Ashland Railroad Run (10K) -- Updated

The Ashland Railroad Run (10K) is one of those local, small, well-run races that is just a lot of fun. They capped entries this year at 750 but I think ended up with about 600 people -- and that may have included the 5K runners and walkers, too. I got the 600 figure from one of the police officers who were on the course -- he was talking on his walkie-talkie with someone else about how many were registered. The course is basically flat with just enough gentle hills to provide some downhill segments when you most need them. Of course that means there are uphill segments, too. Good volunteer support.

I only have one complaint and then there was one quirk: there were not enough porta-johns for pre-race needs. They only had 2 plus a men's, a women's, and a kids' restroom in the building where we collected packets. They needed at least 2 more porta-johns at the start.

The quirk came at about mile 4. The last half of the course is a long out-and-back. We started that segment running on the right side of the road with those who had made the turn-around running on their right (our left). But, about halfway on the out segment (or back segment, depending on your perspective), everybody switched sides. So, we had to cross the line of faster runners as we headed out -- crossed the slower runners as we came back in. Besides that, it felt odd to race on the left side of the road, even though that's the side I normally run on for everyday runs. I didn't see any collisions and it didn't seem to interfere with anybody's running -- it was just odd.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine had expressed a desire to do a 10K in less than 50:00, so I offered to run with him to push him a bit. Now, I'm among the worst in the world when it comes to knowing how fast I'm running and setting a pace. Once I get settled into the second mile or so, my pace will be pretty even but I never know what that pace will be. But, I figured if I settled into a hard-comfortable run, we would be able to hit about 8:00 mpm.

We'll see what the official results show (it's not chip-timed nor were there wave starts), but according to my watch, we finished in 49:58.95. UPDATE: Official results have been posted and they show we finished in exactly 50:00. Here are the splits:

1.0 x 8:13.44
1.0 x 7:47.45
1.0 x 8:02.97
1.0 x 8:01.47
1.0 x 8:08.68
1.0 x 8:26.82
0.2 x 1:18.12

On a side note: last week, in the last 2 miles of the Ukrop's 10K, I was tired -- out of gas. That struck me as odd because, while 10K is not an easy distance to race, it's a common distance for me. Reflecting on that this week and thinking about today's race, I realized that I probably felt out of gas because, well, I was out of gas. I had waked up at 5:30 and my wave started at 8:33. Before running, I had only eaten 1/2 of a medium-sized bagel. So, perhaps, I had literally run out of fuel.

This morning, I decided to try something different. I got up at the same time but ate a whole toasted bagel and a banana. Then, about 20 minutes before we started, I ate a Gu (my favourite, Chocolate Outrage). Between fueling better and running a bit more slowly, I felt great though most of the race and at the end. In fact, it is very tempting to go run another 6 miles. But, I think I'll bask in the enjoyment of having met our goal (or, at least coming really close) and feeling good. And, actually, I have to go cut our crop of weeds -- my wife says that should count for a long run!

Run well, y'all,
Bob

2009 Ukrop's 10K

It's done. I ran with 32,600+ of my closest friends today. This is a big race and the goal is to continue to see it grow. Whew! But, this is a well run race and Runner's World listed it as a must run in their March issue.

The elites took off at 8:30 -- I don't know who was here this year. Wave A took off at 8:31. I ran in wave B at 8:33 -- we were actually a couple of minutes early according to my watch. The temperature at start was 46° with a bit of a breeze out of the west. Heavy cloud cover but no rain. Just about perfect conditions for running.

My goal was to break 45:00 but really thought that 46:30 was more realistic. I finished in 46:46.59 (my watch -- official results will be out later today). Splits were:

1.0 x 7:27.21
1.0 x 7:25.97
1.0 x 7:25.46
1.0 x 7:22.35
1.0 x 7:44.00
1.0 x 7:49.16
0.2 x 1:32.44

So, I'm reasonably pleased. Interesting that I came so close to what I thought I was really capable of this year. The 6th mile was really tough. My body kept screaming, "WALK!" but I just wasn't willing to give in and kept looking for that 6 mile marker.

After I finished, I grabbed a bottle of water, a bottle of Poweraide, a bagel, and a banana. The bagel was way too dry and dense to eat then so one bite was it. The banana went down much better. Then I hit the Porta-Johns and headed back to the start to try to catch my wife and daughter (Linda and Stacey) before their wave started. Downed a Gu on the way and finished about 3/4 of the water.

Linda and Stacey had had to look for a parking place, so they had gotten to their wave group about 10 seconds before I got there. I jumped the barrier and waited to run again with them. We completed in 1:24:57. The first mile was in 11:35.85 -- the fastest mile they've run. You go, ladies! It was fun running as a family, at least 60% of our family (Stephen and Anna, you need to run a race with us).

All in all, a good day!

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Snow Run

I woke up early this morning. I don't know if it was internal excitement about the snow or too much water to drink for supper. Though I would have enjoyed another couple of hours of sleep, I'm glad I woke up because the outside world was beautiful. I estimated about 7" of snow and it was still coming down. I thought about running but decided to wait and see. While it wasn't really dark because of all the reflected light, I just wasn't sure how well I could see -- or, more importantly, how well I could be seen.

By the time I actually went outside to measure, we actually had 9.5" of snow -- I think it's the most snow I've seen in my life (almost 55 years). And, by 9:00, I had decided to see if I could run. I have an old pair of Brooks Adrenaline ASR (somewhat winterized) and decided to wear those to keep my feet a bit drier than my Etonics would do. I also had no idea how close to normal speed I could run, so told my wife not to worry unless I wasn't back by 11:00. Despite slipping and sliding in places and at times feeling like I was going forward only 1' for 2' worth of effort, it was a good run -- 5.1 miles at a 5:24 (I don't know where "5:24" came from -- maybe it was sliding down the hills!) 8:24 mpm pace. Just guessing, but it felt like it was somewhere between 10-20% more difficult than running in dry weather. The picture was taken across the street from our house after I ran -- the whole run looked like that. One guy, who was shoveling his drive, commented that he hoped I had my spikes on!

What fun!

Run well (and safely and dry), y'all,
Bob

TIART -- 5K/10K

Runner's Lounge sponsors a Take It and Run Thursday each week, inviting lounge participants to contribute by posting on their own blog and posting a link on the Runner's Lounge site. This week's topic is 5K and 10K races.

When I started running again 5 1/2 years ago, my goal was to lose weight and get in shape -- I wanted to be more healthy. I wasn't particularly interested in racing except for one race. I had seen a blurb somewhere about a Candlelight 5K run in Greenville, SC. I grew up in Traveler's Rest, just north of Greenville and my parents now live in Greenville. The run was originally scheduled for early March and start time was 9 pm. The original course wound through the old, historic section of Greenville, through Cleveland Park, and was marked by candles in bags along the course. All in all, there was a lot of appeal for this particular race both in its uniqueness and its nostalgia. So, I determined that if I were ever in the US when this race was run, I would visit my parents and participate.

When we took a temporary position in Richmond, VA in May 2005, I knew my chance had come. So, I signed up for the 2006 race. When I signed up, there were only about 4 weeks remaining until the race and I had done nothing toward getting ready. I was participating in the Runner's World Beginning Runners' forum at the time and got some prep advice from others. They said the best thing I could do was to run 5 x 1km repeats at goal race pace. I made a beginner's mistake and set my goal for too quick a pace and couldn't maintain that pace for 5-1km intervals. Fortunately, the race was rescheduled for early June and I had some more time to prepare. Though I didn't hit my "Wow!" goal, I was pleased with my time (22:46), coming in 76th overall and 5th in my age group.

Since that race, I've run in two 10K races and three half marathons. All of those were chosen because of something unique about them. Whatever success I've had in those subsequent races came as a result of what I learned in my novice preparation for that first 5K race -- the value of speedwork. As I've prepared for each 10K and half marathon, I've continued to do track work (either 800m or 1600m repeats) and longer tempo runs. Besides training my body and mind to run faster, I think one of the big benefits of speedwork is that it breaks the sameness of normal training runs that tend, at least for me, to be at a steady pace -- speedwork provides some needed variety. So, my advice to new runners who are getting ready for a 5K or 10K is to do some kind of speedwork during each week leading up to a race (except for a lower mileage rest week every 3-4 weeks).

Run well, y'all,
Bob

5 Years Under My Belt

Today I completed 5 years of serious running. Mind you, by serious, I don't intend to give anyone even the faintest idea that I'm a good runner (I'm neither an elite runner nor the son of an elite runner). I simply mean that I've taken it seriously in terms of my own health and physical fitness -- I've run consistently (my wife would say obsessively) over a period of 60 months and have come to love it.


I began this journey on 9 July 2003 by walking, with my wife, 2.9 miles in 45 minutes. We gradually added a bit of jogging here and there. Eventually, we got to where we ran 2.5 miles together before I split off to do another 2+ and she ran a bit more and cooled off. I loved that time together and was very sorry for that time to end. Thankfully, it hasn't ended completely, though. My wife completed the Richmond 10K this year (You go, girl!) and I looped back after I finished and did the last half again with her. Notice -- the picture was taken right at 6 miles and she's smiling.

I almost always run in the early morning but I completed the 5 years this evening with a very rare evening run -- 6.3 miles in 51:15 (8:07 mpm). The temperature was 80° and the humidity was 80%. I do not like running in that kind of weather -- give me 50° any day -- but I woke up this morning to a severe lightening storm and couldn't run (I'm obsessive but not completely wacky). In that 5 year period, I have run 6008 miles.

2003: 557 miles (Jul-Dec)
2004: 837 miles
2005: 924 miles
2006: 1364 miles
2007: 1453 miles
2008: 872 miles (Jan-today)

It took a full year to get to the point before I could stop saying simply, "I like the results of running" and I could say "I like running." My absolute favourite run, besides the times with my wife, was Chapman's Peak in Nordhoek, South Africa.

I hope to be running for 30 more years (or more). By then, of course, the 30 year olds will have to dodge my cane (as they blow by me).

Run well, y'all, and remember the milestones,
Bob

Mountain Runs/Hikes, Long Run, and Cats on a Treadmill

A catch-up post. Sorry for the length.


I had a one-week reprieve from the humidity and heat of Richmond. Spent a great vacation week in Highlands, NC. The temperature when I ran in the mornings was 49-54° and the humidity was around 54%. It was wonderful. The mountain roads were not conducive to running as they were narrow, had many blind curves, and no verges on which to escape the traffic, so I drove into town and ran Highlands' sidewalks -- still was able to do a 6-miler and two 5-milers, one of which included hill repeats. It was great!

In addition, we took in the waterfalls that are in the area. The best were Glen Falls -- the elevation change was 700'+/-. The literature said it was a 1.4 mile trail, each way, but I think it had to be farther. Whitewater Falls were also awesome -- with a 411' drop, they are the highest falls in the US east of the Mississippi River. Anyway, 3 hikes and 3 runs was pretty good.

I don't want to bore you with home slides, but here are a few from the hikes:


Whitewater Falls


Glen Falls, 3rd falls -- Bob and Linda


Glen Falls, 4th falls


Crocodile in the Water! :)


Glen Falls Trail

Today was my long run -- 11.2 miles @ 8:28 mpm. The run itself was hard but the soreness (OK, pain) afterwards is worse. I'm experimenting with Gu's, Shot Bloks, and Gatorade. I had a Gu before running, ate a Shot Blok every 3 miles, and drank 20 oz of Gatorade over the 11 miles. I think it helped but I'm going to try a Shot Blok every 2 miles to see if it's better.

Now, the part you've been waiting for -- Deux chats sur un tapis roulant (Cats on a Treadmill -- at least I think that's what the French says). Merry, who wrote Thursday's post at Cranky Fitness, found this one. Being the good blogger that I am, I stole, ah, referenced her find. This is pretty funny -- much more fun than actually running on a treadmill!



Run well, y'all,
Bob

10K on the 10th

Nancy, writer of the blog Notes of a Non-Runner, has become a virtual race director extraordinaire. She organized another virtual race today, 10K on the 10th, and this has been the best ever. The entry fee was cut in half, prize money doubled, there were double the number of spectators lining the course, race timing was trust-based and self-reported, and there were toasted bagels with lowfat cream cheese and fruit for refueling.

The weather for the race was pretty good, at least in the Richmond, VA leg of the race -- 55° and 98% humidity, overcast but not raining, and a very light, cooling breeze. One of the nice things about a virtual race is that even if you're late for the start, all of the assigned race crew are still in place, the spectators stick around, and the refueling food never runs out -- and you can still run. Good thing, too, because I was late! My heat was schedule to start at 6:30 but I didn't make it to the starting line until 7:30. No problem except that I had to run by myself. Traffic control was good as drivers obeyed the virtual police and either moved to the left side of their lane or completely over to the left-hand lane.

I ran well, though not a PR. My time was 47:27 -- here are my splits:

1.0 x 8:15
1.0 x 7:33
1.0 x 7:18
1.0 x 7:12
1.0 x 7:47
1.0 x 7:44
0.2 x 1:38

Another perk of this race? It's not to late to sign up and run. Do 6.2 miles and post your time and blog link on Nancy's blog (when she starts putting the race reports up) -- you might also want to join Runner's Lounge and the 10K on the 10th group and post your results there.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

A Few of My "Friends"

I'll be running with (well, OK, behind -- WAY behind!) some prestigious company on Saturday. The Ukrop's Monument Ave 10K is also the US 10K Men's Championship. The defending champion, Abdi Abdirahman, will be here along with Alan Culpepper, Dan Browne, Fernando Cabada and a number of other contenders. Weather predictions are warm and wet (thunderstorms). The course record for the Richmond run is 28:07 -- that could fall. Abdi won the 2007 championship at the Peachtree Road Race last year in 28:12. The US Championship record is 27:59, set by Matt Giusto in 1996. The world record is 26:17.53 set in 2005 by Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia.

With the wave start, I'll be close to completing mile 2 when the Elites cross the finish line! Gives me something to shoot for!

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Final Tempo Run B/f 10K

I and 30,000 of my closest friends will be running the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K (Richmond, VA) on Saturday. I hear it's the 4th or 5th largest 10K in the US. Should be fun. I hope to break 45:00.

Today was my last tempo run. The plan said to run a warm-up mile, 3 miles at 7:27 mpm, then a cool-down mile. My plan was to just run as fast as I felt like I could for the 3 miles. I was very pleased and feel like I'm ready for Saturday:

TEMPO SPLITS
1.00 x 8:47.36
1.00 x 7:16.06
1.00 x 6:54.35
1.00 x 6:47.11
1.26 x 9:35.08 (7:36.41 mpm)

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Final Long Run

How is it possible, when I've been running regularly for 5 years and have run 25-40 miles per week for the last 2-3 months, that I can be so sore after a long run today? It makes no sense. I'm sure it has nothing to do with my age. :)

Today was the last long run before the Richmond 10K next Saturday. Next week is taper week with only 17 miles plus the race. My plan is to run the race, hopefully sub-45:00, then head back to the start to run/walk the race again with my wife.

Today's long run was again in 3 parts, with a 3-5 minute break between each:

8.0643 mi -- 65:39.02 -- 8:08.45 mpm -- by myself
5.0000 mi -- 38:52.25 -- 7:46.45 mpm -- with the training group
0.7844 mi -- 06:20.83 -- 8:05.50 mpm -- home by myself
13.8487 mi - 110:52.10 - 8:00.34 mpm -- TOTAL

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Ashland 10K Railroad Run

The YMCA 10K training group suggested that participants run the Ashland 10K Railroad Run today as a training run for the Richmond 10K in 3 weeks. Sounded good, so I signed up.

I must have signed up early because I had bib #12. I decided to treat this run as a tempo run. My tempo run was originally scheduled for this past Wednesday but jet lag from the South Africa trip has really hit me this time. The plan this week called for a 7 miler: 1 mile warm-up, 5 miles X 7:40, and 1 mile cool down. So, I figured I'd aim for about 8:15 for the first mile, then do the last 5.2 miles at roughly 7:40. That would be just over 48:00 for the 10K -- a really good warm-up.

Ashland is a smallish town north of Richmond. Around here, they have a reputation for running good races. This was no exception. There were about 338 participants in the 10K. The weather was perfect -- a cool 48-50° at the start. Cool enough to be chilly in a short-sleeved running shirt waiting for the race to begin but great once we started. The course was pretty flat (my plot is off -- I missed both the start and finish spots) -- I don't think the variation was more than about 20'.

We got off at 9AM and I held back to an easy pace. It's hard to get passed by so many folks. I didn't see the 1 mile marker but at about 8:20, picked up the pace. It felt really good, almost too good. I hit the 2 mile mark at 14:55. Mile 3 passed at 22:something; Mile 4 at 29:something. At mile 4, we were on a downhill and I knew we were going to have to come back up that hill. Still felt really good. The turn-around point came at the top of a hill. I hit mile 5 going uphill at 36:37 and was beginning to feel tired. Just before mile 6, one of the course officials said there was only 1/4 mile remaining (OK, I can hold this pace that long). Mile 6 passed at 44:00 and I realized I was not only going to beat my 48:00 target but I was going to beat my 47:00 goal time for the Richmond 10K and, unless I passed out, was going to actually break 46:00. There was one person in front of me that I had a chance of passing by the finish so I picked it up a bit -- might as well leave it all on the road (in the end, I thought I was going to leave it all in the bushes). I crossed the finish at 45:29 -- 45th out of 338 and 4th in my age group (50-54). I'm still in shock.

Someone asked me if this was a PR. Yeah -- it's actually my first 10k race. Three weeks until the Richmond 10K.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Quirky Exercise Equipment

Can you see yourself using this chair? Yoni Freedhoff, author of the Weighty Matters blog, posted this yesterday. Watching it makes me a little ill. I believe it would throw my back out like nobody's business. And, how in the world would you talk on the phone or type coherently on a computer while this thing is tossing you around? Would you buy one?



I think I'll stick to running! :) Speaking of running, it's the end of the 2nd week of training for the Richmond 10K. I was traveling so did some switching of workouts -- 4 easier runs Sun-Wed of 4.5-6.5 miles, half-mile repeats yesterday, and a long run today. Today's run started with a warm-up jog (0.4 mi) to the local YMCA to join up with the intermediate group run (4 miles), and then finished with 8.5 miles by myself. That's a total run of 12.9 miles in 1:48 or an average pace of 8:22 mpm (all numbers rounded and the map does not include the initial warm-up jog). Except for the half-marathon in September, that's my longest run ever. It was a good run in many ways.

One of my problems in the half-marathon was that I had not done enough longer runs and just didn't have the leg strength and endurance I wanted. So, I'm modifying my RW training plan and have made my Saturday runs longer. I'm hoping that will give me the endurance that I want.

Run well, y'all,
Bob
Richmond, VA

Group Run Then Solo

As part of the prep for the Richmond 10K in April, I'm participating in the local YMCA training program. I'm doing it more to get to know people than for the training benefit because I'm already running more than their highest group and am following a Runner's World training plan. We did 2.0 miles as a group and I ran with Louise who is aiming for a sub-50 minute 10K (my goal is 46-47 minutes). The pace felt comfortable so I was quite surprised when we finished in just under 16 minutes -- more surprised when I plotted the run on Gmaps Pedometer and found that it was actually 2.2 miles.

After we finished the group run, I needed about 7 more miles so I headed out to finish my long run. I don't know what it is about stopping and then starting again. I stopped after the group run just long enough to sign out of the group run and to say "Good-bye" to Louise and then headed out. But, it was long enough to tighten up. It still took a couple of miles before I felt loose again. I thought I was taking the pace slow (the plan called for 9:05 mpm), but every mile was just at 8:00 mpm. After about 3 miles I just thought, Forget trying to slow down, I'll just finish. Even at that pace (the total ended up being something like 7:45 mpm), it was a great run -- another runner's high. The only problem was that I was cold at times -- there was a steady breeze, you know, one of those that is in your face no matter which way you turn. Still, a good way to start a Saturday.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Tempo Run - Day 3 of 10K Training

Well, wasn't sure how my fitness had held up. Since running the half marathon at the end of September, I had done very little faster work. Plus, though the temperature was only 32°, I found out that there were some icy patches on the road. The Plan for this 3rd day of my 10K training called for 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles @ 7:36 mpm, 1 mile cool-down. Here are my splits:

0.23 x 2:58.72 (Walking)
1.00 x 8:56.78 (Warm up)
1.00 x 7:40.95 (At this point, thought I wouldn't make it)
1.00 x 7:13.15 (Hmmm. Probably should slow down)
1.00 x 7:14.96 (Whoa! Didn't slow down much -- felt good)
1.25 x 9:51.82 (Ahhh. Watch the ice!)

Run well, y'all,
Bob
Richmond