2012 Fowl Fun Run 5k

For the fourth consecutive year, we made the 45-minute journey to Mount Vernon, WA, to run the Fowl Fun Run. In 2009, I ran the 10k. In 2010 and last year, I was injured and paced my daughter in the 2-mile fun run. This year, the two mile option was dropped in favor of a certified 5k course (to go with the usual 10k.) With my training and injury rehab coming along nicely the last few months, I decided to race the 5k. This left my daughter Natalie without her usual pacer she had become accustomed to in the few road races we've done together. She's coming off her 8th grade cross-country season, but wasn't sure she'd have the stamina to race a 5k well.

The weather was perfect. Sunny, 35 degrees. A bit brisk, but no wind. My wife and youngest daughter were also entered in the 5k, so it was a family affair. After my mile warmup, I shed my tights and jacket (but kept the gloves,) and was ready to go. My goal going in was to break 22 minutes, for the first time since 2010. I was hopeful, but not terribly confident. My plan was to run the first mile in 7:15, then increase the pace from there. I hit the first mile in 7:07 (and that was after consciously slowing myself down most of that mile,) but I felt fine. I slightly increased my pace the second mile, clocking a 7:04. There was a guy in front of me the entire race that I had hoped would start coming back to me. He never did, so I picked up the pace during the 3rd mile (6:48), intent on catching him. As we rounded the corner to run down a short segment of road before turning into the parking lot of the school where the finish was, I started my kick. It was not a quiet, stealth move on my part. I was breathing like a freight train. He heard me and initiated his kick as well. We turned into the parking lot and shot toward the finish in a full-out sprint. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to overtake him. Fortunately, he was 50 and no longer in my age group (he won the 50-59 group.) I wasn't sure until after the race that he wasn't in my age division, which was one reason I wanted to beat him. Yes, I'm that competitive.

Officially:
Time - 21:53
Pace - 7:03
Splits - 7:07, 7:04, 6:48 (5:45 pace for last .1)
Overall - 13 of 139
Age Group - 2 of 6
Men - 9 of 45

Not long after I crossed the finish line and spoke briefly with the guy I couldn't quite out-sprint, I went back out on the course to look for Natalie. Much to my surprise, she was already flying down the final stretch, turning into the parking lot. She proved that she didn't need Dad to pace her (although she says that should could have gone even faster if I had.) She obliterated her 5k PR with a 26:00.7 (her previous PR was 26:58.) We were both excited, but she was a little frustrated that she got that close to sub-26 without going under. She also took 2nd in her age group (out of 5), 26th overall, and 15th out of 94 women. She'll be running a Jingle Bell 5k on December 9th with her friends from cross country.

Lindsey finished in 39:17 and my wife (she walked most of it) in 46:11.

For a relatively small race, the post-race food and beverage assortment is quite impressive. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream, various muffins, coffee, hot chocolate, bananas, cookies, etc. They also do random drawings to give away frozen turkeys, large pumpkin pies and packs of Costco muffins. The three previous years, we brought home a pumpkin pie. This year, with all four of us entered in the race, we knew we'd increase our odds of winning, but thought we might be due to go home sans goodies. Luck was with us, though. My number was drawn and we left with a 12 lb. frozen turkey (insert "turkey wins a turkey" joke here.)

All in all a good day.

Today will be day 59 of my running streak. Next up for me is the 30th anniversary Christmas Rush (5k, for me) in Kent, WA, where I'll be wearing my very thin race shirt from the inaugural 1983 race. That was both the first year of the race, and my first road race. The race director will be looking for me for a photo op, so I'll be a minor celebrity. I'll have to settle for that, since I'll never be a celebrity based on my running ability!

Fire Prevention 5k, Snohomish, WA

Rain before and after, but fortunately it held off during the race. Temps in the low 50's.

Although I'm still not back to where I'd like to be, I'm very happy with the time—my fastest 5k this year so far (out of 7, to-date.) The irony is that, after winning my AG two weeks ago, in a slightly larger race with a slower time, I placed out of the awards (4th of 10) in this one. This race went with 10-year divisions instead of a 5-year spread, so I was in the 40-49 group (rather than the 45-49.) Two of the guys who beat me were 40 on the nose (the other was 44.) Still, I'm much more focused on what I can somewhat control—my time—which is coming along. Finally.

Final time - 22:18
Splits:
7:33
7:18
6:55 (1st sub-7 mile in a 5k this year)
(6:05 pace for last .1)

PLACING
9 of 71 overall 
4 of 10 age grp.
8 of 31 men 

I pushed well into my 'pain cave' the last half mile or so, trying to catch two guys in front of me. I passed one, but couldn't catch the other. Hopefully I'll have an interesting finish photo. Spit was flying from my mouth quite impressively.

Next up: The Fowl Fun Run 5k, Nov. 10th.

Finish Photo - Summer's End 5k

Yours truly, finishing the Summer's End 5k, in Covington, WA on Sept. 30, 2012. This is the track where I used to run in high school nearly 3 decades ago. I wish I could still run as fast now as I could back then!

Summer's End 5K...or...You Can Go 'Home' Again

This past Saturday, I ran a 5k race that started and ended at my old high school. It was a bit more than a 2-hour round trip from home, so it's not a race I'd normally sign up for. I graduated from Kentwood High School in 1985, and probably haven't been to the school since around '87, so I was eager to see it again, as well as the entire area. Not surprisingly, things have changed. Neighborhoods have popped up, scenery is different, and even the school has some new additions. Honestly, it was a bit surreal walking and running where I once did the same nearly 3 decades ago.

The race itself was a well organized event. Given the total number of finishers for both the 5k and 10k (153; there was also a kids 2k race,) the vendors nearly outnumbered the race participants! There was free: Starbucks coffee, sub sandwiches, whole bananas and oranges, bagels, sports bottles, post-race massages, etc. Prizes were given out randomly. They awarded medals to the top 3 age group finishers...and they went with 5-year divisions! To top it off, there was a guy on a PA system announcing the name of every runner as they crossed the finish line. Overkill? Probably. But it made the race all the more enjoyable.

What also made it enjoyable was winning my age group. Granted, there were only four guys in my division, but somebody had to win it! Oh—staying upright made it enjoyable, too.

Cutting to the chase (is it really 'cutting to the chase' four paragraphs in?), here are my official results:

Time: 22:56
Pace: 7:24
Splits: 7:28, 7:24, 7:31, 5:52 pace/last .1
Overall: 5 of 109
AG: 1 of 4
Men: 5 of 39

The course, which wound its way through various subdivisions, included a big downhill at the half mile mark, and a challenging uphill at 2.5 miles. The race finished with 3/4 of a lap on the school's track. Once I hit the track, I gave everything I had left in an effort to get under 23 minutes. Pre-injury, that would have been an easy task. Now, as I'm trying to slowly build back a base, it takes quite an effort.

Next up—and much closer to home—is the Fire Prevention 5k, in Snohomish, WA on October 13th. Hopefully I can stay under 23 minutes once again.

More Post-Race-Wipeout Fallout

Two days after my artistic spill while being accidentally led off course during the Run for Hope 5k, I'm realizing that it was more than just a harmless little fall. Now, granted, I can play the sympathy card pretty well, and can whine with the best of them (while simultaneously acting tough and manly; hey, it's an acquired skill), but last night I noticed this lovely shiner forming on my left hip:

And this delightful bit of road rash on my left leg:

So, I've got THAT going for me.

To add injury to injury, I woke up this morning with my left palm feeling like I have a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome. Even though it was my right palm that got torn up badly, I also landed on my left and apparently bruised the bones at the base of my palm, which I feel whenever I tilt my hand back.

At least I've got a story to go with what would have otherwise been a bit of a yawner of a 5k.

Oh, speaking of yawns, the official results have been posted:
Overall: 8 of 62
Age grp: 2 of 5
Men: 6 of 23

On September 29th, I'll be returning to my old high school, where I graduated 27 (yikes!) years ago, to run another 5k. I hope to improve my time, but I'll try to keep it to more of a 'yawner' level otherwise.

Arlington Run for Hope 5k

Quite an adventurous 5k this morning. Went off course, took a nosedive and ran my worst time of the year. Still finished 2nd in my age group (which ain't sayin' much, given the amount of runners.)

They changed the course this year. It's an out-and-back (as usual), and on the way out, it's clearly marked. On the way back, not so much. I was trailing a gal and didn't realize that she had gone off course. We got to one of those plastic flexible fences, which we had to hurdle in order to get back on course. She succeeded. I bit it hard. The trail, at that point, was pea gravel. I got a lot of it lodged within a nice hole in the palm of my hand (and got a nice road rash on my leg, to boot). Bruised my ego nearly as much as my hand and leg.

Sorry, folks. I hope you're not eating...

I lost both my momentum and my desire at that point. My plan, as usual, was to go out slow and run progressive splits. I ended up with:

7:41, 7:21, 7:22 (7:32 pace for last .18) - 23:47

Heart rate - average: 155, max: 164 

Ah, well, it was a beautiful morning. It still beats inactivity. It was also great to have the company of my friend & running clubmate Dan (who ran considerably faster. And stayed upright.)

I'll admit, though, that I still can't get used to racing this slow (I know, it's all relative, but I've slowed down considerably thanks to my long-term injury.) Got to figure out how to somehow increase my speed without the ability to put in a lot of miles and w/o too much speedwork.

I'm thinking EPO & testosterone...

Pullups, Puppies & Pain

I'll start with some news that you may be most interested in: the well-being of my 1-yr old lab Apollo. In my previous post, I mentioned that he was having some physical problems (being barely able to walk, being very lethargic and not eating). We rushed him to the animal hospital. They could only speculate on why he was acting as he was. He had his blood drawn (which came back clean) then went on pain meds for a few days. The meds helped a little. He improved slightly, but was still sluggish. This past Saturday, he started showing signs of life, so I shut down the meds. Yesterday, he was bouncing off the walls and seemed to be his old self (miraculously), so I'm hoping we're out of the woods. We had to take him for a walk for the first time in over a week just to burn off some of his pent-up energy. I still have no idea what his problem was. I'll walk him a few more times before I take him for a short run.

Just a quick update on one of my goofy little PR quests. Three weeks ago, I set a new PR for pushups in a week (1005). Last week, I decided to try the same thing with pullups. My old PR was 273. I managed to crank out 305* last week...and "boy, are my arms tired!" I know I won't be able to set these little PR's indefinitely, but these are the sorts of things that motivate me to train.

Now, regarding the 'pain' portion of the blog post title. I ran with my running club on Saturday for the first time in ages. I managed 6 miles on a relatively hilly course. As you may know, hills don't play nice with my heel. However, this run went well. I kept up (for me, currently) a solid pace (8:07) and only had some slight heel discomfort.

Two days later...today...I ran 5 miles, with all miles easy except mile 3 (7:29). My heel was still angry about Saturday's jaunt and made it clear about halfway through the run. In hindsight, this should have been a shorter, easy day.

I'm running a local 5k this coming weekend. I don't expect a fast time (gee, I've never said THAT before), but as always, I do plan on putting forth the effort. I'll do an easy run on Wednesday, then shut it down until Saturday's race.


*Real pullups. Slow up and down. Not those cheating, kipping things the Crossfitters do.

Sickness, and Heart Rate Training Update

Getting sick is never fun, but getting sick during summer is at an entirely different level of 'un-fun.' I've spent the last week and a half fighting a bad head & chest cold, which has transmografied (a medical term) into a bit of bronchitis. Ugh. Last week, I ran through it. This week, I ran Monday, then skipped two days; partially due to the cold, partially due to spending two very long days remodeling my office. I'm running a 5k race this weekend. Due the fact that I can't breathe well, I won't be up for killing myself during the race.

Regarding heart rate training...it's going well. I've been running all of my training runs at whatever pace is required to keep me at or under my zone 2 heart rate (roughly 115-125 bpm). Six weeks ago, I had to run at about 10:30/mile pace to accomplish that. Today, I ran 4 miles in the sun and heat...still with this cold...at an average of 119 bpm at a 10:00/mile pace. I've also started allowing myself one fast mile per week (unless I'm running a race). That mile comes sandwiched within a longer run, and can be run as four fast quarters, two fast half miles, or one continuous fast mile. But other than that, it's slow and steady. My hope is to work back up to 20-25 miles per week before I consider doing any other fast running.

Oh, and since I've ditched my orthotics (during my runs, anyway), my heel and achilles haven't been nearly as angry. I'll stick with that plan for the time being.