Winter Running Article for Outdoors NW Magazine

Here's the article I recently wrote & illustrated for Outdoors NW Magazine, on winter running:

[click to enlarge]

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!

"RUN WITH A CELEBRITY" Day

Today I had the privilege of meeting in person and running with none other than Chris Russell, creator of the Run, Run, Live podcast (and, if you listen to it, I'm the dude who sings & plays the opening jingle, the one at the end, and the parody songs heard on his show. Okay, enough shameless self promotion. But buy my songs. And Chris's e-book.)

He's in town vacationing with his wife while celebrating his...hopefully he won't mind me saying...50th birthday. After fighting horrendous road construction coming into downtown Seattle, I found a parking spot and ran to meet him at Myrtle Edwards Park, near Elliott Bay. After a few minutes of formalities, we began running north along the waterfront on the paved trail. As is often the case when running with others, the pace gradually (i.e. immediately) sped up to sub-8 minute miles. Once we got a handle on that and agreed to slow down, we worked our way down to sub 7:30's. Well. So much for an easy run. Still, the pace allowed for a steady flow of chatting, but for a guy battling plantar fasciitis problems, Chris can still handily hold his own during a run.

We finished with about 3.8 miles of quality running and walked to a Starbucks, just across from the Space Needle and continued to shoot the breeze for another 45 minutes or so, talking mostly about (are you sitting down?) running.

Chris Russell and yours truly getting caffeinated after our run.

It was great to finally meet him in person. He's a heck of a nice guy. I hope to make it out to the Boston area some day to run in the woods with him and his dog Buddy. Hopefully I can keep up and not get lost...

Mini Milestones

Just a couple of quick things here to update those who wish to be updated:

• I just completed day 45 of my current running streak. For the most part, I've felt great during the streak. I've felt a few niggles here and there, but surprisingly less than I was feeling before the streak. I'm still only running 23-26 miles per week, but that's a good bit more than I was running earlier this year. So...the streak will continue until my body tells me otherwise.

• I just went over 100 miles running for a month for the first time since July of 2010. It's also an October PR (this was the only month in which I hadn't recorded at least 100 miles in a previous year. It also breaks my oldest standing monthly mileage PR, going back to...wait for it...October of 1983! Yes, I'm that old. And, yes, I'm that anal about running records.)

So, after two years of mostly complaining about injuries and how I wish I could run more, things are finally turning around. Why? I honestly don't know. I think it's a combination of things. My idea behind the streak was to slowly rebuild my base with a lot of short, slow runs, filling the gaps between my three 'real' runs per week. Since I can't run terribly long, I thought I'd run more frequently. It seems to be strengthening the muscles surrounding my injured area(s). Again, I still have days where the pain shows up pretty noticeably, but they're fewer, farther between, and more manageable. I'm also doing a lot more stretching, self-massaging, and icing (either with wraps or by taking ice baths. Which I enjoy. I'm sick, I know.)

All I can say is that it's working. For now, anyway. My next goal is to very gradually build up my long run (currently at 7-8 miles,) along with trying to bring my 5k time down even more.

Onward, my running friends!

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!

Shhhhh...Making Progress

I'm not a superstitious person, but I'm almost afraid to talk about my current situation when it comes to running.

It's going...well. In fact, it's going REALLY well.

Man, it's been a LONG time since I could say that.

As I write this, I'm on day 25 of a running streak. I also ran 7 miles yesterday, which is my longest run in over two years. Even just a month ago, a 6 mile run would leave me with a sore heel for a couple of days. This time, after KT tape, a post-run ice bath and compression socks, my foot and heel feel fine.

I'm slowly inching my mileage upward. Granted, it's still low (low 20's per week), but it's about double what I was running earlier this year.

As for pain...oh, it's still there. Currently, though, it's manageable (and flighty.) I've got just a touch of plantar fasciitis in my right foot to go along with the heel and Achilles pain. I've been doing more consistent self-maintenance, though, in the form of stretching, icing and massage.

Back to the streak. I'm not doing a running streak just for the sake of a streak. I'm doing it because I had a hunch that I could increase my base mileage without stressing my heel too much if I ran every day, while keeping many of the runs short and slow (i.e. 'dog jogs', with my lab Apollo.)

To summarize, I still do three "main" runs per week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday), with distances ranging from 4 to (now) 7 miles. The other four runs per week are currently 1 or 2 miles with the dog. Some might argue that those are junk miles. On the contrary, aside from giving the dog some exercise, I believe they keep my body in "running mode" and may even slightly improve my fitness. After 3 1/2 weeks of it, I feel stronger and more fit. I'm choosing to believe the anecdotal evidence.

I'm still not sure how far my body will let me go. I have a faint hope that I can return to where I was pre-injury, but I don't want to get my hopes up too much. I've been hurt before (ha!)

Right now, though, I'm enjoying this bit of progress.

We'll see if I can stay the course and see what happens from here.

Listen to a Medley of the New 3rd Collection

...here.

Shameless Self Promotion

Hey, a guy's gotta buy running gear, right?

The third, all-new collection of running parody songs is now available! Click on the PayPal button to the right of the uppermost blog post on this page.

Click here to listen to the tenth track of the collection (only for a limited time.)

You know you want to. It's only eight bucks. Don't you think your mental running health is worth it?

Oh...and if you haven't purchased the previous two collections, you can order ALL THREE for a mere $20.

I thank you, and my children's children thank you.

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.