seemed to be very experienced and comfortable zipping over the gullies and washes and around the turns, sometimes passing each other, in these big, yellow school buses.
At the starting area, we were under a huge, strange-looking rock formation. We could see the approaching sunrise by watching the edge of the sunlight crawl down the rock face. There were campfires for the runners to warm themselves by. It was nice to have them there, a good idea, but it was a mild enough morning that we would have been all right without them.
I had gloves and a long sleeve shirt, but I tossed them into my sweats bag before the start. The sheriff was there to start the race with a shogun blast, but when he went to fire, he must have had the safety on or something. Anyway, we heard it go off behind us when we were a hundred yards away.
As I told Edward, the downhill part at the beginning was not all downhill, but it was enough to make it pretty easy. And we were starting on that dirt road, which was a nice running surface, for the first six miles.
1. 7:36
2. 7:25 15:01
3. 7:41 22:43
4. 7:49 30:32
5. 9:03 39:36
6. 8:04 47:40
Mile 4-5 I checked my blood sugar, and it had dropped to 63. I think part of being out of shape is that I burn glucose out of my blood more rapidly. I gobbled a Carb BOOM and started to feel better. The course goes onto streets at this point, and levels out somewhat.
7. 8:32 56:13
8. 8:14 1:04:27
9. 8:24 1:12:52
10. 8:28 1:21:20
11. 8:09 1:29:29
12. 8:31 1:38:12
13. 8:04 1:46:04
1/2 M 1:46:52
14. 7:58 1:54:03
The differences in paces in those miles generally match differences in slope. When I passed the volunteers at the half marathon point, I actually told them, "Awesome marathon!" and that's how I felt at that point. The desert mountain scenery was pretty spectacular, and there was nothing I could find fault with in
the race management.
15. 8:23 2:02:26
16. 8:44 2:11:11
17. 9:52 2:21:02
There were more hills here, and I thought they were pretty mild, but as Alan has described it, "the wheels were coming off."
18. 10:10 2:31:12
19. 10:08 2:41:20
20. 10:52 2:52:13
21. 11:05 3:03:18
I was broken and hanging on at this point. A totally predictable result given my preparation. Someone on the sidelines asked, "Is it too soon to say don't leave anything in the tank?"
I thought to myself, "The tank is empty and the tires are flat."
22. 11:16 3:14:34
23.
24. 25:53 3:40:27 ( 12:56 average for two miles)
25. 11:59 3:52:26
M 15:59 4:08:26 (officially 4:08:19)
Right after the 22 mile mark is a short, steep hill called the "Dutchman's Revenge." I started walking as I approached the aid station at the bottom, but after I got my water, I decided I would go ahead and run up it. There were a lot of others, probably smarter than me, who were walking. A woman who started running with me, stopped and said, "I'll run at the top."
I ran over the top, but I didn't speed up after that, and I think everyone I passed there eventually passed me.
But I kept moving to the finish.
A few more canopies to get exhausted runners out of the sun after the finish is the only way I could improve on this marathon.
Oh yeah, and it would be nice to have some beer there, too, but I think it was against park rules.
Anyway, I would recommend this run as an adventure to anyone who's interested.
Saturday, November 23, 2002
Santa Cruz Turkey Trot Double
Well, I had been mulling it over for a while, and some time late last night I decided to go over to Santa Cruz this morning and run the Turkey Trot. The 5K started at 8:20, and the 10K started at 9, so a double was a possibility.
As some of you may have noticed in the Mileage Mongers database, I've been lazy about running for several weeks, so I didn't expect much, but I didn't do badly in the 5K.
The course is as scenic as it can be, along a cliff overlooking the Pacific coast. I pressed the start button on my watch, and glanced to make sure it wasn't still showing zeroes, but when I got close to the first mile, I looked and saw that it was stopped at 11 hundredths of a second. I guess I hit it twice.
The split called at 1 mile was 6:35, and at the turnaround/halfway mark it was 10:20. I finished in 21:35, which was good enough for second place in my age division and an etched glass commemorative coffee mug.
I decided to run the 10K as a fairly hard training run, but I didn't get an official time. I was ticking off 7:30 miles like clockwork.
With no pressure, it was somehow easy to settle into a good pace. I ran it in 46:37.
A pretty good unplanned day at the races. I hope everyone else has as much fun as me this weekend.
As some of you may have noticed in the Mileage Mongers database, I've been lazy about running for several weeks, so I didn't expect much, but I didn't do badly in the 5K.
The course is as scenic as it can be, along a cliff overlooking the Pacific coast. I pressed the start button on my watch, and glanced to make sure it wasn't still showing zeroes, but when I got close to the first mile, I looked and saw that it was stopped at 11 hundredths of a second. I guess I hit it twice.
The split called at 1 mile was 6:35, and at the turnaround/halfway mark it was 10:20. I finished in 21:35, which was good enough for second place in my age division and an etched glass commemorative coffee mug.
I decided to run the 10K as a fairly hard training run, but I didn't get an official time. I was ticking off 7:30 miles like clockwork.
With no pressure, it was somehow easy to settle into a good pace. I ran it in 46:37.
A pretty good unplanned day at the races. I hope everyone else has as much fun as me this weekend.
Sunday, October 27, 2002
Silicon Valley Marathon 2002
First, I rediscovered a fact which always seems to surprise me. I am not superhuman.
I had dreams of 3:20 dancing in my head for twenty miles this morning. I began to fall off my pace at mile 19. I just struggled in from mile 21 on.
3:44, or thereabouts. Thinking that the results would be on the web, I didn't bother to try to crowd in and see them after I finished. No splits. I can't find my race watch.
Second, this was a fantastic marathon. From everything I saw, it was as well-organized as always. As always, a skimpy expo and not a lot to choose from in the food after the race. But a beautiful course this year.
That's it. Can't write any more now.
I had dreams of 3:20 dancing in my head for twenty miles this morning. I began to fall off my pace at mile 19. I just struggled in from mile 21 on.
3:44, or thereabouts. Thinking that the results would be on the web, I didn't bother to try to crowd in and see them after I finished. No splits. I can't find my race watch.
Second, this was a fantastic marathon. From everything I saw, it was as well-organized as always. As always, a skimpy expo and not a lot to choose from in the food after the race. But a beautiful course this year.
That's it. Can't write any more now.
Monday, October 21, 2002
The Relay 2002
The Red Hot Runners finished 66th out of 278 teams overall. We had wanted to compete as a mixed team, but ended up with too few women runners. We only had four women, and 8 men.
We finished in 27 hours, 2 minutes, and 19 seconds.
I ran legs 10, 22, and 34.
Leg 10 is the toughest one in the race, 8.9 miles, with a 1400 foot climb in two miles after the first mile. But there is a fantastic view of the Napa Valley after you crest that ridge and start down the other side. You can't do great time coming down because it's steep and rocky and you have to watch your footing. I was able to keep running all the way to the top, and I finished it in about 76 minutes. That was starting around 4 to 5 in the afternoon. I passed four other runners, but was passed by four myself, three of them in a pack as the course levelled out for the last two miles.
My next leg was 2 am that night, more or less level, on Skyline Blvd. I covered the 4.2 miles in about 32 minutes. Not great, but I was really feeling beat from the first leg. The really discouraging thing for me was that the only other runners I saw during the run were two who passed me.
My last leg was another tough one, a total of 6.2 miles, starting with a long, slight downhill, then finishing in the last almost two miles with a very steep uphill into a sandstone quarry. It was the hardest 49 minute 10K I've ever run. I think it was my best effort of the weekend, because I paced myself right to be able to run the hill well, and I caught and passed another team with about a hundred yards to go. No one passed me.
This is a pretty short race report considering all I've been through this weekend, but I just don't have time to work on it. But now a lot of you guys know what this is like. We had a great time.
I'm really happy with how I ran, although I'm very sore now, and I'm sure I won't get the best possible time in SVM next Sunday.
I'm not injured in any way, and the soreness is just muscles.
We finished in 27 hours, 2 minutes, and 19 seconds.
I ran legs 10, 22, and 34.
Leg 10 is the toughest one in the race, 8.9 miles, with a 1400 foot climb in two miles after the first mile. But there is a fantastic view of the Napa Valley after you crest that ridge and start down the other side. You can't do great time coming down because it's steep and rocky and you have to watch your footing. I was able to keep running all the way to the top, and I finished it in about 76 minutes. That was starting around 4 to 5 in the afternoon. I passed four other runners, but was passed by four myself, three of them in a pack as the course levelled out for the last two miles.
My next leg was 2 am that night, more or less level, on Skyline Blvd. I covered the 4.2 miles in about 32 minutes. Not great, but I was really feeling beat from the first leg. The really discouraging thing for me was that the only other runners I saw during the run were two who passed me.
My last leg was another tough one, a total of 6.2 miles, starting with a long, slight downhill, then finishing in the last almost two miles with a very steep uphill into a sandstone quarry. It was the hardest 49 minute 10K I've ever run. I think it was my best effort of the weekend, because I paced myself right to be able to run the hill well, and I caught and passed another team with about a hundred yards to go. No one passed me.
This is a pretty short race report considering all I've been through this weekend, but I just don't have time to work on it. But now a lot of you guys know what this is like. We had a great time.
I'm really happy with how I ran, although I'm very sore now, and I'm sure I won't get the best possible time in SVM next Sunday.
I'm not injured in any way, and the soreness is just muscles.
Monday, October 14, 2002
Primo's Run Half Marathon
I decided to run this half marathon instead of the Big Basin Redwoods for a couple of reasons, but mainly because I thought it would be easier.
Other reasons are that this is one of the biggest running events in the Bay Area, with a 5K and 10K also offered, and I've never run it before.
There were about 700 half marathoners, and about two thousand each in the 5K and 10K.
Beautiful weather in the hills east of the SF Bay. I wore a tee-shirt, but had my gloves on the whole race. Gently rolling hills.
I couldn't find my racing/track watch, so I don't have my splits.
There was a major screw up in course direction. The lead group went off course. Some time before the main pack went off, the course was corrected. Some between that point and the leaders got directed back onto the course by a shortcut. The leaders got back onto the course by a longer route.
So some people went about a quarter of a mile long, some went about a quarter of a mile short, and some ran the right course. It looks to me like I had the short course.
This happened between mile 2 and mile 4. I didn't see the 3 mile mark, an indication I was probably off the course, The split called at 2 miles was 14:40, then at 4 miles it was 28:30. I don't think I sped up at all in those two miles.
So I ran about a half marathon, probably a quarter of a mile less, in about 1:37:15.
I'm happy with that time. Even over the full course I would have been under 1:40. Considering the rolling hills and the fact that I ran 20 miles LSD 3 days before, I think I could beat 3:20 in the Silicon Valley Marathon, if I wasn't running the Relay next week. I don't know if I should count this as a new PR.
I'm going on the road to look for work, so I may not be in touch much over the next few days. I'm looking forward to reading all of the marathon race reports, though.
Other reasons are that this is one of the biggest running events in the Bay Area, with a 5K and 10K also offered, and I've never run it before.
There were about 700 half marathoners, and about two thousand each in the 5K and 10K.
Beautiful weather in the hills east of the SF Bay. I wore a tee-shirt, but had my gloves on the whole race. Gently rolling hills.
I couldn't find my racing/track watch, so I don't have my splits.
There was a major screw up in course direction. The lead group went off course. Some time before the main pack went off, the course was corrected. Some between that point and the leaders got directed back onto the course by a shortcut. The leaders got back onto the course by a longer route.
So some people went about a quarter of a mile long, some went about a quarter of a mile short, and some ran the right course. It looks to me like I had the short course.
This happened between mile 2 and mile 4. I didn't see the 3 mile mark, an indication I was probably off the course, The split called at 2 miles was 14:40, then at 4 miles it was 28:30. I don't think I sped up at all in those two miles.
So I ran about a half marathon, probably a quarter of a mile less, in about 1:37:15.
I'm happy with that time. Even over the full course I would have been under 1:40. Considering the rolling hills and the fact that I ran 20 miles LSD 3 days before, I think I could beat 3:20 in the Silicon Valley Marathon, if I wasn't running the Relay next week. I don't know if I should count this as a new PR.
I'm going on the road to look for work, so I may not be in touch much over the next few days. I'm looking forward to reading all of the marathon race reports, though.
Sunday, October 6, 2002
Pet Friends 5K
Penny and I ran the Pet Friends 5K on Saturday. It's a fun little race, probably about 50 runners. I thought the course was short, but the race director, who has done lots of other races, said it "could be twenty or thirty yards" short.
Penny was very excited from the moment that we pulled into Spring Grove School. I think she may have actually rememberred last year's race. She started out almost dragging me down the first straightaway. There were a couple of other dogs with us at that point, but when we turned the first corner, after about a quarter mile, we had a little bit of a lead over the whole field.
We were passed just before the one mile point, we which we hit in 6:39, by a medium/small dog running a very even pace. Penny and I just aren't the types to run that way, however effective that might be. Penny has even less self-restraint than I do.
Penny put too much into the first mile. Through the second mile, we traded the lead aomngst the big dog division with a blue tick. That's a breed something like a big springer spaniel. A beautiful dog, who could easily outrun her master.
There were water bowls just before the two mile point. Penny gladly slowed and stood by the bowls, but acted like she didn't know she should take a drink. After a few seconds, I said, "Let's go." and we took off again, hitting the two mile point in 7:35, 14:14.
We were not going to catch the blue tick, and a schnauzer came up from behind. Penny actually waited for this dog to catch up before she would start racing again. Then she would slow and walk for a while, then want to run again. Somewhere in the last few hundred yards, whe decided she wanted to catch up, but she couldn't do it before the end of the race.
We hit the three mile mark in 7 minutes flat, 21:14, and the finish at 21:46.
So we took third in our division. Penny and all of the dogs had a great time. We had taken first last year, but three minutes slower over the same course. There was some tough competition.
Penny was very excited from the moment that we pulled into Spring Grove School. I think she may have actually rememberred last year's race. She started out almost dragging me down the first straightaway. There were a couple of other dogs with us at that point, but when we turned the first corner, after about a quarter mile, we had a little bit of a lead over the whole field.
We were passed just before the one mile point, we which we hit in 6:39, by a medium/small dog running a very even pace. Penny and I just aren't the types to run that way, however effective that might be. Penny has even less self-restraint than I do.
Penny put too much into the first mile. Through the second mile, we traded the lead aomngst the big dog division with a blue tick. That's a breed something like a big springer spaniel. A beautiful dog, who could easily outrun her master.
There were water bowls just before the two mile point. Penny gladly slowed and stood by the bowls, but acted like she didn't know she should take a drink. After a few seconds, I said, "Let's go." and we took off again, hitting the two mile point in 7:35, 14:14.
We were not going to catch the blue tick, and a schnauzer came up from behind. Penny actually waited for this dog to catch up before she would start racing again. Then she would slow and walk for a while, then want to run again. Somewhere in the last few hundred yards, whe decided she wanted to catch up, but she couldn't do it before the end of the race.
We hit the three mile mark in 7 minutes flat, 21:14, and the finish at 21:46.
So we took third in our division. Penny and all of the dogs had a great time. We had taken first last year, but three minutes slower over the same course. There was some tough competition.
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