"Captain's Blog"

Inaugural CRC Winter Classic 8k

2012-01-31T13:39:00.001-05:00

The day dawned bright and cold for Charlotte Running Club's first official race. My usual pre race rituals were thrown off a little as Lisa was in VA for her Mom's birthday and I had to drop the kids off at the neighbours. Still I arrived in plenty of time to pick up my number and chip and get three miles of warm up in on the course. I noted the excellent course markings and the smooth registration/packet pick up process. Changed into my new TrySports singlet and Wave Ronin 3s, did some strides and was ready to roll.

The race got off exactly on time. A quick scout of the front runners and I’d ascertained that favourite John Compton was present, along with Aussie Dan and newly engaged/birthday boy Chris. I figured these were the guys I would have to mix it up with if I was to place top 3 and walk away with some nice Gore running gear! We settled into a comfortable pace early on, I sat in behind John, with Dan alongside and a big group still around us. I was getting a bit antsy (as usual) but figured if I was close to John then I must be running a decent enough pace so just settled in. I had resolved to not look at my watch during the race at all as I wanted to use this as a race not a time trial. At about half a mile, my impatience got the better of me and I stepped around the side of Dan and started pushing the pace a little alongside John.

As we approached the mile marker I took a quick look around and was able to ascertain that the 4 expected protagonists had formed a lead group now and it was likely that the top three would come from this bunch.

just after the mile mark (I'm hidden)

There was loud crowd support here and again when we looped back to near the same point 400 metres later before hitting the infamous Mcalpine hill for the first of what would be two times. I felt good running up the hill but as usual lost some ground on the steep downhill the other side. While the other three seemed to head down there with reckless abandon, my lanky, uncoordinated frame stumbled down and I lost a few yards. As we came past the lake for the first time we were strung out in a line of 4- John followed by Dan then Chris then myself.

We turned off the path across the grass and back to the start line, just the usual 5k course to go now. At this point of the race I was feeling okay but the other guys were looking solid too. Doubts started to creep in that I would be able to stay with the three of them so I made the decision to try and banish these doubts by making a move myself. I consciously started to drive harder and passed Dan and Chris on the long straightaway. John was a further distance ahead and looking stronger and stronger, not an unexpected development. Now it was just a question of focusing on John up ahead and holding off Dan and Chris from behind. As we hit the hill the second time, el Presidente Aaron was halfway up barking encouragement and I made sure to drive well up the hill, knowing I could pick up a few seconds here.

driving up the hill second time round

We came past the lake again, the four of us strung out a lot further apart than we had been the first time round.

coming past the lake second time around

We were now catching back markers and getting ready for the final push around the back mile. As we hit the 4 mile mark I glanced at my watch so that I would know how fast I covered the last mile afterwards. It read 21:26 which was a pleasant surprise as it looked like I was going to come in comfortably under 27 minutes which I would certainly have taken before the race. This spurred me on for one last push and I was able to hold off an equally fast finishing Dan to secure second spot and a sweet Gore long sleeve for my troubles. I finished in 26:34 which is actually not far off my 26:28 PR from the roads a few years back.

glad to be done

I was happy with the race and it had checked all the boxes I was hoping for at this stage of Myrtle training. I had a decent competitive race outing under my belt and a nice top to go home in. Congrats must go out to the event organizers. For a first time event, everything seemed to go off very smoothly and this will hopefully be the first of many CRC Winter Classic 8ks. The ‘unusual’ distance and terrain to your usual 5k road race fare was very much appreciated and a great addition to the racing calendar.

Looking at the big picture

2012-01-25T13:26:00.000-05:00

Training for Myrtle continues apace with no significant roadblocks so far, hitting all my prescribed weekly mileage and long run goals and hitting most of my workout time goals. Since coming back from injury/down time in November my weeks have gone thus- 42,45,51,57,60,61,68,50 (down week),65,70,71,75 and this week will be 50 (down week). I’ve also knocked the 5 extra lbs I was carrying off my frame! Most of those weeks (certainly the last few) have contained two workouts and a long run and also a complete day off most weeks where I have been able to recover and get ready to maximize my training the next few days.

Since my last post I got my final 20 miler in the bag and have run 3 workouts, two of which were actually fairly mediocre, sandwiching a very promising AT effort at the weekend (10m @ 5:45 average). The old me would have been really pissed having run two bad workouts out of three but I’m learning to look at the big picture more and more rather than workouts in isolation. I’ve just come to the end of my heaviest and hardest section of this training block so have been running on pretty tired legs lately but will hopefully be reaping the benefits of this hard work in the upcoming weeks.

This Saturday I am excited to be racing the inaugural CRC Winter Classic 8k Race. It will be my first ‘proper’ race since September and my first in my new Try Sports colors. It will be good to bust some rust and get the competitive juices flowing again. However, as usual Coach inserted a dose of pragmatism and realism when we were discussing the race last week, “I know you want to race well, but I'm more focused on MB and MB only…..”

I’ll give you an update after the weekend, in the mean time I am excited to be getting a massage after work tonight followed by a couple of nice and easy days before Saturday!

Marathon Trials stalking

2012-01-18T04:36:00.002-05:00

On Saturday morning Lisa had some errands to run with the kids so I was able to take advantage of a couple of hours 'freedom' and follow the Trials races via Lets Run and Runners World updates. Enjoyed both races immensely and had some personal involvement in the ladies race with three good friends of mine toeing the line. Megan Hovis (who beat Desiree Davila at the last Trials when finishing 12th) was an unfortunate DNF while Caitlin Chrisman and Meagan Nedlo both completed great races which are brilliantly summarized here and here. All three ladies so hard working, dedicated and inspiring to me. I'm a fairly decent runner I guess in the grand scheme of things and dedicate a lot of time and effort to this great sport, but these ladies are at a completely different level to me- after all I'm over 15 minutes away from reaching the pinnacles these girls were able to get to this past weekend! Great job Megan, Caitlin and Meagan...

Sunday to Sunday 90

2012-01-18T04:12:00.001-05:00

The advantage of doing back to back weekend long runs is that you can squeeze lots of miles into a week without actually realizing or meaning it! By the time I had jogged home happy with my Sunday workout I worked out that from the previous Sunday I had notched 90 miles, including 2 20 milers and 2 workouts.

Following the Tuesday workout, Wednesday was a recovery day before Thursday's planned 20. Thursday I typically meet up with the Dowd crew for a 9 mile loop that is always good fun and good company, so I decided to incorporate this run into that time. I went to bed at the same time as the kids and forced myself out of bed at 4 for a 4:35 start from the Dowd. After 3 solo miles I looped back to the Dowd for the arrival of my first support crew- Jason, Danielle and Dalena. At 5:30 we circled back again and picked up Shenna and at 6:00 we came back again to meet up with the main crew. I had time to change into some dry clothes and take in a gu before heading out for the last phase of my run. It was a nice and relatively easy way to get over 2.5 hours of work in and worked out so nicely that I'm planning the same deal for my 20 miler this week.

I asked Coach the reasoning behind setting me three 20 milers in successive weeks when I wasn't training for a marathon and was advised that as long as I ran them nice and easy and didn't try to kill myself completing any of them they would be invaluable elements of my training mix for the Half build up. A point I was able to pick up on in the latest Running Times issue
where in an article about Peter Snell it talks about Lydiard's theory of the longer slower runs being a key promoter of fast twitch muscle fiber recruitment. Good stuff!

Friday and Saturday saw another couple of easy days before my next workout on Sunday which was 4 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile, 1 mile all with half mile jog recovery which I completed on the trails of Mcalpine before finishing off at the track. I ran 23:14, 10:49, 5:14 and 5:06 which was pretty much as prescribed although Coach did want me to try and dip under 5 minutes for the final mile, a feat which proved elusive. Regardless it had been another good workout and the culmination of my second successive 70 mile week.

Catching up with Coach!

2012-01-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

Tim paid an unexpected visit this week! Though sick as a dog we were able to get some miles in together this morning as I headed to the track for my 2*4*1000 workout (first 4 in 3:20 with 200 jog- felt smooth, second 4 in sub 3:10 with 400 jog- felt hard but still under a semblance of control).

Spada joined us too and was able to help me through the first 800 of each of the first 4 and the first 600 of each of the second 4 while Tim took over from Spada to run the last 400 of each of the second 4 so I was lucky to have good company for this one.

It was great to see Tim again and the conversation flowed and flowed until I realized I had better say my farewells and get to work at some point!

Training continues to flow nicely at the moment, I got a good 2:20 plus run in on Sunday, today's workout, 20 more of the same on Thursday and a hard tempo workout ahead this weekend. Five and a half weeks until Myrtle....

Doing work

2012-01-07T18:32:00.000-05:00

This week and the first week of July are always the busiest work weeks of my year and this past week was no exception. I went straight to work after my 16 last Saturday and was working past my girls' bedtimes every day until yesterday. These weeks are always a challenge to my training. My life basically becomes wake, run, work, eat, sleep, repeat. Having said all that I managed to get a good 24*400 workout in on Monday morning and ten mile runs the other mornings leaving me on course to hit 70 miles in the week for the first time in ages even allowing for a day off today. Tomorrow I'll be hopefully bringing up that 70 mark at the end of my planned 20 miler. Meeting up with a good crew so it should be fun and hard work.

Closing out the year

2011-12-31T22:39:00.000-05:00

Friday was a ten miler with friends at Mcalpine, today was a 16 miler with friends at McMullen. Feeling very spoilt as Monday I'll be solo doing lots and lots of quarters. The temperatures are just about to plunge too. Joy.

Still, heading into 2012 I can't complain. I'm feeling as fit as I've been in a long time and am excited to hopefully see what a few months of consistent and sensible training may bring.

Happy New Year!!

2011 recap

2011-12-29T23:08:00.000-05:00

I always like to reflect at the end of the year on how the past twelve months have played out. It helps me identify things I did well, things I need to improve on and helps me set my goals for the coming year. With that in mind, here’s a brief month by month recap of a year of the Captain’s Log!

January

Miles- 256

Races

CRC Hangover Run 5k XC (16:33- 2nd)
Winter Flight 8k (26:54- 4th)

Injuries- None of note

The year started off with me eschewing the marathon focus of most of my friends and training to run a fast 5k and 10k in the Spring. I had gotten in about 5 weeks of solid work after recovering from my November 2010 Marathon and was ready to hit the road running on January 1st. I opened up with a solid showing at the CRC hangover run with John Compton showing me a clean set of heels. This was to be the start of a regular pattern for the year ahead! Winter Flight was another solid enough effort (and another thrashing at the hands of John ha ha!)

February

Miles- 278

Races- None

Injuries- None of note

February was my highest mileage month of the year in spite of its brevity. I avoided racing and got some good training in before the important races in March and April that were going to kick in

March

Miles- 235

Races

Get Your Rear in Gear 5k (16:14- 1st)
49er Classic 5k (track) (15:31- 4th)
Shamrock 4 Miler (21:19- 3rd)

Injuries- Strained calf after 4 Miler

March was a bittersweet month in many ways. Sweet in that I was able to set a new 5k PR at age 36 and prove that Winter training had gone well and that I was all set to roll at the Richmond 10k in April, bitter in that I followed that Friday evening race with a hard race effort at the first GP race of the Season literally the next morning and paid the price with a slightly strained calf that set me back a few days and ultimately proved costly at Richmond. In hindsight I could have just ‘jogged’ the 4 Miler to get the bonus points for the GP series with minimum effort but at the time that wasn’t really an option with it being the first race of the Series and me having no idea of how the rest of the year was going to pan out. So no real regrets.

April

Miles- 251

Races

Ukrops 10k (33:02- 20th)
Run For The Money 5k (16:55- 1st)
Museum Mile (4:42- 7th)
Skyline 5k (15:53- 2nd)

Injuries- None of note

This was a month that started pretty badly but finished strongly. I was disappointed with my race in Richmond but it was another awesome race experience there and I will be back in 2012! I was on course to meet my goal time half way through the race but an inexplicable side stitch hampered my run and the week I had been forced to take off in March came back to haunt me. The Run For The Money race was my yearly good running deed of raising $1,000 for the Catawba Lands Conservancy (they may well need to find a replacement winner next year if this race clashes as it typically does with the Racefest 10k which I plan on running this year. The Museum Mile was a fun and novel event that I hope they are able to put on again next year and Skyline was a race where I reaped the benefits of racing aggressively, nearly beating long term nemesis and king of the roads Bob Marchinko for the first ever time in the process. We would meet again later in the year.

May

Miles- 257

Races

Falafel 5k (16:13- 1st)
Twilight 5k (16:09- 2nd)
Great Harvest Bread (16:20- 2nd)
Run For Peace At Home (16:31- 1st)

Injuries- None of note

Now it was time to start focusing on my next race which was decided to be the USATF Masters 10k track race in July. It was a busy month racing, with a couple of local races that I was able to jog to the start line, pick up the wins and jog home and two more GP races where John Compton again destroyed me. However, safe in the knowledge that he was unlikely to complete enough of the races in order to be a factor in the end of year standings, I was finishing far ahead enough of my other rivals to already start thinking of getting that elusive overall GP victory that I was after.

June

Miles- 271

Races

Summer Track Series
King Tiger 5k (16:08- 1st)
Summer Breeze 5k (16:06- 1st)

Injuries- None of note

With training focussing towards the track 10k in July, the Summer Track series gave me the opportunity to get plenty of track work in. The highlight a 9:50 2 miler, the low point a horrible 5:01 in the Championship Mile, most of these races were done as part of a larger workout. 2 more solid wins in the Grand Prix Series and overall victory was closer. The second of these also saw me crowned as 'Fastest Male in Mecklenburg' ha ha!

July

Miles- 265

Races

RFYL 4 Miler (20:51- 2nd)
USATF 10k (33:28- 1st)

Injuries- None of note

A good month! Two weeks out from my goal race I was able to take advantage of a sudden cool down in temps to set my second PR of the year and also beat Robert Marchinko for the first ever time. Then it was on to a hot and humid Cleveland where I became National Masters Track 10k Champion after a good tactical race. Robert was second to make it a CRC 1-2 and I spent three hours immediately after the race trying to produce a sample for a random drugs test!

August

Miles- 229

Races

Blue Points 5k (16:31- 5th)
Rock N' Run 5k (16:14- 1st)
OrthoCarolina 10k (34:14- 3rd)
Greek Fest 5k (16:24- 2nd)

Injuries- Sick the week before Greek Fest (only illness of year)

With my goal race out of the way and the Carolina temps continuing to rise and rise, I took this time as a chance to chill out a bit, cherry pick some races and generally just ease off a bit. To be fair, my relaxed approach led to some pretty average racing this month but at least my batteries were getting recharged and I could focus on finishing the year strong. Blue Ridge relay loomed...

September

Miles- 262

Races

Blue Ridge Relay (2nd Team)
Hit The Brixx 10k (33:52- 1st)

Injuries- none of note

Blue Ridge Relay was my favorite race of the year and one of the best running experiences of my life. CRC's epic adventure is recapped here. A week later I was able to recover sufficiently to lead the 10k from gun to tape and virtually seal the Grand Prix. As September came to a close I had my sights set on a final training push for the year towards the Thunder Road Half.

October

Miles- 65

The mileage says it all. Hopes for the Half were shot as my knee finally gave up on me and I pulled the plug on the year. I jogged around the final Grand Prix race of the Season to clinch victory but otherwise took a few weeks off to get my knee fixed and renew my appetite and start thinking of goals for 2012.

November

Miles- 214

Races

Fix4TheDay 5k (16:55- 1st)

Injuries- none of note

I gradually upped my mileage through November and reintroduced some speedwork, including the race which I was able to jog from my house to and pick up some shoes in the process :-) The next goal race was selected- Myrtle Beach Half in February 2012.

December

Miles- 280

Races- none

Injuries- none of note

With 2 runs left in 2011 this month should actually end up being my heaviest mileage month of the year! Concentrating on building my mileage and gradually increasing the intensity of my workouts at the expense of any racing at all, I am hoping I can stay injury free through this training block and be in a good position to attempt a PR at Myrtle in February. My tune up races will be the CRC Winter Classic 8k and Cupids Cup 5k. The post Myrtle plan is to return to Richmond for unfinished business in the 10k and also run the Race Fest 10k before getting ready over the summer for a 4th stab at the Marathon in the Fall. I'm looking forward to representing the 'TrySports' racing team after RFYL chose to discontinue their sponsorship program and also to many runs and workouts with my mates in the Charlotte Running Club!

Happy New Year all!!

More hay in the barn

2011-12-29T15:48:00.001-05:00

After a much appreciated lie in on Wednesday morning, it was time to hit the track again after work. I headed down to Community Middle School track where I was to meet Anna and Greg for some company at what was a new running location for me. The track was decent (especially for a public middle school!) although I had to wear a headlamp as the lighting was minimal down the back straight. On tap was 4 sets of a mile plus 400, with 30 seconds between the mile and the 400 and a lap jog between each set,. Tim had set me the goal of sub 5:25s for the miles and sub 75s for the quarters and I averaged around 5:21/74 for the workout without ever feeling I was going to the well. I returned home to my empty house and fuelled up and got as ready as I could for my next run which was to be the Thursday morning Dowd run. After an expectedly sore and tired run the following morning it was good to reflect while showering before work that I had got another good 20 miles of work in since leaving my desk the night before.

For the rest of the week I am planning on getting another 10 or so in tomorrow including my weekly strides and drills and then 16 for my long run on Saturday, in so doing reaching my 65 mile goal a day early leaving Sunday as a no run day, which the fam will appreciate seeing as they get back from VA on Saturday. Next week will be challenging as I will have my busiest work week of the year and need to get 70 miles in. However if I can get 65 in on 6 runs as I plan to this week then that gives me hope that I shouldn’t need to run any more than 7 or 8 times next week. Onwards…..

All the small things

2011-12-28T12:54:00.001-05:00

We all say we are going to change and improve things in our training but rarely do we actually do anything about it for one reason or another. Usually I fall in to that category. I say I’m going to do something, start doing it, but then slowly fall off again. Usually because your improved fitness gives you a sense of invincibility- I’m getting fitter so I must be doing alright, why bother with all the other stuff, let’s just carry on as I am doing.

Well this time I have made some little tweaks to my schedule and habits and I really do feel it is benefitting me so far in this training block. I’m trying to eat a bit better and get more sleep and I’ve been taking my multivitamins. I’ve been doing yoga classes twice a week at work and keeping on top of my core exercises and strengthening the leg muscles that need to fire when you are running but can’t be targeted by running alone. I’ve been doing my drills and strides once a week after one of my easy runs and finally, and perhaps most significantly, I’ve been making sure to refuel immediately after my hard workouts and long runs with a good recovery drink. First time I’ve really used these products and I really feel I’m reaping the benefits. My recovery from workouts is seeming much better than before!

Whether it is down to one of the above measures in particular or just a mix of doing all of them, I can definitely say I’m feeling happy with how training is going and how I’m feeling on a day to day basis. Long may it continue….

Post Christmas training

2011-12-28T12:31:00.000-05:00

After my long run on Saturday I took Christmas Day completely off. In fact I didn't even leave the house at all, just enjoyed the day with Lisa and a couple of very excited girls and their new toys.

By Monday morning I was itching to get back out there and had a workout on the plan- 6 miles tempo, plus a fast mile at the track. With John and Brad for company on a beautiful crisp Carolina winter morning, I was able to put in a solid effort running just over 34 minutes for the 6 miles and then a mile in 5:13.

Tuesday was the usual Miners Run fare and 4 of us hardy souls hit the trails at 5:30 am in pouring, cold rain, splashing through the puddles and mud at Mcalpine. A fun run in miserable conditions!

Longest run of 2011

2011-12-24T21:00:00.000-05:00

This morning I headed out at 6am through the back of my neighborhood and down 51 towards McMullen. Ben, who was going to be doing a workout there, met me for a couple of miles before we met up with a large crew of CRC runners who were doing their own long run. I ran with them for a couple of miles before heading home the way I had come on my own again. By the time I was done I had been running for just over 2 hours and covered 18 miles, my longest run of 2011- that's what a marathon free year will do to you! I felt pretty decent throughout and with a day off tomorrow I'm looking forward to working out on Monday morning and burning off some of tomorrow's inevitable excesses.

Home by just after 8 I was able to tell the girls they would have my undivided attention for the next 48 hours with no runs planned! Later in the morning someone in our neighborhood posted on FB that they had 3 free tickets for the Panthers game so two hours later I was at the Bank of America stadium with Emily and Sophie, leaving Mom at home to cook up some treats! It was the first time the girls had been to a game and they seemed to enjoy the experience, helped enormously by the fact that the Panthers were up against a woeful Buccs Defense who Cam, De Angelo and Stewart took apart with ease! Then it was back to the house to finish off preparations for tomorrow's big day. The kids are so excited, it's going to be a great day

Friday Miners Run

2011-12-23T15:40:00.001-05:00

For those that don't know, the Miners run originated and is still held every Tuesday from 5am onwards, so called because of the need for headlamps as we negotiate the trails of Mcalpine. This morning Anna and Greg joined me for a Friday version. It was in the 60s and I barely needed the t shirt I was sporting.I'm on a 'down week' so only needed 5 miles or so today. I followed this with my weekly session of strides and drills that I am trying to incorporate into my routine. My legs felt good and ready for some hard work tomorrow when I have 18 on the schedule- my longest run in months.

(Recapping my daily run is an attempt at starting to update this more frequently)

I finished work at 2 today and am looking forward to the next few days at home with the family!

Training is the goal right now

2011-12-22T20:23:00.000-05:00

Well it looks like I only update this on a monthly basis now so I guess this can be considered December's entry. I actually have quite a lot to say so it may be a long one. I also plan to update this more frequently in 2012 (you've heard that before).

So what has the Captain been up to I hear you ask? "Not much" he replies using one of his 'Americanisms' that he has picked up. In other words nothing much of note is happening, life and running following a satisfactory course. Busy but motivated and happy at work, enjoying my daughters growing up faster than imaginable at home, getting lots of nice runs in with friends at ungodly hours in between. Life is good as they say.

So, running.... I'm in the fourth week of my Myrtle Beach HM training block and progressing nicely. I've got my mileage up into the 60s (and will soon be in the 70s) and have been completing my designated workouts and long runs satisfactorily. My knee issues seem to be a thing of the past and I am trying to take better care of myself between runs, eating and sleeping better, doing some yoga classes (!) and trying to incorporate some strengthening exercises into my routine.

It's funny, I love racing and for one reason or another I haven't actually 'raced' in three months now. In fact, before Myrtle in February I only have two 'warm up' races on the schedule, too- the inaugural CRC 8k race at the end of January and then a 5k the week before the Half. I mentioned this to Coach and he expressed his happiness with this situation and is excited to see how this turns out. In his words "training is the goal right now". I'll keep you posted with how this all progresses the next few weeks as I head towards Myrtle....

In the mean time I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Cheers!!

RFYL GP Awards Night

2011-11-24T06:25:00.001-05:00

Tuesday night saw the end of season Grand Prix banquet where I picked up my award for winning the Series for the first time. It was a great evening and nice to meet and talk to my friends, rivals and training partners in a different environment and in different clothes than usual!

After several years of running the Series in the same format it was discussed that there may be a change next year at last with two separate and shortened Series, one ending with the Greek Fest 5k in August (which would mean an almost exclusively 5k race line up) and one starting with that race and progressing through a 10k, 15k, Half and finishing at Thunder Road Full. This seems a very good idea to me and could reinvigorate interest into the Series and also get more people running at Thunder Road. I would certainly be interested in taking part in the second series, even though that may mean that my 2012 Marathon ends up being Charlotte rather than a faster and bigger marathon which was my original aim. We'll see, lots of water to pass under the bridge before then anyway!

On the training front, things continue to progress. After a few weeks of gradually increasing my mileage, the legs and body are eventually starting to come round and I feel ready to take on some additional work as I start to focus on training for the Half in February. Coach Tim should have my new schedules to me shortly so I'm looking forward to a Winter of hard work!

The 5k rust buster on Saturday turned out okay. I was pushed a bit harder than I would have liked for the victory and resultant pair of shoes but got it done. 16:55 was an ugly return on the effort I had to put in but hopefully will prove a good benchmark as I get fitter over the next few weeks. If nothing else the race made my mind up not to jump in the Turkey Trot today so I am looking forward to running there to watch and then doing a workout with Aaron (who is racing) afterwards.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Back at it

2011-11-18T09:33:00.003-05:00

I haven’t updated this in over 6 weeks so I thought it was about time I got my loyal reader up to speed with what’s been going on with the Captain recently. Last time we spoke I had just returned from a great trip to New York and I was suffering from a season ending knee injury.

The following Saturday, after a week of no running, I ventured up to Lake Norman to run the last race in the GP series to confirm my victory. I got round the 15k with an achy knee in the middle of the pack. As it happened John Compton raced and won by a big enough distance that I could have stayed at home and still won the series but I needed to be up there and make sure all my bases were covered. 48 minutes after the gun went off, Lisa called me on my cell that I was carrying while I was running and confirmed John had won the race and I knew overall victory was mine.

I took another week completely off then attempted a jog the following Saturday. The knee was still sore so I took another week completely off and also got myself a sports massage that seemed to help enormously. The following weekend I managed a couple of 4 milers and since then I have been very gradually increasing the mileage and intensity back to the point now where I am no longer too concerned about the knee and am back in a regular routine.

I ran 40 miles my first week back, then 45 and am on course this week for 50. I’ve done a couple of 10 mile runs, a couple of short tempo runs and even headed to the track this week for a low key workout. Tomorrow I’ve signed up for a 5k in my local park that I plan to run pretty hard so that I can blow the cobwebs out a little bit more. I’m a happy Captain!

Which brings me on to goals for the next few dark and cold Winter months. Well obviously the main one will be to keep healthy and get consistency back into my training. There is a Half Marathon in Myrtle Beach in February that I am definitely considering using as a goal race to train towards, figuring that the strength I gain training for this will set me up for some fast races over shorter distances in the Spring. I haven’t run a Half in quite a while so it would be good to shoot for a PR on what will be a flat and fast course with some of the faster guys in Charlotte heading down for me to chase. The kids are off school for two days following that race so the plan is to make a long weekend family trip out of it. Coach Budic is lined up to get me some new training schedules shortly!

So I’m happy to be back at it and hoping to finish off the year fit and healthy and ready to launch into 2012 with gusto! And if I needed any more inspiration to get myself out there and training hard again then I didn’t have to look any further than some of the performances of my friends and rivals over the past few weeks. Marathon season has been in full swing and there have been some memorable and inspiring performances around the country, from new PRs to Boston qualifiers, gutsy finishes and solid debuts. Good stuff!

Knee screwed, plug pulled......

2011-10-04T16:33:00.000-04:00

One of the problems of only sporadically updating this blog is that lots can happen between posts and news is fed to you in chunks rather than through a more ‘organic’ process. So having said all I said in my last post about rediscovering some mojo and setting out on a new training plan for the Thunder Road Half I can abruptly announce in this post that I am now no longer doing the Half and am indeed starting to take some long needed down time!

My knee pain that I alluded to in my last post was not going away and despite completing a great 2 hour run with Jay in New York on Saturday (great for the company and location (running around the reservoir in Central Park really is a Runners’ World ‘Rave Run’ moment!) not for the state of the knee) it was clear that I wasn’t going to be able to carry on training at the intensity required to take a good stab at the Half in November so I discussed it with Tim and we decided it would be in my best interest to call it quits for this cycle (and year, essentially) and take my down time now instead of after the Half as originally planned.

So basically I will be doing nothing now until the knee feels better and I have had plenty of rest and recuperation. I haven’t gotten my knee checked out yet (no rush!) but if it continues to feel as sore as it currently does for much longer I will have to get it looked at get a scan if necessary. My immediate non-professional diagnosis was tendinitis but what do I know, if there is some sort of tear or other issue going on then my time off may end up being longer than currently planned!

That being said, such are the vagaries of the Grand Prix scoring system that in spite of completing all ten races to date and only losing to one of my overall rivals in one of those 10 races (Richard got me at Greek Fest by 3 seconds) I still have to complete the final race on Saturday in order to win overall. So in one shape or another I will be dragging myself around a hilly 15k course on Saturday just so I can record a finish and get the 250 points bonus you receive for competing in all 11 races. Without the 250 bonus I will likely drop some places in the standings and forego a not insignificant monetary prize for coming first overall, not to mention the chance to be crowned Grand Prix champion at last after several years of podium finishes! So call me stupid but I will be there on Saturday!

After Saturday I will just have to live my running life vicariously through the legs, workouts and races of others as in no particular order races in Chicago, Washington, Toronto, Morganton, Richmond, Savannah, New York and of course Charlotte are tackled by my close friends and training partners. Good luck all!

I can certainly look back on 2011 with a great amount of satisfaction. Not counting Blue Ridge or the Summer Track Series, I toed the line in 20 races, with 8 wins, 6 2nds, a 3rd, 2 4ths, a 5th, a 7th and a 20th (out of 40,000+ At Ukrops), the highlights being the US Masters track 10k championship victory, my 15:31 at the 49er track meet, three Grand Prix race victories, (hopefully) overall Grand Prix victory and being part of the valiant but ultimately beaten CRC team at Blue Ridge. There have also been disappointments including the Ukrops race and this knee injury that I have picked up but all in all I reckon I’ve just about earned a bit of a rest…..

In other news, our weekend in New York was fantastic! It was Lisa’s birthday present and she loved New York, never having been there before, so I am in the good books for a while!

Also farewell and good luck to running buddies and fellow bloggers Meagan and Jordan as they leave Charlotte for pastures new.

That's it for a while folks. I'm off to put my feet up and get fat.....

Post BRR update

2011-09-28T14:38:00.002-04:00

Needless to say after the relay I was very sore and stiff for a few days. However, a glance at my post BRR training log from last year had given me hope as it just so happened that that particular week ended up being my biggest mileage week ever (85 miles for all the statisticians amongst you). They’d been slow miles and the only workout had been a 10k race but still I had proven before I could recover quite quickly from the race.

And indeed this year was pretty much the same story. I obviously didn’t hit anywhere near 85 miles (I’m not deep in training for a marathon this year and my mileage has been more in the 60-65 range the past few weeks anyway) but I still had a decent enough week. By Wednesday my legs were almost ‘back to normal’ and on the Saturday I felt good enough to take advantage of some very favorable temps to win the 10th race in the GP series, the Brixx 10k, with a decent enough 33:52 solo effort, my second fastest on this course over the years and 30 seconds faster than last year’s equivalent.

To be honest that race gave me a taste for having one last effort at training for a goal race this year, the Thunder Road Half which will be held here in November. I had started to feel a bit ambiguous about my running (as evidenced by me pulling the plug on the blog temporarily!) but the time I achieved and the circumstances in which I got that time led me to believe that I could indeed have a go at training for one more race this year

So coach was notified and we are working on getting at least somewhat ready for the Half. Strictly speaking, I really feel I need a break, but the timing of the November race is good as after that I can put my feet up for a while and not worry too much about not racing as we hit the comparatively barren Winter months.

So I’ll drag this weary body through the next few weeks and see what I can get out of it. My right knee has been acting a bit grumpy this week and today I wiped out on it during my run so it is feeling extra battered but I’m hoping this too will soon pass and I can run a solid enough race at the Grand Prix Finale next weekend. After all, it would be a shame to do my ‘lap of honor’ at walking pace (I need to at least finish the race to get the required Bonus points)!!

In other news, this weekend Lisa and I are headed to Mid Town New York City for a couple of days away from the kids. Lisa will be 40 in October so I decided to push the boat out this year and get her more than just the usual card! Visiting the Big Apple will also give me the opportunity to meet up with Jay for a run in Central Park!

Blue Ridge Relay Recap- Unabridged version

2011-09-23T23:06:00.000-04:00

2011 saw a record breaking Blue Ridge Relay and the closest race in its history. The previous overall course record was smashed by both the winners and the runners up and the previous Womens' and Masters' records were also consigned to the history books. I was a member of the Charlotte Running Club/Try Sports team that took part in the race and was one of the two teams that broke the previous course record. SPOILER ALERT!! For those who don't the outcome yet, I'll refrain from saying where we finished until you find out at the end of the recap!

For a brief overview, the Blue Ridge Relay sees teams of up to 12 runners running 36 legs along a 208 mile route through the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Charlotte Running Club was sending its strongest team ever up to the event in an attempt to bring the title back to the Queen City for the first time. At the same time, a team from Asheville had been created that would prove to be more than worthy adversaries. In the weeks leading up to the event, while the final running orders of both teams were being finalized after the usual inevitable late withdrawals and replacements, excitement was building as both camps expected a close fought, fast race. Little did they know about what was actually going to unfold....

To set the scene a little more I will introduce you to our team (in running order) and for some perspective include my estimation of what sort of 5k shape I personally feel each runner was in (I hope I don't offend anyone with this (!) but these are my best estimates and hope they add some perspective to the story)

Van 1

Richard Harris- BRR debutant, recent Greek Fest 5k winner in 16:21

John Compton- 2nd year BRR. Ran same legs last year. CRC's strongest runner and possibly the strongest runner in the race. 15:00

Ben Hovis- 2nd year BRR. Team Captain. Returning from injuries and short of fitness but healthy and ready to compete in his favorite event. 16:20

Billy Shue- 2nd year BRR. 16:30

Mike Beigay- 2nd year BRR. 16:25

Greg Isaacs- BRR debutant. 16:40

Van 2

Paul Mainwaring- 2nd year BRR. 16:10

Bob Marchinko- BRR debutant. One of two 'Masters' on team. 16:10

Chris Lamperski- BRR veteran. Returning from injury. 17:00

Aaron Linz- BRR debutant. Deep into Toronto Marathon training. 16:20

Josh Baker- BRR debutant. Only runner on team that regularly trains on the sort of hilly terrain the race would cover. 15:30

Rocky Falcone- BRR debutant. Oldest member of team but one of the fastest. 15:40

Left to right- Ben,John,Bob,Aaron,Mike,Richard,Billy,Me,Chris,Josh,Greg,Rocky

Race report

We were due to start racing at 1:30pm alongside the Asheville Running Collective. All the other teams in the race would already have started. We arranged to meet at the Dowd YMCA to get on the road in our vans by 8:30. The race taking place three hours away had already started....

Ben picked me up at 7 so we could go and pick up the vans in good time. The first thing I noticed was that each runner had been made a personalized goodie bag of edible treats to get us through the anticipated 20 hour race, thanks Carolyn, Megan, Meghan and Kelly! Jordan who had had to pull out at the last minute due to injury had provided a big supply of Nuun hydration tablets for the coolers of water we were taking. We certainly wouldn't be lacking for fuel and hydration!

One by one the team arrived at the Y and got into their vans. Most of us were meeting Josh for the first time. He looked skinny and fast and had a smile on his face, that will do! We would be picking Bob up en route. First little 'issue' of the race. One of the vans had the 'low tire pressure' gauge flashing and we found a screw lodged in one of the tires. Back to the rental company. No way we were taking the risk of having to change a tire during the race! No problem there was another van in the lot and we had plenty of time to get to the start. We picked up Bob at Walmart in Mooresville and purchased some pens to decorate the van with. Mike had put a folder in each van with the route for each leg printed off so everyone familiarized themselves with their legs and generally just chilled out getting ready for the task ahead.

We stopped for gas and then at a Subway for some sustenance. As we pulled off 77 and hit the country roads we were reminded about the hilly terrain we would soon be running over. We pulled into the start area about an hour before the race start. Amazingly, and in an ominous sign of things to come, Asheville's van pulled into the Park at exactly the same time, coming from completely the other direction. Both teams got out of their vans to sign in and pick up race numbers, etc. Two or three members of the two teams knew each other so both teams briefly mingled and exchanged pleasantries before finishing off van decoration, etc. The mood was relaxed and anticipatory of a good battle ahead. We wrote on one of our vans "This year we left the women at home" in reference to the fact that last year CRC had entered a mixed team (that had smashed the course mixed record and come third overall after a close battle with another Asheville team), in response Asheville wrote on theirs' "We'll tell your women you're on your way". The fiercely competitive but friendly and respectful mood was set.

I caught up with fellow Brit Stu Moran who, unfortunately for him and Asheville but fortunately for us, was no longer running due to injury but would be driving one of their vans and providing vital course information and support to his team. Stu had studied the two line ups and was expecting a nip and tuck battle to the end! I also spoke to Asheville's captain Frankie who I had ironically gone head to head with last year during the race and also Scott who I knew from a couple of runs in Charlotte and who would be running the same legs as me later in the day. A 2:39 marathoner and expert hill runner, I expected Scott to prove a tough competitor for me. Little did I know how right I was going to be!

All the talking was over, the action was about to begin.....

Richard and Trent get matters underway

Richard was getting ready to start off our journey. Quiet and unassuming but confident and in great form, Richard had joined the team after Jordan’s late withdrawal and was looking forward to stamping his mark on his first BRR. Ben had had a few quiet words with him, he was good to go and an ideal starter for the team. The first stage was literally all downhill for 4 miles. Many a competitor’s race at BRR has been scuppered by running too hard on this leg over the years. A solid, efficient effort was called for and achieved by both teams as they came in less than 20 minutes later separated by just a few seconds, Richard in the lead.

Over to John now. The Mixed Team’s star performer the year before, even more was expected off of him this year with the prior knowledge he had gained of his legs and the form he had shown all year to date. And he didn’t disappoint. The Asheville runner briefly caught up to John at the start of the leg but by the middle of the leg John was rolling and had pulled about a two minute lead out by the time he handed over to the captain. This wasn’t unexpected but it was good to know that our ‘star man’ was on form, we needed everyone to perform to their maximum if we were going to have any chance at all of winning the race.

John rolling on Leg 2- that gap soon became 2 minutes

Worth explaining at this point how the vans worked. Once a runner had completed his leg the ‘on’ van (in this case van 1) would drive straight ahead to the next exchange zone so that the next runner up could get a brief warm up in before his leg. The other van, whose occupants wouldn’t be running until later, would pick up the runner who had just finished and support the guy who had just started his leg. As we passed our runner we would give him plenty of encouragement and then find a suitable place along the route to stop and get out so we could watch and cheer from outside the van and also get a sense of what the distance was between him and the competition. It was during such a stop in the middle of leg 4 that the first real drama of the race unfolded. Ben was running solidly as we saw him pass. He didn’t look particularly happy with life but seemed to be in a good rhythm. Not unexpectedly, however, the Asheville guy Daniel was clearly gaining some time back. Then all of a sudden as we were just about to get back in the van Daniel pulled over to the side of the road to stretch his calf out. As we passed him he had gingerly started running again but things were not looking good for him.

I had mixed emotions at this point. The competitive side of me was happy as our rival was in trouble and we had a chance to really put the hammer down early in the race. On the other hand a wave of disappointment came over me as we had been looking forward to a hard race and didn’t want to win it early on because of someone getting hurt and having to pull out. As it was, Daniel recovered well to finish the leg and would go on to be able to complete the race. Unexpectedly though, our lead had increased slightly on leg 4. The definite early advantage had gone to CRC.

Ben and Billy negotiate an interesting handover

Over the next couple of hours it was pretty much status quo as Billy, Mike and Greg got their first legs out of the way. Greg was particularly impressive on his Blue Ridge debut putting some time into his opponent.

Greg enjoying his first BRR performance

Van 1 had done its job now it was Van 2’s turn to shine. First up in Van 2 was good old moi. Like John I had been given the same legs as last year (7, 19 and 31). I was happy with this as I knew I wouldn’t have any problems getting lost and could use last year’s experience to my advantage with regard to pacing and route management. There was no doubt that I was in better shape for last year’s race (deep into training for Richmond Marathon) but I was hoping my relative lack of fitness in the current year would be fully compensated by the advantage of having run here before.

Leg 7 is 2 miles downhill, 1 nasty mile of uphills, 1 more nice downhill with an absolute beast of a mile in mile 5 followed by a ‘sprint’ to the next exchange zone. You know when the course handbook describes a hill in this race as a ‘monster’ that it’s going to be bad and so it proved again for me. By the time I got to the top of the hill I had been cursing aloud and wishing I was somewhere else. However, I did manage to put an extra 40 seconds into Asheville on this leg and had run faster than last year. Pleasing.

The Captain gets going

I'm down there somewhere, cursing, loudly

Bob looked up for the fight as he put a little more time in the bank (we weren’t expecting anything else from definitely the fiercest competitor I have known since moving over here), Chris lost a little time to Asheville’s captain and then Aaron discovered he was up against one of their better runners as more time was taken away from our lead. Both had run great and in line with expectations but Asheville were definitely up for the battle and the strength of their second van was coming to light already. After 10 legs and with dusk approaching, less than 2 minutes separated the teams. With 4 of the fastest runners in the race set to run the next two legs the battle was well and truly on!

Up to this point it had felt like us and Asheville were the only two teams in the race! We had started an hour and a half after the previous starters and hours behind the other 100 plus teams that were competing. As we pulled into exchange zone 10/11, however, we came across the first few of all other vans that we would pass. I bumped into fellow blogger Dave and his team and we exchanged tales of the race so far. Their team seemed genuinely interested in how the race was panning out between us and Asheville and it appeared that word had got around that there was a highly competitive duel going on at the ‘back’ of the race. As it was just getting dark now it was time to get out the reflective vests and headlamps and start getting ready for the night ahead.

Legs 11 and 12 did not disappoint as the 4 speedsters got to work and laid their respective markers down. By the time Rocky Falcone handed over to Richard at the Tangier Outlet in Blowing Rock and Van 1 set off for its second shift, less than a minute separated the teams, CRC with the slight advantage. By now of course everyone had run and we could start to get a feel for how the race may develope further down the line. It was clear that both teams were definitely pretty evenly matched. Our Van 1 had edged Asheville’s but mainly due to the problems they had encountered on leg 3. If Daniel was sufficiently recovered for the rest of the race that would clearly make a significant difference to the outcome. With regard to Van 2, meanwhile, Asheville appeared to have the upper hand overall and their last four runners looked capable of doing significant damage given even a merest sniff of the lead.

A third of the race had been completed, honors even....

Josh finishing off Leg 11

Rocky sets off towards Blowing Rock. Jubbs, Asheville's potent closer, lurking menacingly in the background

The sun sets on rotation 1 of the competition

It was now just after 8:15 on Friday evening and darkness had set in. Both teams had shown their cards and every runner had raced. After 71.6 miles and 6 hours and 47 minutes of racing (that’s an average of 5:41 pace per mile just to put it into perspective!), 29 seconds separated the two teams!! If the other teams’ runners saw a blur of a headlamp, blinky lights and reflective panels coming past them now it was likely a runner from one of these two protagonists!

Richard carried on where he had left off from his first leg, putting a further minute into his rival. Then it was over to John and Keith to duke it out on the longest and toughest stage of the race, the Grandfather Mountain ten miler. Rumor had it that John was going to have a crack at breaking the hour barrier on this leg, a feat rarely achieved in years past. Van 2 had the pleasure of stopping every 10 minutes or so to watch John’s relentless charge across the mountain. Road kill is the term used to describe overtaking another runner in this race. This was more like road genocide. 1 hour and 27 seconds after starting his leg John handed over to Billy. Credit where credit is due though. John’s Asheville counterpart Keith refused to buckle under his charge, himself clocking a remarkable 1:01:48.

John jumped in our van and we set off to see how Billy was doing on the shortest and fastest leg of the race, 2.4 miles downhill. As we approached him from behind we could see he was running well. He was weaving in and out of road kill, ticking them off one by one. We whooped and hollered as we passed him to pump him up even more. He clearly didn’t need much pumping as he shouted after us, a la Bruce Willis, “Yippie Ki Yay Mother F*ck*rs!!”. Not sure that was in keeping with the “Please talk in hushed voices between the hours of 7:30pm and 7:30am” rule, but we let him off as he was flying. Bearing in mind that Billy’s mile PR leading into this race was 5:09, his average pace of 4:34 for this leg was scarcely credible! Amazingly, though, CRC actually lost time on this leg as Kevin Lisska ran 10:06 for the 2.4 miles, an average pace of 4:23!!! The lead was now 2:30.

Over the next 4 legs that lead was whittled down to 46 seconds as Asheville chipped away leg by leg. At the halfway point, just over ten hours into the race, we were still no closer to discovering our victor

It was time for the Captain to pull on his racing flats again. In a remarkably similar situation to the one I found myself in at the same time of last year's race, I was just about to be handed the wristband very closely followed by our nearest rival. This leg was the easy one of my three, a slightly downhill 4.3 miler with few turns. And, just like last year, I ran a solid enough leg but felt I could have run faster. In fact I ran 1 whole second faster than last year! More importantly, it was 8 seconds faster than Scott. The overall lead was creeping back up to a minute and Bob was up next. He clearly had his counterpart's number and after a brute of a 7.5 mile leg at 1 o'clock in the morning, two more minutes were gained. Chris protected the lead, then things were about to get very interesting....

We were now nearly 12 hours into the race and everyone was starting to get a bit tired. The middle of the night hours were beginning to take hold and the in van banter was reduced as runners tried to grab the odd moment of shut eye. Aaron set off on his second leg. Shortly afterwards our van overtook him and called out the usual encouraging words as we passed. Soon we were approaching a key intersection but there were no signs indicating that the runners had to turn. Usually no sign meant carry straight on. We were confused, a van in front of us was clearly confused as well as it was crawling along at 10 mph. We followed that van across the intersection not entirely sure we were going the right way. Driving along we were looking out for the tell tale flashing lights of other runners. There were none....

We were trying to keep calm in the van but were now clearly lost and the maps weren't really much use. Our new worry was that we weren't going to get Josh to the next exchange zone in time to get the wrist band from Aaron. We did a u turn and headed back the way we had come, this time at about 70 mph! Other vans were around, it was clear that we weren't the only ones lost. After eventually getting back on the right route we still weren't sure whether Aaron had got lost himself. As we hadn't passed him again we presumed he had and as we approached the next exchange zone, the other van was finally able to get through to us on the phone. Aaron had indeed gone the wrong way but they had found him and pointed him back in the right direction. Apparently, Asheville's Aaron had also gone off course but he too was back on the right route. Two very pissed Aarons were heading towards exchange zone 23 having both run a couple of additional unwanted miles.

It soon transpired that Asheville had suffered more than CRC. When the dust settled CRC had expended their lead from 2:30 to just over 5 minutes. Based on how the two Aarons had matched up on their first leg, Asheville could probably have counted on their guy cutting the lead in half on this leg. Instead they found themselves further behind. How would they respond?

As the dust settled on the leg number 22 that everyone wanted to forget about, it was time for the race to carry on in earnest. It was 2:30 in the morning, and 125 miles of the 208 miles had been covered. Charlotte were now just over 5 minutes ahead, the largest lead of the race so far and almost a mile for these speedsters! An angry Asheville team was in hot pursuit, adrenaline pumping, and Charlotte were going to have to respond if their lead wasn’t going to disappear quickly.

Status quo on the next leg but that was not unexpected. Josh and David, who ended up being two of the fastest runners in the race, were separated by just 2 seconds over their three legs when the race was over! David won their first head to head by 3 seconds, Josh this one by 2 seconds and David the 3rd leg later by 1 second. They ended up running 16.1 miles in 1:33:26 and 1:33:28 (5:48 pace). Unbelievable stuff.

Leg 24 saw the first stirrings of a comeback though. In spite of covering his 3.2 mile leg in 16:14, Rocky ended up losing a minute of the lead on this leg with Jubbs covering the same ground in an unbelievable 15:15 (this leg was longer than a 5k remember- at 3am!). Both vans had now run twice, 4 minutes was the gap.

With their second legs out of the way it was time for van 2 to think about grabbing some sleep while van 1 got back to work and finished off their races. As such we were unable to provide the support that we had previously been giving to van 1 while they ran. We drove ahead to exchange zone 30/31 where I would next be taking the wristband up the notorious mountain goat stage.

I navigated our van to the changeover spot, so had had literally no sleep since the start of the race. I didn't feel that tired anyway as I was buzzing off all the adrenaline from the race. It was 4:30 am and I was due to run at about 6 so I figured it would probably be a good idea to try and get some sleep. I headed into the hall that people were sleeping in, set my alarm for 5:30 and laid myself out on the floor. My legs were sore from the previous two stages and I generally just felt pretty crappy but it was nice to be able to stretch out on the floor and rest my eyes. Needless to say I didn't get any sleep at all, I just tossed and turned and stretched for an hour, constantly checking my watch to see what time it was.

At 5:30 I headed back to the van and rooted around in the dark for my third running outfit of the race and all the other required night time paraphenalia. Everyone else was still dozing. Behind me down the road I figured Mike was probably finishing off leg 29 and Greg would be getting ready to tackle leg 30. We had no idea at this stage what had been happening in the race the past couple of hours. I tried to jog up and down the street a few times to loosen up my legs and get ready for the task ahead but must admit I wasn't feeling great at this point. My legs were sore, my body was tired and I knew what lay in store, having tackled this leg the year before. The prospect of running 5 miles straight up a mountain was not exactly enticing. I was cursing to myself (and Ben!) thinking I never want to do this thing again! I had to get my shit together though. The team needed me to do a job and I couldn't let them down, everyone else was giving 110% and I needed to do the same.

Josh woke at this point and immediately tried to get in contact with Ben to get an update on proceedings. Well apparently we had missed out on some pretty exciting stuff! Richard had lost a bit of time, John had caught it back and added some to the lead (no surprises there) but on leg 27 Asheville had made their first significant move on the longest stage of the night, 9 miles. In spite of a great run from Billy who covered the leg in 57 minutes, Kevin Lisska had taken nearly 3 minutes out of the lead. As Billy handed over to the captain the lead was down to 2 minutes. Daniel set off after Ben in earnest and was soon cutting into the lead. Yet more drama though as his curse of the calf struck again to slow him downand Ben was able to regain the time that had been whittled away. The gap was still 2 minutes as the captain finished off his legs. A great effort indeed by Ben, who two weeks earlier wasn't even sure he was going to run!!

Then, it happened. After 28 legs, 159 miles and 15 hours of racing, Asheville grabbed the lead for the first time in the race. A relentless 7.5 mile charge at 5:39 pace (his third run in 15 hours remember!) from Seth had seen him pass Mike and hand over to Dave with just over a 1 minute lead. CRC weren't done yet though and with Greg up next against an opponent that he had just had the edge over so far, anything could happen!

So Josh communicated the news that Asheville had taken the lead and that the 2 guys were about 15 minutes away. I made my way over to the starting area and reacquainted myself with Scott. We both confessed that this was all getting far too stressful and nervously took it in turns to do some cursory strides while we waited. The latest news was that Greg had gained the time lost back and was running neck and neck with Dave. The Mountain Goat leg awaited....

Scott and I were bouncing up and down on the spot, trying to at least look as if we were excited about running the upcoming leg. We didn't even know whose headlamp was going to show up first as we looked back into the darkness. As it was it was Greg's voice we heard first. What a run from the debutante! Hold on though, there's another flashing light right behind. Yes, it's Dave and yes after 30 legs of racing the teams were almost neck and neck, one van rotation and some very tough stages to go!

I headed off into the darkness with the shouts of my teammates ringing in my ears. The first mile and a half of this leg is pancake flat as you run along the bottom of the valley. You feel how a Tour de France rider must feel as he rides along the valley floor in the Pyrenees preparing himself for the inevitable and relentless climb ahead. I knew Scott was just seconds behind so I just tried to relax into a good tempo and wait for him to inevitably pull alongside me. Misery loves company, right! We hit the base of the hill neck and neck. Two dogs scurried out of the undergrowth towards us and gave us brief pause for thought before they sensibly decided that they had no need to be running up a mountain at 6:30 in the morning. The climb started, Scott and I just focussing on the road ahead, the only sounds the patter of our shoes on the road and the gradually increasing breaths being exhaled. My Garmin beeped as we knocked off another mile. I looked down and it read 6:50 pace for the last mile. That was a pretty similar pace as I had run for the leg last year in breaking the previous course record. I was feeling pretty good but still couldn't imagine running 3 and a half more miles up this darned hill!!

Scott had got a step on me now but I focussed and dug in and clung to his tail. I figured that if I could keep close to him on this leg I would be handing over to Bob in a good position and we all knew what he was capable of. All 4 vans passed us and cheered us on. I heard Asheville shouting for Scott to show the Charlotte guy how Asheville got it done. I was determined to not let that happen. Halfway up the hill and we were still stride for stride. I would occasionally take the lead myself just to show Scott that I still had some gas and this is how almost the whole climb played out. The top of this beast is the worst part! The grade steepens and it becomes switchback after switchback. Still we were alongside each other, no quarter given or asked. About a quarter mile from the end of the stage Scott finally put some hurt on me and grabbed a 19 second lead but I was pleased with my effort. What a run from Scott who had beaten my leg record from last year by 6 seconds. I couldn't have given any more myself- I now have the second and third fastest times on ths notorious leg and had given Bob something to work with....

Captain passes on to Bob, a legend about to be born

After mutual congratulations between Scott and I and vows that we would make sure we wouldn't see each others faces in a race again any time soon, I hauled myself into van 1 and we set off to see how Bob was doing. Van 2 had already sped ahead to put Chris into position for leg 33. Van 1 was about to witness running of mythical proportions...

Barely 5 minutes had passed since I had handed the wristband to Bob but already he had retaken the lead for CRC. He was a mile into the 9.4 mile stage back down the mountain I had just run up and was simply flying. As we passed him we checked the speedometer of the van- 15 mph, his cadence a blur, dust swirling around his ankles. We were stopping the van periodically to witness the mayhem but soon having to jump back in as he was past us before we knew it. As the terrain flattened out and turned from dusty trail to tarmac the worry was that Bob's quads were just going to say "no more!" but if they were hurting, they didn't show it. 9.4 miles and 47:19 later (an average pace of 5:02) Bob had reopened the lead to two minutes for CRC. Chris headed off towards the infamous 'Nipple', Asheville waited for their man to come in, Bob collapsed in a heap by the side of the road....

Bob clearly hadn't tried hard enough....

Asheville's captain was up next and his intelligent grind up the simply ridiculous 13% grades of leg 33 cut back into CRC's lead again. Chris had done his utmost over his three legs and poured all his effort into this leg in particular. Over three legs he had ceded just 2 and a half minutes to Asheville's leader despite being self-confessedly out of his usual shape. There were three runners left and the lead was 41 seconds in CRC's favor. Having seen how gifted Asheville's closing threesome were over their previous legs, things looked ominous for Charlotte as both Aarons set off on leg 34.

On a side note it should be mentioned that the two teams now had company again! Having passed every other team in the race a good couple of hours back, one team had obstinately remained up ahead. The remarkable Carolina Godivas Masters team that had started 1.5 hours ahead of CRC and Asheville had held on until two legs from the finish to get passed. They were noticeably enthralled to be witness to the race that was about to unfold past them and themselves went on to smash the previous Masters team record. Great stuff!

Meanwhile we were waiting at exchange zone 34/35 for the two Aarons to come in. 'El Presidente' Linz was doing "uno mas" for the CRC team, Kolk was running a barnstormer. It was later revealed that the Asheville Aaron had torn a muscle during his first leg but battled through it. If that was the case then his run on this leg was remarkable. He handed over to David with a 41 second lead and Asheville looked like they were about to seal the deal. Credit where credit's due to both men who had brushed off their middle of the night misadventures and performed to the utmost for their teams.

Leg 35 started off at the base of yet another monster climb. CRC's hope was that their own mountain goat Josh could lay it all on the line for his team and cut back into Asheville's lead. As he sprung off in pursuit of David it certainly looked for a while that he might just be able to do that. He was bounding up the hill like a man possessed and as our van passed the Asheville runner his cadence and facial expression showed signs that he may be cracking. We drove on to the last exchange zone with hope in our hearts again. Rocky got out of the van and prepared himself for the final showdown, Jubbs was prowling around ready to get unleashed one final time. All of a sudden Asheville's voices rose. Their man was on his way in! Showing that our impressions as we had passed him had simply been wishful thinking, David bounded into the exchange zone having completed the ridiculousy hard stage at a 6:18 pace! The band was passed on to Jubbs and he was off like a greyhound after a rabbit. 41 seconds later and Josh came flying in too! He couldn't believe he hadn't got closer to his counterpart having run at 4:48 pace for the last mile of his leg but we were proud of him! If we hadn't known this guy before the race then we certainly did now!!

Rocky flying towards the finish

Rocky set off and CRC still clutched on to the hope of a miracle. The 4 vans headed off towards Asheville and bemused tourists and cyclists wondered what on earth was going on as two very fast guys were sprinting down the mountain on the wrong side of the busy road heading towards the town center! As we passed both Rocky and Jubbs it was clear that the Asheville man was running like a man possessed and looked unstoppable. We headed into Asheville resigned to defeat but oh so proud of our team. We parked up the vans and headed up to the finishing line. Sure enough Jubbs was soon in view and the Asheville Running Collective joined him in the traditional Blue Ridge Relay fashion of running over the finishing line with the last member of your team. It was later discovered that Jubbs' shoes had literally melted during his 5:02 pace final leg. That's what it had taken to hold CRC off but all the same, what a closer Asheville had had!

Just 2 minutes and 15 seconds later and in came Rocky and we proudly joined him in crossing the finishing line ourselves. The generous and respectful applause we had given the Asheville team as they had finished the race was replicated by the winning team as CRC finished. Mutual congratulations were given and Asheville were able to bask in the glow of victory safe in the knowledge that they had been given the most intense fight possible. Both teams had simply given their all and in the end the best team had won the most exciting and by far the fastest race in BRR history.

A proud CRC team cross the line with Rocky

The deserved victors

The gallant runners up

Mutual respect

As tales were told and legends began to be created as we scoffed down slice after slice of Mellow Mushroom pizza after the race, thoughts were already turning towards next year's race.....

Thanks for reading.....

And if the tale I have told is not enough to give you a sense of the race, here is the link to Asheville's own video take on the action....

Blue Ridge Relay Recap- Part 8- Of Legends and Melting Shoes

2011-09-23T22:32:00.000-04:00

A proud CRC team cross the line with Rocky

The deserved victors

The gallant runners up

Blue Ridge Relay Recap- Part 7- Of Mountain Goats

2011-09-23T18:51:00.003-04:00

Scott and I were bouncing up and down on the spot, trying to at least look as if we were excited about running the upcoming leg. We didn't even know whose headlamp was going to show up first as we looked back into the darkness. As it was it was Greg's voice we heard first. What a run from the debutante! Hold on though, there's another flashing light right behind. Yes, it's Dave and yes after 30 legs of racing the teams were almost neck and neck, one van rotation and some very tough stages to go!

I headed off into the darkness with the shouts of my teammates ringing in my ears. The first mile and a half of this leg is pancake flat as you run along the bottom of the valley. You feel how a Tour de France rider must feel as he rides along the valley floor in the Pyrenees preparing himself for the inevitable and relentless climb ahead. I knew Scott was just seconds behind so I just tried to relax into a good tempo and wait for him to inevitably pull alongside me. Misery loves company, right! We hit the base of the hill neck and neck. Two dogs scurried out of the undergrowth towards us and gave us brief pause for thought before they sensibly decided that they had no need to be running up a mountain at 6:30 in the morning. The climb started, Scott and I just focussing on the road ahead, the only sounds the patter of our shoes on the road and the gradually increasing breaths being exhaled. My Garmin beeped as we knocked off another mile. I looked down and it read 6:50 pace for the last mile. That was a pretty similar pace as I had run for the leg last year in breaking the previous course record. I was feeling pretty good but still couldn't imagine running 3 and a half more miles up this darned hill!!

Scott had got a step on me now but I focussed and dug in and clung to his tail. I figured that if I could keep close to him on this leg I would be handing over to Bob in a good position and we all knew what he was capable of. All 4 vans passed us and cheered us on. I heard Asheville shouting for Scott to show the Charlotte guy how Asheville got it done. I was determined to not let that happen. Halfway up the hill and we were still stride for stride. I would occasionally take the lead myself just to show Scott that I still had some gas and this is how almost the whole climb played out. The top of this beast is the worst part! The grade steepens and it becomes switchback after switchback. Still we were alongside each other, no quarter given or asked. About a quarter mile from the end of the stage Scott finally put some hurt on me and grabbed a 19 second lead but I was pleased with my effort. What a run from Scott who had beaten my leg record from last year by 6 seconds. I couldn't have given any more myself- I now have the second and third fastest times on ths notorious leg and had given Bob something to work with....

Blue Ridge Relay Recap- Part 6- Asheville respond

2011-09-23T17:54:00.000-04:00

As the dust settled on the leg number 22 that everyone wanted to forget about, it was time for the race to carry on in earnest. It was 2:30 in the morning, and 125 miles of the 208 miles had been covered. Charlotte were now just over 5 minutes ahead, the largest lead of the race so far and almost a mile for these speedsters! An angry Asheville team was in hot pursuit, adrenaline pumping, and Charlotte were going to have to respond if their lead wasn’t going to disappear quickly.

Status quo on the next leg but that was not unexpected. Josh and David, who ended up being two of the fastest runners in the race, were separated by just 2 seconds over their three legs when the race was over! David won their first head to head by 3 seconds, Josh this one by 2 seconds and David the 3rd leg later by 1 second. They ended up running 16.1 miles in 1:33:26 and 1:33:28 (5:48 pace). Unbelievable stuff.

Leg 24 saw the first stirrings of a comeback though. In spite of covering his 3.2 mile leg in 16:14, Rocky ended up losing a minute of the lead on this leg with Jubbs covering the same ground in an unbelievable 15:15 (this leg was longer than a 5k remember- at 3am!). Both vans had now run twice, 4 minutes was the gap.

With their second legs out of the way it was time for van 2 to think about grabbing some sleep while van 1 got back to work and finished off their races. As such we were unable to provide the support that we had previously been giving to van 1 while they ran. We drove ahead to exchange zone 30/31 where I would next be taking the wristband up the notorious mountain goat stage.

I navigated our van to the changeover spot, so had had literally no sleep since the start of the race. I didn't feel that tired anyway as I was buzzing off all the adrenaline from the race. It was 4:30 am and I was due to run at about 6 so I figured it would probably be a good idea to try and get some sleep. I headed into the hall that people were sleeping in, set my alarm for 5:30 and laid myself out on the floor. My legs were sore from the previous two stages and I generally just felt pretty crappy but it was nice to be able to stretch out on the floor and rest my eyes. Needless to say I didn't get any sleep at all, I just tossed and turned and stretched for an hour, constantly checking my watch to see what time it was.

At 5:30 I headed back to the van and rooted around in the dark for my third running outfit of the race and all the other required night time paraphenalia. Everyone else was still dozing. Behind me down the road I figured Mike was probably finishing off leg 29 and Greg would be getting ready to tackle leg 30. We had no idea at this stage what had been happening in the race the past couple of hours. I tried to jog up and down the street a few times to loosen up my legs and get ready for the task ahead but must admit I wasn't feeling great at this point. My legs were sore, my body was tired and I knew what lay in store, having tackled this leg the year before. The prospect of running 5 miles straight up a mountain was not exactly enticing. I was cursing to myself (and Ben!) thinking I never want to do this thing again! I had to get my shit together though. The team needed me to do a job and I couldn't let them down, everyone else was giving 110% and I needed to do the same.

Josh woke at this point and immediately tried to get in contact with Ben to get an update on proceedings. Well apparently we had missed out on some pretty exciting stuff! Richard had lost a bit of time, John had caught it back and added some to the lead (no surprises there) but on leg 27 Asheville had made their first significant move on the longest stage of the night, 9 miles. In spite of a great run from Billy who covered the leg in 57 minutes, Kevin Lisska had taken nearly 3 minutes out of the lead. As Billy handed over to the captain the lead was down to 2 minutes. Daniel set off after Ben in earnest and was soon cutting into the lead. Yet more drama though as his curse of the calf struck again to slow him downand Ben was able to regain the time that had been whittled away. The gap was still 2 minutes as the captain finished off his legs. A great effort indeed by Ben, who two weeks earlier wasn't even sure he was going to run!!

Then, it happened. After 28 legs, 159 miles and 15 hours of racing, Asheville grabbed the lead for the first time in the race. A relentless 7.5 mile charge at 5:39 pace (his third run in 15 hours remember!) from Seth had seen him pass Mike and hand over to Dave with just over a 1 minute lead. CRC weren't done yet though and with Greg up next against an opponent that he had just had the edge over so far, anything could happen!

So Josh communicated the news that Asheville had taken the lead and that the 2 guys were about 15 minutes away. I made my way over to the starting area and reacquainted myself with Scott. We both confessed that this was all getting far too stressful and nervously took it in turns to do some cursory strides while we waited. The latest news was that Greg had gained the time lost back and was running neck and neck with Dave. The Mountain Goat leg awaited....

Blue Ridge Relay Recap- Part 5- when things start to get a bit hazy

2011-09-22T22:20:00.000-04:00

It was time for the Captain to pull on his racing flats again. In a remarkably similar situation to the one I found myself in at the same time of last year's race, I was just about to be handed the wristband very closely followed by our nearest rival. This leg was the easy one of my three, a slightly downhill 4.3 miler with few turns. And, just like last year, I ran a solid enough leg but felt I could have run faster. In fact I ran 1 whole second faster than last year! More importantly, it was 8 seconds faster than Scott. The overall lead was creeping back up to a minute and Bob was up next. He clearly had his counterpart's number and after a brute of a 7.5 mile leg at 1 o'clock in the morning, two more minutes were gained. Chris protected the lead, then things were about to get very interesting....

We were now nearly 12 hours into the race and everyone was starting to get a bit tired. The middle of the night hours were beginning to take hold and the in van banter was reduced as runners tried to grab the odd moment of shut eye. Aaron set off on his second leg. Shortly afterwards our van overtook him and called out the usual encouraging words as we passed. Soon we were approaching a key intersection but there were no signs indicating that the runners had to turn. Usually no sign meant carry straight on. We were confused, a van in front of us was clearly confused as well as it was crawling along at 10 mph. We followed that van across the intersection not entirely sure we were going the right way. Driving along we were looking out for the tell tale flashing lights of other runners. There were none....

We were trying to keep calm in the van but were now clearly lost and the maps weren't really much use. Our new worry was that we weren't going to get Josh to the next exchange zone in time to get the wrist band from Aaron. We did a u turn and headed back the way we had come, this time at about 70 mph! Other vans were around, it was clear that we weren't the only ones lost. After eventually getting back on the right route we still weren't sure whether Aaron had got lost himself. As we hadn't passed him again we presumed he had and as we approached the next exchange zone, the other van was finally able to get through to us on the phone. Aaron had indeed gone the wrong way but they had found him and pointed him back in the right direction. Apparently, Asheville's Aaron had also gone off course but he too was back on the right route. Two very pissed Aarons were heading towards exchange zone 23 having both run a couple of additional unwanted miles.

It soon transpired that Asheville had suffered more than CRC. When the dust settled CRC had expended their lead from 2:30 to just over 5 minutes. Based on how the two Aarons had matched up on their first leg, Asheville could probably have counted on their guy cutting the lead in half on this leg. Instead they found themselves further behind. How would they respond?

Blue Ridge Relay Recap- Part 4- Night racing

2011-09-22T21:12:00.000-04:00

It was now just after 8:15 on Friday evening and darkness had set in. Both teams had shown their cards and every runner had raced. After 71.6 miles and 6 hours and 47 minutes of racing (that’s an average of 5:41 pace per mile just to put it into perspective!), 29 seconds separated the two teams!! If the other teams’ runners saw a blur of a headlamp, blinky lights and reflective panels coming past them now it was likely a runner from one of these two protagonists!

Richard carried on where he had left off from his first leg, putting a further minute into his rival. Then it was over to John and Keith to duke it out on the longest and toughest stage of the race, the Grandfather Mountain ten miler. Rumor had it that John was going to have a crack at breaking the hour barrier on this leg, a feat rarely achieved in years past. Van 2 had the pleasure of stopping every 10 minutes or so to watch John’s relentless charge across the mountain. Road kill is the term used to describe overtaking another runner in this race. This was more like road genocide. 1 hour and 27 seconds after starting his leg John handed over to Billy. Credit where credit is due though. John’s Asheville counterpart Keith refused to buckle under his charge, himself clocking a remarkable 1:01:48.

John jumped in our van and we set off to see how Billy was doing on the shortest and fastest leg of the race, 2.4 miles downhill. As we approached him from behind we could see he was running well. He was weaving in and out of road kill, ticking them off one by one. We whooped and hollered as we passed him to pump him up even more. He clearly didn’t need much pumping as he shouted after us, a la Bruce Willis, “Yippie Ki Yay Mother F*ck*rs!!”. Not sure that was in keeping with the “Please talk in hushed voices between the hours of 7:30pm and 7:30am” rule, but we let him off as he was flying. Bearing in mind that Billy’s mile PR leading into this race was 5:09, his average pace of 4:34 for this leg was scarcely credible! Amazingly, though, CRC actually lost time on this leg as Kevin Lisska ran 10:06 for the 2.4 miles, an average pace of 4:23!!! The lead was now 2:30.

Over the next 4 legs that lead was whittled down to 46 seconds as Asheville chipped away leg by leg. At the halfway point, just over ten hours into the race, we were still no closer to discovering our victor

Blue Ridge Relay Recap- Part 3- First rotation comes to a close

2011-09-21T22:13:00.000-04:00

Up to this point it had felt like us and Asheville were the only two teams in the race! We had started an hour and a half after the previous starters and hours behind the other 100 plus teams that were competing. As we pulled into exchange zone 10/11, however, we came across the first few of all other vans that we would pass. I bumped into fellow blogger Dave and his team and we exchanged tales of the race so far. Their team seemed genuinely interested in how the race was panning out between us and Asheville and it appeared that word had got around that there was a highly competitive duel going on at the ‘back’ of the race. As it was just getting dark now it was time to get out the reflective vests and headlamps and start getting ready for the night ahead.

Legs 11 and 12 did not disappoint as the 4 speedsters got to work and laid their respective markers down. By the time Rocky Falcone handed over to Richard at the Tangier Outlet in Blowing Rock and Van 1 set off for its second shift, less than a minute separated the teams, CRC with the slight advantage. By now of course everyone had run and we could start to get a feel for how the race may develope further down the line. It was clear that both teams were definitely pretty evenly matched. Our Van 1 had edged Asheville’s but mainly due to the problems they had encountered on leg 3. If Daniel was sufficiently recovered for the rest of the race that would clearly make a significant difference to the outcome. With regard to Van 2, meanwhile, Asheville appeared to have the upper hand overall and their last four runners looked capable of doing significant damage given even a merest sniff of the lead.

A third of the race had been completed, honors even....

Josh finishing off Leg 11

Rocky sets off towards Blowing Rock. Jubbs, Asheville's potent closer, lurking menacingly in the background

The sun sets on rotation 1 of the competition

Blue Ridge Relay Recap Part 2- The battle commences

2011-09-21T21:38:00.001-04:00

The Captain gets going

An inside view of the 2011 Blue Ridge Relay- Part 1- Pre race build-up

2011-09-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

2011 Blue Ridge Relay recap soon

2011-09-21T03:59:00.001-04:00

I woke up tonight with a sudden urge to write all about this year's Blue Ridge Relay. As I thought about it I realized I could remember a lot more about this one than I had been able to the year before so I should take the opportunity to get something down 'on paper'. So this is going to take me a while to write but hopefully it will be worth it. Back when it's done...

'Rash decision' (?) overturned?

2011-09-21T03:50:00.000-04:00

Okay I've had a few people say that they want me to carry on the blog even if it is just updated every so often so I guess I'm putting the plug back in. I woke up in the middle of the night tonight with a sudden urge to right a full recap of the Blue Ridge Relay so that I had a good review in print of what was one of my most memorable running experiences ever so expect that soon. Captain will be back.

Stoppin' bloggin'

2011-09-16T03:19:00.000-04:00

Bored with my blog so am pulling the plug. I don't think anyone reads this any more and if you did you can keep up with my training through the R2W link and I'm on FB a lot!

Cheers!

Week in review

2011-08-29T09:22:00.001-04:00

Well last week’s training ended up being a complete bust! I had to take one day off because of illness and the rest of the week I felt either hung over from NYC or just not very well. I fully intended to run long on Sunday and got up in time but was feeling tired from Saturday and still had residue from my cold so decided to put it off until Monday and drew up a plan for the next couple of weeks through Blue Ridge instead.

That plan called for my planned long run to be done today and again I woke up ready to go and was actually feeling decent for the first couple of miles before deciding that two hours on my own on a Monday morning was going to be pretty lonely and miserable, let's do tomorrow's run today and run long on Miners day where at least I can guarantee company for 90 minutes!!

Having said that, today's run was good and as I was up so early I had plenty of time to do some barefoot strides, drills and stretching at CCS as well. Let's see what excuse I can come up with tomorrow for not doing the long run!

Need my mojo back! Excitement and anticipation leading into Blue Ridge next week should see to that….

2-2-2

2011-08-29T09:12:00.001-04:00

So I guess Saturday went about as well as could be expected and I’ll mark it in the ‘average’ category

I woke up feeling a lot better than I had done Friday morning but could still tell during my warm up that my heart rate was far more elevated than usual and that the race was going to be a real struggle towards the end.

I planned to head out as conservatively as possible but a couple of things scuppered that idea immediately. Firstly I found myself positioned away from my rivals on the left hand side of the two starting locations. After the ‘gun’ went off I shot down the left side of the median and was having to shout ahead to the race director to ask him when I needed to break over to the right and join the rest of the race. Not an ideal start.

Once I did get across and join the rest of the field I found myself in the lead but immediately joined by Chris. He was hammering it so of course I just tried to settle in with him. I was feeling pretty decent at this point so just went with it. That meant I was probably 5-10 seconds ahead of where I needed to be at the mile. We ran side by side for the second mile too but our pace had dropped significantly as we climbed the toughest section of the course and I was paying attention to Chris rather than the pace. Chris dropped back and I was joined instead by Richard, who had run a much more even paced race and was having a great day. We ran stride for stride for the next half mile and I could tell that Billy wasn’t far back either at this point as I could hear his name being cheered a few seconds after mine as we passed people!

As we approached East for the final time and the long slog up to the finish my pace started dropping and Richard got a gap. His motivation to win his first race, get a pr and get some decent points ahead of Chad and Billy in the GP series was clearly going to trump my general feeling of blah and so it proved, Richard being able to cruise to victory with little fight put up by me. It was a highly impressive performance from Richard and a significant moment in his running career. Big PR and a GP race victory. Not to be sniffed at, great job Richard! I held on to second ahead of Billy and collapsed in a suitable heap at the finish line. My time of 16:24 was my 2nd slowest on that course but probably about as fast as could have been expected.

Immediately after the race I went over to congratulate Richard and headed out for a cool down with a big group of people, licking my wounds but at the same time contemplating the bigger picture. Also Saturday underlined again how great the Charlotte running community currently is. So many friends to race hard against and so many people who weren't racing out there supporting (rumour has it there were three Olympic Trials qualifiers cheering us on). Good stuff.

Time to get back in shape

2011-08-26T15:42:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow will be my 5th race on successive weekends. That is ridiculous! Don’t get me wrong, I have no regrets about that situation, I train to race and love racing so I’m fine with it. The first of those 5 was my goal race of the Summer, which I won, 2, including the one tomorrow, were GP races, which I have to race in if I’m going to win the Series and the other 2 were rare opportunities to try a new race and snag a bit of cash (I ended up getting $100 which is better than nothing). Add that to the fact that my entry fee is already covered in the GP races and my Company is still covering entry fees for any races employees enter and perhaps you can understand some method in my madness?

Having said all that there is no doubt that it’s put a dent in my overall level of fitness. If I race on a Saturday rarely will I do a decent long run on the Sunday (the cornerstone of any training program). Also I always take it easy a couple of days before a race and my other workout that week will generally be quite a light one. So my training load the past few weeks has been pretty light. I’m currently averaging less than 60 miles a week and my long run rarely gets into double figures in terms of mileage. That coupled with feeling sick and tired this week has left me feeling pretty unfit at the moment.

So after tomorrow it’s time to get back to basics, get the mileage up again, two workouts a week, long run on Sunday, start feeling better about myself. After all I train to race, so let’s get back to training so I can race better at the end of it all when my Fall goal races come around.

Greek Fest GP Race 9 looms

2011-08-25T12:29:00.001-04:00

So Saturday I will be running Greek Fest for a 6th time (check out last year's preview for a bit of background). My race there last year was 'average' so I'm 2-2-1 in terms of good, bad and average performances there. If I had to hazard a guess at how Saturday is going to go I'd have to admit that I could be 2-3-1 after this one!

Last Saturday I ran a pretty desperate 10k effort. The course and weather were horrible but my collapse in the last couple of miles was worrying! The only upside of the race was the $50 I received for third place, enough to buy 2 beers in NYC and have some change for a sandwich.

Which brings me on to the post race activities in the Big Apple. Had a great time but the combination of bad drinking and eating and lack of sleep knocked me for 6 and I've been sick since I came home! I didn't run at all yesterday and dragged myself around for an hour this morning. Hopefully two more nights of good sleep will sort me out and I can at least give the race my usual 100% effort!

Should be a big turnout for this one and I'm looking forward to seeing how the usual Harris, Crockford, Shue tear up pans out and seeing if friends can meet their sub 17,18,19 goals!

Week in review

2011-08-15T22:26:00.000-04:00

I ran 55 miles last week including the race. My long run was 12 miles including 8 at around 6:35 pace helping out friends doing a workout. Other than that it was all nice easy miles and the legs and mind are feeling ready for the harder work I am going to demand of them over the next few weeks.

This week I'm shooting for 60 miles and am doing a workout with the Miners tomorrow and have pretty much decided I'm going to jump into a 10k on Saturday for my second workout of the week.

Fun weekend ahead with the race on Saturday morning followed by my Soph's 5 year birthday party and then off to the Big Apple to help Jay celebrate his penultimate weekend of bachelorhood. Oh boy!

Not so Rock n' Run

2011-08-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

Well it was nice to get a W on Saturday but I didn't run as fast as I wanted to. I ran 16:14 and was wanting to run much closer to 16. The first mile of 5:05 necessary for a sub 16 felt a lot harder than it should have and as I took the lead at this point I ran the last two miles solo and couldn't quite hold pace in spite of my best efforts. The strength is definitely there just not the speed. Hopefully with more competition guaranteed at Greek Fest in a couple of weeks I can run faster there. I would definitely recommend this race for next year though. Cool location, definitely a fair course and just a good vibe surrounding the whole event. Check it out next year!

Week in review

2011-08-08T12:28:00.003-04:00

5 runs, 35 miles, one sweaty 5k race

This was the first of my 2 weeks I've deemed necessary to recharge the batteries a little. I was meant to do 6 runs and 40 miles but I wasn't able to run on Sunday. So four enjoyable runs with friends Tuesday to Friday followed by a 5th place at Blue Points in my slowest ever time on that course on Saturday (16:31) and I was done for the week. Although a disappointing race, this wasn't unexpected and I still managed to consolidate my position as GP leader as the 4 guys who beat me were all college studs who haven't done any of the other races. In fact with 8 events gone and only 8 counting towards the final points total I think in golfing terms I'm 'dormie' and will win as long as I complete the last three races to get the bonus points.

Similar fare on the menu this week although looking to hit 50 miles for the week and run substantially faster in a 5k I have lined up on Saturday for which the current weather forecast is promising considerably better conditions than last Saturday's swamp fest.

10k splits

2011-08-03T08:33:00.001-04:00

Tim was kind enough to take all my splits at the race on Saturday.....

80, 79, 81, 81 (5:22)
80, 81, 79, 81 (5:22)
80, 79, 80, 81 (5:21)
40 -- 16:46 (5k)

81, 81, 80, 81 (5:24)
80, 79, 80, 80 (5:20)
81, 79, 80, 76 (5:17)
38 -- 16:41 / 33:28 (10k)

Happy with those!

Didn't run a step Sunday or Monday. Ran 8 yesterday and 9 today. Legs felt very heavy today haha! Plenty of recovery needed

USATF Masters 10k

2011-07-31T05:54:00.000-04:00

Three months ago I wasn't even aware that this race was out here. Heck, I assumed 'Masters' races began at age 40. Also from experience of previous USATF events I have come across, my non US citizen status has precluded my being able to enter. However, coach emailed me and told me that the USATF Masters track championships were being held less than a mile from his house, that over 30 was the Masters age requirement on the track and non US citizens could compete as 'guests'. I was in!

Originally we were contemplating doing the 5k/10k double, with the 5k on Thursday and 10k on Saturday. However I had just run a decent 5k on the track and knowing that the weather for this July meet was not likely to be conducive to fast running I figured what was the point in running a slow 5k and then having to come back for the 10k two days later with sore legs.

So the 10k it was. I had never raced more than 5k on the track so I was going into the unknown. We set up my training plan and for the last couple of months this race has been my focus. Obviously I've jumped into loads of races in the mean time but the end goal was always this race.

I was pretty happy with how training had gone. The heat had had a big impact on some of my workouts and longer runs but in the last couple of weeks of the schedule I'd gained confidence with a new 4 mile PR and was feeling pretty good about everything heading into the race.

We headed up to Ohio on Wednesday and arrived in Berea (where the meet was being held) on Thursday after a quick pitstop in Marietta. The first thing I noticed was the ridiculous humidity. A storm had just passed through and I literally felt wet as soon as I got out of the car. Tim had just won his age group in the 5k and considering the dew point was in the 80s which apparently is 'rainforest', his time in the 15:40s was nothing short of outstanding! I was hoping the dew point would drop before Saturday!

Thursday and Friday we just hung out with the Budics. Tim won another race on the Friday (3k steeple- he is attempting to pull off the hatrick with the 1500m later today) and I just did a couple of short runs each day, turning the legs over but keeping them fresh for Saturday.

Saturday morning dawned and, as forecast, the weather was somewhat less humid than Thursday, but the sun was out and you could tell it was going to be a hot one! I warmed up with Salisbury running legend Bob Marchinko who had also come up to race and we discussed race strategy. Knowing that the race was going to be pretty painful in the heat we decided we would work together as much as possible and in Bob's words "try and beat the rest of the field up"!

We were called to the track and 31 of us toed the line. Lisa and the kids had stationed themselves in the shade down the backstretch and Bob had family and friends positioned on the homestretch so we had plenty of support. A sprinkler had been set up to provide water over our bodies each lap and there was a water station at the 250m mark. The temperature was in the 80s and rising and the sun was beating down relentlessly.

Originally the goal had been to attack my 10k (road) PR set years back in England of 32:30 but with the weather as it was, the goal was now more simple, just win the race!

The gun went off and I tried to get out of trouble as soon as possible and settle into a nice early rhythm. With 31 runners on the track the first couple of laps were likely to be quite hairy. Soon a lead group of 5 of us developed, with Bob at the forefront, the guy who had finished runner up to Tim in the steeple and two other guys from California who we had been told to look out for. Tim was at the 200m mark calling out splits and we were going along pretty comfortably splitting 80s.

I knew this was 33:20 pace and figured that sort of time would probably be good enough to win in the conditions so I decide to settle at the back of this group and just sit in while we were churning out 80 second laps. This was the pattern for the first mile or so before the first move of the race was made. Bob suddenly sprung out of our group and dropped a 2:32 800 to establish a 20 yard gap on the field.

I was surprised by this and my immediate reaction was just to stay in the group and hope Bob came back later. My negative side was worried that he was feeling good and was just going to run away with it though!

The four of us carried on splitting 80s and Tim was telling me each lap just to stay right where I was and be patient- there were still over 4 miles to go! Gradually our group started dwindling as the pace became a bit too hot to handle for a couple of the guys. I was still feeling comfortable and decided this was the time to start pushing the pace along a little. I broke out of the group and now it was Bob about 20 yards up ahead, followed by myself and then the rest of the field now strung out behind. I went through 5k in about 16:44 and the race was now well and truly on.

I was feeling pretty decent still, although I was very warm at this point! each lap I would grab a cup of water and douse it over my body, taking the occasional sip, but soon my singlet and shorts were drenched and I didn't know if it was worth adding more and more weight or keeping as cool as possible! Bob was now running 81s and myself 79/80s. If I could stay patient and Bob didn't get a second wind I would be able to reel him in within a few laps.

With about two miles to go I was eventually up to Bob's shoulder. As I passed him we exchanged a brief couple of words and decided to work together the next few laps. We traded laps for about a mile and then just as I was expecting Bob to come through and take lap 20 he wasn't there as I pulled to the side so I just carried on regardless. The move had been ade for me and now it was just a question of whether I would be able to hold on to the finish.

The stadium announcer exclaimed that I had taken the lead and I could hear the girls screaming excitedly on the backstretch. I was suffering now but trying to plough on, just a mile to go. I was now on autopilot but still hitting 80 second splits and I mustered up enough energy to close out the race with my fastest mile split. Bob followed just 6 seconds behind to win his age group and complete a notable one-two for the Charlotte Running Club at a national championships! We were thirty seconds ahead of the next guys.

As soon as I finished I didn't get much chance to reflect and congratulate the other racers coming in as I was whisked off for random drug testing! Needless to say after putting my body through the ringer for over 33 minutes the old bladder was not ready to cooperate! I downed three Gatorades and five bottles of water and waited patiently for the body to do its stuff and let me get out of there. After over two hours (!!) of waiting around, eventually I was able to do my business and they let me go. I jogged back to the hotel where the girls had been waiting for me patiently, grabbed as much food as I could find in the room and then headed out to the pool for the afternoon for some welcome recovery in the cool water. Needless to say, I was going backwards and forwards to the bathroom for the rest of the day!

So for the next year I can call myself USATF 10k Masters track champion. That's pretty cool I think!

Definitely taking a couple of down weeks now to let the body recover and
recharge the batteries for my Fall goals- hold on to my lead in the Grand Prix series, Blue Ridge Relay and Thunder Road Half Marathon on November 12th!

Final tune up in the books

2011-07-26T08:52:00.002-04:00

Having had mixed fortunes of late with my workouts it was with a steely determination that I headed out this morning to try and nail my final workout before Saturday’s race. Luckily Jay was back in town for a couple of days so he kindly agreed to work out with me while he was down and this helped us get a pretty decent workout in this morning! The goal was to run two miles tempo to the track, rest a minute, run a 5 minute mile, rest three minutes then finish off with 2 ks in 3:05. I hit 11:54, 5:01 and then two 3:06s to finish off. I’m not going to lie this was hard work but at least I didn’t pussy out of the workout like I have for a few of the last ones!

So I’m happy with my form heading up to Ohio and will take it nice and easy for the rest of the week before hitting the race hard on Saturday. With the weather looking hot and humid through the weekend all bets are off with regard to what time I think I can run but I plan to get in the mix and race well

Week in review

2011-07-24T14:52:00.000-04:00

After the ups and downs of the past few weeks, at last just a normal solid training week where I hit my plan. Nothing fancy, nothing exceptional just a boring week of getting the work done. I did two workouts, a longer run (12 miles) and sweated a lot in the ridiculous weather we have all faced! I got a massage on Friday and the legs are feeling pretty decent heading into the last few days before the 10k on Saturday. All easy runs until then with one last workout Tuesday morning. Heading up to Ohio on Wednesday so looking forward to a nice two day work week as well!

Ups and downs

2011-07-18T12:40:00.000-04:00

After the swampfest of the Saturday workout, it was on to the Sunday long run and the 15 miles I had on the schedule. Luckily I had managed to spread the word around and was very happy to see about ten other guys rock up to Old Bell to keep me company. The first ten miles passed pretty smoothly as we all chatted along comfortably. I had staged some water bottles at the halfway mark of the loop which were very much appreciated and the fast rising heat and humidity was being kept at bay. By the end of it we were all strung out along Sardis Road however, just wanting to be done! I weighed myself before and after the run and despite ingesting a good amount of water during and immediately after the run I had lost 5lbs! With the girls no longer due back until Monday and no visit to the office required like I'd had to all day on the Saturday, I thoroughly enjoyed recuperating on my couch for the rest of the day in front of the Tour and the World Cup!!

My next workout was planned for the Wednesday. I was hoping that two days of easy miles since the hard weekend efforts would have been sufficient to at least have given me a shot at successfully completing the workout but I was wrong! 4 repeats into a planned 8*1k workout and I was done. I literally stopped and lay down by the side of the track, just wanting to sleep! As I jogged back to my car I was not feeling good about this workout at all. All the doubts about overtraining were creeping back in and I felt so weak I was mentally arranging doctors' appointments so that I could go and get my iron levels, etc tested.

Thursday and Friday, however, the weather changed dramatically! It was suddenly back in the 70s with less humidity. I at least felt human on these two days of running and was ready to give the 4 mile race a good effort on the Saturday. And a good effort indeed I gave. I managed to run a 4 mile pr of 20:51 and came 2nd in front of Bob Marchinko for the first ever time! All of a sudden the confidence is back. Three days earlier I had written myself off! I need to stop doing that! Coach was not surprised by the outcome of Saturday's race, commenting on the consistency I've been able to maintain through all the ups and downs of this cycle.

Sunday I had another 15 miler on the schedule but I was far too tired from the race to even contemplate doing that so an easy 4 it was and now in 'active taper' mode for the next couple of weeks before the 10k on the 30th where I'll get Bob Marchinko again as we represent the Queen City up at US Masters!

Workout in the swamp

2011-07-10T05:33:00.001-04:00

Last year coach Budic posted about taking dew point into consideration when deciding on pace ranges for workouts rather than simply the temperature itself. In essence running in 90 degree heat but with low humidity may be 'easier' (and more sensible!) to handle than running in 70 degree heat with high humidity.

Once the dew point hits 70 and above, serious consideration should be given to delaying your workout until more comfortable conditions are in place. Unfortunately during a Southern summer you are very rarely going to get those conditions so this is an impractical solution unless you never want to work out! The solution is to temper your pace expectations and get the most you can out of your body without killing it.

Bearing all this in mind, to set yesterday's workout in context, workout partner Meagan discovered after our run that the temperature was 78 with a dew point of 73....

Coach had prescribed a workout of 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile with half mile recoveries with the paces cutting down from 5:30 to 5:20 to 5:10. This looked a pretty daunting workout to me but Tim has an uncanny knack of suggesting the correct paces that will challenge and improve me. I assumed that this workout was originally planned to be run on the track. I was going to be doing it at Mcalpine on the trails so I popped a note to Tim and he replied that I should adjust the paces by 5-8 seconds per mile. What I neglected to ask was how I should adjust the paces for the anticipated humidity. I've been whining all summer about the humidity and didn't want to sound like I was looking for an easy way out with this workout! As you will see, this proved to have a significant impact on my run!

Earlier in the week I had sent out an email requesting company for the workout and fortunately I was able to attract the interest of three of my partners from last week's tempo, Meagan, Jordan and Spada. We met at the relatively earthly hour of 7am and headed out to the three mile mark of the trail. We were already drenched by the time we were doing our strides in preparation for the first three miles!

It was a great foursome for the workout. Steve and Meagan were going to have each other for company throughout while I was hoping to be able to take advantage of Jordan's relative lack of fitness and have him to hang on to for once. We got down to work and settled into a nice early rhythm. Jordan and I ran side by side back to Old Bell in paces of 5:35, 5:35 and 5:34 for a three mile time of 16:44. The effort felt hard but sustainable at this point, unfortunately I was now supposed to run the next section at a faster pace!

We grabbed some fluids and jogged back out to the half mile mark for the 2 mile portion. My body was already very hot and the four minute reprieve and copious amounts of water did little if nothing to cool it down. I hit the next mile in 5:30 but was definitely struggling now. Jordan was pulling away making it all look so effortless whereas I was seriously considering pulling the plug on the workout already! Instead I decided to run hard to the 1.5 mile mark and then get some extra recovery in before attempting the last mile.

I rejoined Jordan who had done the two miles no problem and we discussed what my approach should be for the last mile. We decided that I should start it but as soon as the pace started slipping I should ease off. Luckily I was able to get through the last mile okay in 5:30 (while Jordan pranced off into the distance- this will probably be the closest I will get to Jordan in a workout in a long while- he's clearly coming back nicely!).

So I had not completed the workout as prescribed but still felt that I had at least got 5 good miles of running in. Clearly I had run the first three miles too hard. Spada and Meagan on the otherhand had run a more sensible pace for this section and Jordan and I were able to cheer them in as they successfully completed their efforts. We were all absolutely drenched with our shoes sloshing in sweat, desperate to get back to Old Bell and the fluids that awaited! It was great to be able to work out with these guys and share our stories afterwards. Thanks all!!

On a more positive note

2011-07-09T06:21:00.001-04:00

After the doom and gloom of my last post I am happy to report that there are signs of Captain's mojo returning. I've been taking it nice and easy on my easy days, staying away from the bottom of the well during my workouts and making a conscious effort to keep on top of my massaging and stretching.

The legs and lungs have appreciated this and I'm starting to feel more positive about everything again. With a couple of weeks without racing I'm now looking forward to Grand Prix race #7 next Saturday which should give me a pretty good indication of where my fitness is at two weeks out from the 10k.

Learning lessons

2011-07-01T05:36:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened in the two and a half weeks since my last update, from being crowned fastest male in Mecklenburg County to feeling just about the slowest! I ran a solid 5k and mile on the track followed by a disastrous showing the other night in Championship week. I won my second GP race in a row at the Summer Breeze 5k to solidify my position at the top of the leaderboard (2 wins, 3 2nds and a 3rd in the 6 races to date) but had a couple of pretty poor workouts as well.

In short I've been showing signs of over-racing and at the moment I'm a little concerned that I've tipped myself over the edge of over training, with not much time to get my mojo back in time for the Masters 10k at the end of the month.

Let's look at the evidence. Since the start of April I have raced 10 times on the road and 5 times on the track. That is ridiculous, especially when you consider the weather conditions we face at this time of year.

The Grand Prix is part of the problem as 5 of those races were packed into this time (with the remaining 5 races nicely spaced apart until October). I have a special affection for the Grand Prix and also am very motivated to try and win it this year at last so I have no regrets about running those races, it's just a shame the schedule is so front loaded. It's the other races in between that I could probably have done without competing in.

Also the track series. Originally Coach and I decided that we would use these evenings as one of the workouts for the week. Unfortunately there's a big difference between working out and racing and I was definitely racing all those weeks.

So this has taken its toll and I'm feeling pretty tired right now. This week
was already scheduled as a down week so I'm making extra sure that I do use this week as a recovery week. In that way I can hopefully nip this in the bud and get back on track for the 10k.

One thing that will help with all this is that Lisa has taken the girls to VA to stay with her Mom for a couple of weeks now that school's out. So my running schedule is a lot more flexible and I have much more time for doing all the other stuff before and after runs that is so important. Not to mention that I can look forward to a nice couple of restful/napful weekends of tennis and TDF watching!

So the lesson from this post readers is never lose sight of your main goal, focus on the long term race and not the short term ones in between. Listen to your body and back off when it seems that would be the best thing to do regardless of what your training plan says.

Happy running!

Reduced output

2011-06-30T21:36:00.000-04:00

My 3 readers will have noticed I haven't posted for a while. Basically I've been busy at work and in my down time have frankly not been motivated to post anything. Gets a bit boring just regurgitating my runs and races, especially when I log my runs on an accessible log anyway. So bear with me but I've decided I'm only going to post when I feel any inspiration come on from now on and not just post for the sake of it. Hopefully that will make the blog more enjoyable to write on my side and interesting to read on yours.

So I am still alive and am (of course) still running. More soon....

Week in review

2011-06-13T08:52:00.000-04:00

Another solid week of training in the books. I hit 65 miles but managed to snag a day off yesterday as I doubled three times. The workouts were solid and I got nearly two hours on my feet Saturday. Lisa and I even managed to get a night out on Saturday so all in all it was a good week! This one will be sad though as it will mark Jay's last week in Charlotte before he heads off to NYC- another good friend/training partner leaving me!

M- 9.6
T- 5 am (strides)/7 pm inc. 3200m in 9:50, 2ks in 3:06/3:12
W- 6.6
Th- 4.5 am (strides)/4.1 pm
F- 11.2 inc. 8 tempo (5:55 pace)
S- 15 @7:20 am/3.75 pm (strides)
S- OFF (spent the whole day walking round Carowinds though!)

My least favourite run of the week

2011-06-08T08:43:00.002-04:00

Is always the Wednesday morning run following a hard night on the track on Tuesday. This morning was no exception. I got up, procrastinated, contemplated heading out at lunch time in the 95 degree heat, considered taking a day off and doubling tomorrow, you name it I tried to find an excuse not to run! However, common sense prevailed and I gingerly headed out. The first mile was 8:34 and I eventually slogged through 52 minutes at about an 8:00 pace average. Normally I can lessen the misery of these runs by heading to the Dowd and finding solace in company, but as I didn’t get back from the track till late last night and barely got to see the girls before they went to sleep I promised them I would be at home when they woke up in the morning so no Dowd for me.

Anyhow, glad to get it done and feeling much better for it! Tuesday night went well with victory in the 3200 in 9:50 followed by 2 kms in 3:06 and 3:12 pretty much straight after. The trading laps with Aaron and Jay went well and left me with plenty of gas in the tank for the last 800 when the ‘gloves were off’. This probably converts to about a 15:45 5k so pretty happy where I’m at right now. Onwards….

Back to the grind

2011-06-07T08:43:00.001-04:00

Last week saw the commencement of my latest training block heading towards the USATF Masters track 10k at the end of July. I was able to get all my workouts in which is as much as you can ask with the current oppressive weather conditions we’re facing. The weather isn’t going anywhere for a few months now most likely so I’ll try not to mention it again! Hat’s off to Meagan though who won the latest 13.1 race in Chicago in the face of ridiculously hot and humid conditions.

Monday I did my long run for the week. It was 15 miles and I felt really good, consciously having to hold myself back even though I was running 6:20s towards the end. I think there is something about the greenway at McMullen that just makes you run fast!

Tuesday that pretty hard run came back to bite me in the mile at the track series where I was handed a spanking by track speedster Aaron. I was feeling awful in the warm up, really heavy legged and an insect bite I had received the night before while cutting the yard had swollen my ankle up to the point where I could barely fit it into my spike! I stumbled out of the blocks trying to get into a good early pace but never really felt comfortable and after three laps of 71-72 seconds Aaron came tearing past me with 150 to go to take the race in 4:41 to my 4:46. I am hoping that that time is good enough to qualify me for the final in a couple of weeks I’ll just have to check the next few races. I definitely want to run faster than that next time! Literally straight after the mile I changed into my flats and jogged the half mile to the other track in the area and did a few 400m intervals to turn the evening into a productive workout.

Wednesday am I was able to get 7 very sore recovery miles in, definitely helped by running with a huge group from the Dowd (I would never have got 7 in solo!)

Thursday the legs were still tired but I got a good solid fartlek workout in on the cross country course in my trainers

Friday was a short recovery/pre race shakeout and Saturday I took advantage of John Compton’s absence to record a long awaited GP victory. I ran a solid race taking it out and running pretty much solo after the first mile taking the race in 16:08 which again was a big improvement on previous times on this course. It was great to see Jay back out there racing (he placed second) and Chad, Billy and Spada had a great race for third too! We did catch a nice break with the weather actually on Saturday morning so that helped. Similar conditions at the Summer Breeze race in a couple of weeks should see me dipping under the 16 minute barrier again on a course I have run 15:51 on before

I had a shakeout run on Saturday afternoon and then just another easy 5 on the Sunday to get to the planned 60 for the week and a good first week in the books

Tonight should be fun as Jay, Aaron and I are heading to the second week of the track series to race in the 3200 meters. We’re hoping to share the workload for the first 6 laps in 75s and then see what we have in the tank for the last two laps. I definitely feel more suited to this distance than the mile! Straight after the race we are going to head to the other track again to try and bash out 2 1k repeats so I’ll be a tired man tonight! Tim has designed my mid week workouts around the summer track series so hopefully that will work out nicely.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

The hard work restarts today

2011-05-30T05:09:00.002-04:00

With a 6am start looming for my Memorial Day run I was just about to hit the sack early when a message popped up in my inbox. It was from Tim and yes it contained the new schedules taking me through to the Masters 10k in July. Early night plans were scuppered as I excitedly scanned down what was in store for me for the next couple of months. I've enjoyed being 'rudderless' and doing whatever seems appropriate week to week since the Richmond 10k but it was definitely time to get some focus back in my training and 'get back on the horse'. Thanks Tim! 15 mile 'long run' to get me kickstarted this morning followed by a mile race and some kilometer repeats on Tuesday evening...

M- Off
T- 11
W- 7 (strides)
Th- 10
F- 7.5 (including 1k at 5k pace)
S- 11 (including 5k xc race in 16:31)
Su- 5

A second successive 'down week' with the mileage and workouts light. I enjoyed running all these runs apart from Sunday's with different friends each day. Saturday's race was a 5k in Mcalpine that I jumped in hoping I could win without killing myself with the added bonus that I could jog to and from the start line. All boxes were ticked and as a bonus I picked up a new pair of shoes. A bride this week.

The only 'down' part of the week was watching my beloved Man U getting absolutely murdered by Barcelona in the Champions League Final. What a team Guardiola has, Man U light years behind and plenty to ponder over the Summer.

Happy Memorial Day all. Remember to take a moment to thank and remember all those who have fought and continue to fight for us to protect our freedoms. Amen

Week in review

2011-05-23T08:35:00.001-04:00

M- off
T- 10.5 including 4*1600,4*200
W- 8
Th- 7.5
F- 5
S- 8.5 including 5k in 16:20 am/4 pm
Su- 6.5

Total- 50 miles

This week called for a down week and the legs appreciated it. I’m actually taking another very low key this week too. It is a long season and it is important not to just hammer it all summer as there is only one thing that is going to lead to! With my new Training Plan leading up to the Masters track 10k due to start next week Ithought it would be an ideal time to kick back for another week and be ready to hit it hard when I get the new schedules next week

Great Harvest Bread 5k

2011-05-23T08:06:00.003-04:00

Another GP race, another runners up placing. After 4 events (3 2nds and a 3rd- could I have come second in that race had I not raced a 5k the night before? Probably) I am currently top of the standings (as John Compton kindly decided to forego the Skyline 5k) and running faster times than this time last year. This is promising as last year I was able to kick on and run a 2:35 marathon in the fall.

Having said all that I must admit that I felt kind of blah after Saturday’s race. I ended up being 50 seconds behind the winner and over 40 seconds in front of 3rd place- that’s a pretty lonely 5k! Most of the same protagonists were present for this race as at Twilight. There were two key differences at this race though. Firstly, it was clear from the outset that John was on a mission to run fast as he shot up the hill out of the gate at a sub 5 minute pace- at least at Twilight I had been able to keep him company for half a mile. Secondly at Twilight I felt Aaron was breathing down my neck the whole race and I was running scared, whereas on Saturday I looked around after 200 meters and no one was near me. Chad (who went on to finish another solid third place) had said to me as the gun went off, “have a good race”, I responded with a “you too” and that was that, I was in for just over 16 minutes of solo running!

I eventually finished in a time of 16:20 which on paper is a little disappointing but seeing as my Garmin had an average pace for me of 5:09 (compared to the official 5:14- for some reason the race organizers deem it necessary to finish this race with a sharp left uphill turn into a parking lot instead of finishing the race on the main straightaway) and that I ran solo on a hilly course, I’ll take it I guess.

Afterwards I had fun warming down and hanging out with friends and notching some nice bread and cookies as prizes. Nice start to the weekend!

Repeats in the rain

2011-05-17T10:15:00.003-04:00

This morning was a reminder of how the simple act of putting on a pair of shoes and running with friends can be so satisfying and enjoyable! The original plan had been for myself, Jay, Billy, Mike and Steve to meet up at 5:30 at Old Bell and head over to the last mile of the cross country course and do some mile repeats. Typically on a Tuesday I run easy on the Miners’ Run and then workout after work but as this week is a down week for me I am not running any doubles.

Jay was planning 5 at 5:20-5:30 pace as his recovery from injury continues apace. I was going to help him through the first three and then take off on the 4th one on my own. With GP race 4 coming up on Saturday there was no need for me to do 5 repeats and the 4th would be a good indicator of my current fitness. I was then going to finish with 4 200s while the others did the 5th repeat, just to get some turnover work in on tired legs.

Well as it happened it rained incessantly here all night and was still raining when we met up. All of a sudden the stuffy 70 degree, 90% humidity morning weather we were becoming accustomed to had been replaced by cold heavy rain. Mcalpine was out of the question as it would have been too muddy, so we had a gametime decision to make. Sack the workout until tomorrow or get it done on the track up the road. We decided to go with the latter, although the former was a close second at the time!

So the five of us headed up to PDS and got it done. It was dark and rainy, our shoes were soaked and the track was waterlogged, but we all met our workout goals and had a good time doing it. Oh for running with friends and a great start to the day!

Week in review

2011-05-15T10:48:00.000-04:00

M- off
T- 7/strides am/10 inc. 20*200 pm
W- 5 recovery
T- 9/strides
F- 4.5 am/7 inc. 5k race in 16:09 pm
S- 5 recovery
Su- 15 steady state (6:27 average)

Down week next week hurrah!

Always the bridesmaid

2011-05-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

After taking what seemed like yet another podium position at a GP race without taking the W on Friday night, I decided to take a quick look at my GP race history since moving over.

In 42 races to date I have placed in the top 5 34 times but only crossed the line first ONCE!!!

I have summarized the races below. It is high time I got W number 2, just need to make sure a few key players don't turn up for a race!!

2005

8/27/2005 Greekfest 5k 11th 16.33
9/24/2005 Hit the Brixx 10k 3rd 34:30
10/22/2005 TJs 15k 3rd 51.24

2006

3/18/2006 Shamrock 4 miler 5th 21.03
4/22/2006 Skyline 5k 3rd 16.21
5/19/2006 Twilight 5k 4th 16.02
7/8/2006 RFYL 4 miler 6th 21.46
8/5/2006 Blue Points 5k 2nd 16.30
8/26/2006 Greek Fest 5k 3rd 15.55
9/30/2006 Hit the Brixx 10k 3rd 33.31
10/21/2006 TJs 15k 3rd 51.26

Grand Prix 2nd overall behind Marchinko

2007

3/17/2007 Shamrock 4 miler 3rd 21.14
4/28/2007 Skyline 5k 4th 15.57
5/12/2007 Twilight 5k 3rd 16.15
6/22/2007 Summer Breeze 5k 4th 15.54
8/4/2007 Blue points 5k 4th 16.22
8/25/2007 Greek fest 5k 7th 16.21
9/29/2007 Hit the Brixx 10k 7th 35.07
10/20/2007 TJs 15k 2nd 51.59

Grand Prix 3rd behind Marchinko and Budic

2008

4/27/2008 Skyline 5k 4th 16.12
5/9/2008 Twilight 5k 1st 16.20
6/7/2008 Tiger 5k 4th 16.32
7/12/2008 RFYL 4 miler 2nd 21.41
8/2/2008 Blue Points 5k 4th 16.22
8/23/2008 Greek Fest 5k 2nd 15.53
10/18/2008 Lungstrong 15k 12th 55.39

Grand Prix 2nd behind Marchinko

2009

3/21/2009 Shamrock 4 miler 5th 21.58
6/6/2009 King Tiger 5k 4th 16:52
10/17/2009 Lungstrong 15k 7th 54:02

Grand Prix DNF

2010

3/20/2010 Shamrock 4 miler 13th 22:38
4/24/2010 Skyline 5k 5th 16.20
5/7/2010 Twilight 5k 4th 16.43
5/22/2010 Great Harvest 5k 3rd 16.36
6/5/2010 King Tiger 5k 3rd 16.35
7/24/2010 RFYL 4 miler 2nd 21.31
8/7/2010 Blue Points 5k 7th 16.13
8/28/2010 GreekFest 5k 4th 16.03
9/25/2010 Hit the Brixx 10k 3rd 34.12
10/16/2010 LungStrong 15k 5th 50.55

Grand Prix 2nd overall behind Kinley

2011

3/19/2011 Shamrock 4 Miler 3rd 21:19
4/30/2011 Skyline 5k 2nd 15:53
5/13/2011 Twilight 5k 2nd 16:09

A non running post!

2011-05-14T21:39:00.002-04:00

On the eve of my 12th wedding anniversary I've decided to go all 'non running' on you and tell you a bit about how Lisa and I ended up together. No idea why you'd be interested in any of this but we were reminiscing a bit today and i thought it would be quite amusing to put some of our story into the blogosphere. So if you want a Twilight recap (I came a strong but distant 2nd behind Compton in 16:09) ignore the rest of this post and go elsewhere!

On Friday March 12th 1998 I had finished another week at the PricewaterhouseCoopers mill and headed out for the usual night on the town with my flatmates- a few pre-game beers and some pints and clubbing in Chelsea. Staggered home about 4am, grabbed an hour's sleep, quick shower and out across London hungover on the Tube to Stansted Airport to meet up with some work colleagues for a 'bonding' trip to Dublin.

I had only decided to go right at the last minute. I couldn't really afford it but a previous girlfriend I had dated while I was on my year abroad in College and who I was completely besotted with lived in Dublin and we had arranged to meet up if I came over. Sure, she was going to be with her boyfriend but screw it I wanted to see her!

A quick flight to Dublin, drop our bags off at the Youth Hostel we were staying at and straight to the nearest bar in Temple Bar. Man U were playing Arsenal in a championship decider at Old Trafford so the Guinness was soon being thrown back. A late winner by Marc Overmars for Arsenal made me thoroughly depressed and more Guinness seemed the appropriate response. My friends all disappeared off to do a bit of sightseeing, I stayed at the Bar and spent the afternoon with the 'love of my life' and her boyfriend who was an annoyingly good bloke.

Fast forward a few hours and I was in another pub, back with my mates now. I got another round from the bar and stumbled and spilt the lot on the way back to our table. Apparently an American girl called Lisa had watched all this ridiculous scene and thought I was cute (she must have had a thing for embarrassingly drunk Englishmen). Two hours later we happened to be in the same Night Club and her buddy came over to chat me up. As I was unable to converse at this point she soon gave up on me but somehow her friend (Lisa) managed to engage me in conversation, telling me about how much she loved the Verve and Radiohead. Finding something in common must have sobered me up a bit and we got chatting. I thought she looked like the lead singer from Republica, cute!

By the end of the evening I had ascertained that Lisa was also on a weekend jaunt with friends and that she currently lived in London working as a Nanny for a rich American family in Kensington. Numbers were swapped and we said we'd meet up the following weekend. By the time I'd got back to London of course I'd lost the piece of paper with the number on. Oh well, that's a shame, she'd seemed really nice but plenty more fish in the sea, etc. etc. Much to my surprise I got a phone call on Wednesday night (an English girl would NEVER call!) and we arranged to meet in a pub at the end of her road on Saturday night.

She only lived a couple of miles away (so I thought) so I decided I'd walk. Of course I'd misjudged the distance and ended up having to run for about a mile to make it in time. This was pre 'running days' so I was gassed when I got to the pub but at least I was 5 minutes early. Lisa had apparently been watching for me from her house so her first post Dublin sighting of me was me bent double outside the pub trying to get my breath back. I went into the pub praying she'd be a little late as I couldn't really remember what she looked like so I wanted to find a table near the door where I could sit and watch people as they came in. Five minutes later Lisa walked in and I vaguely recognised her! We had a good laugh that night, went to watch 'Good Will Hunting' together the next day and that was that!

Within 6 months I'd moved out of my bachelor pad and we'd moved in together in a dingy flat in Battersea. In January 1999, romantic as ever, I popped the question kneeling in front of her in our kitchen, slipped my $500 Argos (think Sears) solitaire ring on her finger and May 15th we got hitched at Wandsworth Registry Office! We had booked our honeymoon to Turkey but Lisa's passport didn't get sorted on time so we had to cancel that and ended up honeymooning on Jersey, a small British island situated just off the North coast of France. Twelve years later and here we are, two beautiful daughters and a new life in Charlotte. What a lucky chap I am!!

Another weekend, another 5k race

2011-05-12T12:16:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again! This week it is the turn of the Twilight 5k, third race in the RFYL Grand Prix series, with the twist of it being held on a Friday evening rather than Saturday morning.

I'm excited to race, there's always an extra buzz for the GP races and the fact that it's held on a Friday night uptown adds to the occasion too. The course itself is tough and that combined with the usually oppressive heat and humidity means that people generally run 10-20 seconds slower here than they do at Skyline which we ran two weeks ago. The first two miles are flat and potentially fast but then you start climbing with about a mile to go and there's no real let up until the finish. For some reason the wind always seems to pick up around the football stadium too so the last mile becomes one hard slog to the finish. If you are going to get photographed in this race make sure it is during the first two miles!

I have a mixed relationship with this race. The first time I ran it I had a storming race in 16:02 which was actually faster than I had run at Skyline the previous week. Since then my times have progressively gotten slower though, culminating in last year's chastening 16:43 during which I honestly thought I was walking towards the end. On the plus side, however, I do have fond memories of the 2008 race, when I ran 16:20 and garnered my one and only Grand Prix race victory to date.

I won't reveal my tacics for this year's race in this forum but suffice to say I don't plan to go through two miles in 10:34 like I did last year!

I'm actually coming off the back of a pretty awful workout the other night when I did some 200s on the track but the heat and humidity was getting to me and I felt very sluggish. That heat and humidity isn't going to go anywhere so I'd best man up and get on with it, starting tomorrow night hopefully!

Good luck to any readers who will be out there tomorrow night and I'll see you after the race!

Week in review

2011-05-08T21:54:00.000-04:00

M- 5 easy
T- 7 easy am/11 including 800/1000s on track pm
W- 5 easy
T- 6 easy
F- 13 including 8 progressive tempo am/massage pm
S- 5 easy
Su- 12.5 including 5k race in 16:13

Total 64 on 8 runs

Happy with the week and looking forward to no run tomorrow and another big race uptown on Friday night

Happy Dad's Day!

2011-05-08T21:41:00.000-04:00

I've had worse days! Before I go any further I do want to stress that knowing that I would be racing today and then watching the Man U Chelsea game we celebrated Mothers Day yesterday so don't worry Lisa had a nice weekend!

Today started with victory in the Falafel 5k by a full three minutes. I jogged to the start for my warm up, ran a controlled 16:14 (Garmin measured 3.06 but who's counting?), jogged another circuit for my warm down, almost missed the awards as they held them early, picked up my $50 Omega Sports voucher and 4 free cupcakes from Polka Dot and jogged home. I really enjoyed the race and it was neat running on roads that I run on practically daily. The course was rolling but fair and the event very well organized. I hope this is one that stays on the calendar and I can try and defend my crown next year!

Then it was home to watch Utd despatch of Chelsea handily and virtually clinch the league title.

A happy day indeed...

Taking advantage of the temps...and a training partner returns

2011-05-06T12:46:00.000-04:00

This week has been pretty solid so far capped today by a decent progressive tempo effort. We had a sudden fall in temps after some storms passed through earlier this week so Wednesday morning I even had to root through my Fall running gear and grab a long sleeve shirt to wear!

This morning I rose bright and early to meet up with a fast crew (Spada, Jay, Alex, Billy and Mike B) with tempo runs on the agenda. Billy had 40 minutes at about 6 minute pace on tap, so Steve and Mike joined him, Jay was looking to do 8 miles progression, starting in the 6s and finishing in the 5s. I chose this one!

As alluded to above it was a perfect morning for a run. It was crisp and dry and just about warm enough that I could get away with running shirtless. We rolled up to the (in)famous Lansdowne loop and immediately got to work. Billy, Spada and Mike settled straight into 6 minute pace, while Jay, Alex and I dawdled about 20 seconds off the pace just trying to find an early groove that we could cut down from.

Now it must be mentioned here that Jay is only just back doing workouts after an arduous winter of injury woes. I was able to help him back on his first track workout this year on Tuesday night and now we were tempoing together. Great to have him back!

I eventually covered the 8 miles in 46:48. That's an average of 5:51 miling and given that we didn't dip under 6 minute pace until the 4th mile definitely one of my better workouts! Normally when I try a progressive run I go out too fast leaving myself too tough a base to speed up from but today we nailed it pretty much perfectly. The progression was 6:22, 6:13, 6:02, 5:49, 5:46, 5:42, 5:28, 5:26 and the 4 mile splits were 24:26/22:22. Given that the second 4 miles were definitely a net uphill and that I was wearing trainers rather than flats I'll take this!

Next up I am entered into a small local 5k on Sunday that I plan to run as a hard effort and hopefully not need anything more than that. I couldn't pass it up as a) it is local and I can run to the start for my warm up and b) my Company continue to reimburse us $25 for any running races we enter so it's free!

I am looking forward to getting a massage tonight. First one in ages. It is something I would love to have more of in my schedule but unfortunately they are not cheap!! Hopefully I can get some kinks knocked out. My left calf and achilles are a bit sore right now and my glutes on the other side are not liking me at the moment. Nothing much to worry about I hope, just getting old and a good reminder to keep on top of my exercises, self massage and stretching!

Looking forward to the weekend, helping Lisa relax and get spoiled on Mothers Day and also the huge match when Man U take on Chelsea on Sunday am in what will effectively be the League decider. I'm confident....

Week in review

2011-05-01T14:16:00.000-04:00

M- off
T- 7m am/5m plus 5*1200 pm
W- 6m
T- 9m (strides)
F- 4.25m (strides)
S- 5m plus 5k race in 15:53 am/5.1m shakeout pm
Su- 8.1m recovery run

Total- 56 miles on 8 runs, 1 race, 1 workout

Skyline Run 5k

2011-05-01T14:10:00.000-04:00

So, shortly after my post the other day expressing my hope that a few notable absentees was going to make my quest to notch another Skyline print all the more manageable, Ben posts a status update on Facebook announcing the creation of a team of him, Bob Marchinko and Brad Popple for the race. Now this made things interesting as I fully expected all three had a shot at running sub 16. Given that my combined record against Bob and Ben is probably somewhere around 48-2 in their favour, a top three finish was now certainly going to have to be earned.

The day before the race I thought about the set up of the course, the competition I was going to be facing and the favourable weather conditions in the forecast and came up with my tactics for the race. The plan was to gun it from the start, take it out hard, try and stamp some authority on the race and hang on for dear life on the last downhill mile. So I did.

As soon as the gun went off I hit the front as we headed up the hill towards 7th Street. My tactics had made an immediate impact as Bob shouted after me "What happened to easing into the race, Paul?!" I think my early injection of pace had thrown them off guard a little.

Right on 7th and the long drag up towards the mile mark and beyond. I hit the mile in 5:09. I could hear someone close behind but didn't want to look over my shoulder and see who it was. I had fully expected more people to be right there but it appeared I only had one close pursuer at thi point.

Just past the halfway point I discovered that the pursuer was Bob as he pulled alongside me. The old Paul may have taken his foot off the gas at this point and settled in to try and keep 2nd place but not today. I actually put in another little surge and created a gap again. We hit the 2 mile in 10:16 and had 'just' the downhill mile to come. Some quick math in the head and a sub 16 definitely looked a possibility. As we turned on to the last 500m descent to the finish I could hear Bob catching me and lo and behold he soon came past me. I tried to respond but was pretty much all out already and he soon had a five yard gap which he kept through to the finish.

So 2nd and 15:53, fully 29 seconds faster than I ran this race last year and a very satisfactory performance. Obviously I was pleased to get the top three finish but the most pleasing aspect of the race was how I executed the race. I was far more aggressive and less passive than usual and it worked- definitely food for thought for future races.

Oh and I'm now leading the Grand Prix standings haha!

15:53 (and Lisa was happy)

2011-04-30T18:06:00.001-04:00

Recap to follow

New Focus

2011-04-27T10:36:00.002-04:00

Late last night Tim sent me an email about this event taking place less than a mile from his house! After discussing with Lisa and checking the calendar, it appears that this weekend will work well for a little family vacation so it looks like we are Cleveland bound again and I’ll be entering the 5 and 10k! New goals, new training plans, love it!

Skyline preview

2011-04-27T10:13:00.002-04:00

So this Saturday sees the second race in the RFYL Grand Prix series, the Skyline 5k, starting and finishing next to CPCC campus. You may recall that in the first race of the series I placed 3rd in the Shamrock 4 Miler, about 10 hours after I had run my 5k PR at UNCC the night before. I was pretty impressed with myself at the time but my calf wasn’t and it dinged my training for a few days, no doubt a contributory factor in my disappointing Richmond showing 2 weeks later.

Fast forward a few weeks and here we are with the second race. Training since Richmond seems to have gone okay, nothing spectacular, just grinding out the workouts and ticking over, probably no fitter than I was, so not expecting all that much at the weekend, just enjoying the races at the moment, bigger fish to fry later in the year.

So if I can get in the top 3 again at this race I would definitely take it. I rate this as one of the faster Grand Prix 5ks and with it being run in April normally the temps are also pretty good (the current forecast for Saturday is favourable).

Now for most races coming top 3 isn’t that significant, as the prizes generally go 5 deep and aren’t that much to talk about anyway. Skyline is different though as the top 3 only all win a framed print of, you’ve guessed it, the Charlotte Skyline. It’s one of those prizes that the other half likes so there is extra pressure on coming top 3!

I have run this race for 4 of the past 5 years and have only one print to show for my efforts- a third place in my first ever Skyline race back in 2006! Since then Lisa has been on at me to get another one (the one I have was taken on a cloudy day and has lots of cranes in the picture!) but for one reason and another I haven’t been able to notch one!

2007 I ran a great race in 15:57 defeating local luminaries Robert Miller, Ed Schlichter and Chris Lamperski but still managed to place 4th. A certain Tim Budic had just arrived on the scene and took the victory ahead of Wingate stud Jayce Watson and Bob Marchinko (probably his first Grand Prix race defeat in about 5 years!). Side note: this was the race that I met Tim at. At the awards ceremony we got talking, found out we both had young families and arranged to meet up for a run in Mcalpine the next morning. I was excited to meet a potential new training partner and got to the appointed location in plenty of time. Tim was about 10 minutes late and I was just about to head home disappointed when he came sprinting towards me full of apologies and assuring me that he would never be late for a run again (he wasn’t!!)

The following year I placed 4th again! Bob had his revenge on Tim and Chris ran a strong race for third.

In 2009, things were looking good for a top 3 finish. Training had been going well, Tim had moved back to Cleveland, Bob had ‘retired’ from the Grand Prix scene, a print was there for the taking. Unfortunately my calf had better ideas. During a pre race run on the course two days before the event, my calf gave out on me and I was only able to track the race from home as sure enough the race was won in 16:33 and third was 16:45. A missed opportunity indeed….

Finally, last year I ran a solid enough race but all the horses turned up- Kinley, Compton, Matena, Hovis- and I had to settle for 5th place.

This year I know Compton is out of town, Nick Frank who placed ahead of me in the first GP race I assume will be there, Ben will be there and Brian who was behind me at Shamrock but has since run a low 16 5k PR and appears to be in great shape will be there. Plus you always seem to get a ‘surprise’ runner who you haven’t accounted for turning up. I’ll let you know on Saturday whether Lisa was happy with my performance or not…..

Week in review

2011-04-24T18:24:00.000-04:00

57 miles on 8 runs- 1 long, 1 workout, 1 race

This week will probably be very similar to what I'll do the next few- 55-60 miles on 6 days of running with a race most weekends. Not forcing the mileage at this point.

Museum Mile

2011-04-23T18:53:00.001-04:00

The backdrop

Today I ran in the Museum Mile, a reintroduced version of a point to point mile race down the main street of downtown Charlotte. It was a fun, novel event and I wanted to lay down a good time so I had definitely eased back a bit on the training the past few days so that I could maximise my chances of racing well today. I did a solid workout on Tuesday but other than that the week had been easy running and strides. I was hoping to run somewhere in the 4:30-4:40 range.

The outcome

4:42. 7th place overall, 1st in Age (keeping my unbeaten age group run intact). I was pretty pleased with that. The course actually started uphill (quite ironic when Tryon Street is probably one of the flattest roads in Charlotte!)in order that the race could finish right outside one of the museums. The race director said after the event that for next year's race they will eliminate that hill from the course by moving the finish line back a little- why that wasn't done this year I'll never know.

Anyway that hill made for a nasty little uphill sprint at the start as everyone jockeyed for position. So after 200 meters I was already pretty tapped and panting heavily! The lead group of 6 had separated itself and I led the chasers. I can't really remember much more about the race after that! I suffered throughout but held my position and it was over so fast that it didn't really matter! CRC had set up a cheering section halfway along the course which was highly appreciated and I also had fun hanging out with friends for the awards after the race. The girls had come to watch so it was nice having them there too.

I hope the race was successful for the organizers. It is a welcome addition to the Charlotte racing scene and will hopefully establish itself over the next few years and attract fast fields. It was won today in 4:23 which is a pretty legit time!

So all in all a decent enough race for me and looking forward to returning to my comfort zone next week at the Skyline 5k, one of the faster 5ks on the Grand Prix calendar. At least after the race today next week's first mile should feel pretty comfortable!!

results

Side note 1

I wore new flats for today's race and new shoes for the warm up and down and love them both!! Saucony Grid Type A4 flats (all 6.4 oz of them) and the new NB 890. In fact my first impressions of the 890 is that it could turn out to be the best shoe I've ever worn!

Side note 2

Congrats to buddy Kevin on his first ever race win at the Bunny 5k in Concord today in a new PR to boot. Great job!!

Marathon musings

2011-04-20T12:42:00.003-04:00

Well what an incredible weekend of marathon racing! First of all I was able to watch a typically fast and competitive London Marathon on Sunday and then of course we had Boston on Monday.

Many of my friends competed, some happy with their times, some disappointed, but all united in expressing what an amazing experience the race was. I will definitely do this race one day (and London too hopefully!) but judging from what I have heard and saw in the results on Monday (especially considering the 'once in a lifetime' weather conditions)I wouldn't necessarily go up there to run a fast time. It would have to be more for just being able to enjoy and soak in the experience. The course sounds brutal with all the downhills potentially trashing your legs and then of course the Newton hills just when you don't need them! All the Charlotte runners did awesome but special praise must be reserved for the two fastest 'Charlotteans' on the day, Nathan Stanford and Scott Woodbury who both ran PRs and managed to negative split I believe!

And then of course there were the amazing finishes in both the Elite races! Much has been made about whether Mutai's performance should be considered a World Record but I can't really understand what all the fuss is about. Of course it was not a world record. The course is point to point and has a net downhill that exceeds the requirements. Everyone running the race knew this beforehand or should have known if they were interested.

The favourable tail wind has nothing to do with it. Had there been a headwind the time still would not be considered a world record because of the other two factors. The reason that the point to point exclusion is in place is to avoid records being set where the wind is behind you the whole way and/or where you run a net downhill.

There is no question that Mutai can say he ran the fastest marathon in history and should be applauded for putting on such an amazing performance, but it's not a world record, period.

Now if we want to take a look at these rules and come up with new ones which take into consideration the uniqueness of a challenging course like Boston then that is a different matter! I can understand the point to point rule because of the wind scenario but the net downhill rule needs looking at- the amount of uphill on the course should also be taken into consideration- are they trying to tell us Boston is too easy because it has a net overall downhill?

All points to ponder, but at the end of the day, what a day it was for marathon running!

Week in review

2011-04-17T20:46:00.001-04:00

55 miles, 1 workout, 1 race win, 1 12 mile steady state, 1 glorious Champions League QF victory, 1 miserable FA Cup SF defeat

So I won the Run for the Money race. Not much to report other than that I did the whole race solo and stayed comfortably out of the well on a pretty tough course with a time of 16:55. In town Jordan was back to winning ways in the Race Fest 10k while girlfriend Meagan took the Ladies race and JC continued his unbeaten run in the Half. Had I run in either of those races I would probably have got myself some welcome cash, as it was the Catawba Lands Conservancy found itself $1,000 the richer for my efforts. What philanthropy

Encouraging was the fact that today I was able to bash out a good hard 12 miler on the back of this race with most of the miles in the low 6s. I'm already noticing the reduced mileage and increased intensity is making my legs feel fresher day to day. We'll just have to see what impact it has on my racing. Next up is the Museum Mile next Saturday which should be a fun, novel race!

Tomorrow I am looking forward to tracking lots of friends at Boston. The weather forecast looks fantastic and people are ready to roll. Should be a productive morning at work....

Week in review

2011-04-11T12:20:00.001-04:00

65 miles, 3 workouts, longest run 10 miles

Considering that I had run the 10k on the Saturday leading into this week, 3 workouts was probably pushing it. I didn't run today and will have a fairly easy week this week.

Heading to the track tomorrow night for some speedwork and then nice and easy the rest of the week before the Run For the Money 5k on Saturday.

I do this race every year. The overall and age group winners get to donate a sum of money to the Non Profit Organization of their choice depending on where they finish. With a 2nd and two wins in this event previously I have managed to earn $2.5k for the Catawba Lands Conservancy and I'll be hoping to add some more money to that total on Saturday. I'm hoping I don't have to bust a gut to get the victory but obviously that will depend on who turns up. The course is tough indeed and I really could do with this just being a 'workout' rather than a race, especially with the Mile race in town the following weekend. I have run 16:59 there the past two years and would like to be able to 'just' have to run around that time on Saturday. We'll see.

Elsewhere, it's good to see Jordan on the road to recovery and some solid podium positions for John C, Caitlin, BMac, the Crockfords and Steve this past weekend. A lot of my friends are gearing up for an assault on Boston and I am looking forward to tracking them next Monday!

Trimming the fat

2011-04-08T11:31:00.001-04:00

Coach Tim paid another welcome visit to the QC this week. We met up after work last night (for a run, obviously) and during our hour in Mcalpine discussed the usual topics. We dissected my 5k success and 10k mishaps, talked about his own running since coming back from knee surgery and also threw some ideas around about how we saw the rest of our years shaping up.

In a nutshell I’m pretty much set on focusing on a good Half in the Fall, maybe Thunder Road, maybe back to Richmond again, maybe somewhere new. I haven’t done a Half for a couple of years so it will be good to train for one again. Over the Summer I’ll probably just keep ticking over, jumping in all the GP events and any other races that catch my eye, essentially getting back to enjoying my running again without focusing on one particular race. There’ll be less rigidity in my schedule and here’s the fun part, more quality and less quantity! The plan is to eliminate a lot of the ‘junk’ miles and longer runs and throw in more workouts. So instead of heading out for 15 miles on a Sunday in the drudgery of the Charlotte heat I’ll more likely be heading to the Oval to knock out some swift quarters!

Obviously I’ll still be keeping the mileage relatively high and doing the longer aerobic stuff too, just reducing the emphasis on it. Hopefully my legs will respond and I’ll start to feel faster again. Training for the Marathon last Fall and then maintaining pretty heavy mileage through the Winter has had my legs feeling pretty beaten up and tired for the majority of the time the past few months so it would be nice if I could have a fresher feel on a regular basis over the Summer.

With that in mind I have already done 2 workouts since the 10k- a 8*175m, 5k Tempo, 8*175m on Wednesday with Billy and Will and this morning Tim and I knocked out 3 sets of 5 300s at PDS. More track work on the slate for Sunday!

Post Richmond

2011-04-04T05:21:00.001-04:00

(Matt, Caitlin and I just after the finish. Caitlin had just left her breakfast on the finish line!)

As indicated by my last update, Saturday didn't exactly go to plan. The day started off REAL early as I was unsure what the traffic/parking situation would be in such a big race. As it was I was WAY early and the first car in the parking lot at 6am. No problem though at least I was situated. It was very cold at this point. I walked down to check out the start area and the finish and just generally wandered around a bit trying to keep warm. I got in touch with fellow Charlottean Caitlin who was running the race and we arranged to meet up to warm up. We headed out and covered 2 or 3 miles of the course, noting the flat layout and all the bands setting up!

I got back to my car, changed into my race gear and headed down to the starting corrals. It was still cold but it looked like it was going to warm up pretty quick and that we had caught a break with the weather as there was none of the forecasted rain in the air. After some strides and drills I was able to march pretty much straight up to the front of the corral.

The anthem was played and we were off. The elite guys headed off into the distance and I got into a good early groove quickly passing the elite women and settling into a group of about ten guys. We turned on to Monument Avenue and I was feeling pretty good, running the pace I was looking for and with company to boot. Mile 1 5:09 just under goal pace, no problem, mile 2 5:14. Still heading out in a straight line up Monument, mile 3 was when I felt myself starting to work pretty hard. A couple of guys had dropped off the group and I had slipped to the back of it but was making sure to keep contact. Mile 3 5:17 but knew I would soon be turning and heading towards the finish with a slight downhill and tailwind.

Through 5k in 16:23 and mile 4 5:14 (unofficial 4 mile PR of 20:54) but feeling a lot more uncomfortable than I was expecting and now having to negative split big time if I was to PR. It was during mile 5 that the race began to unravel. I had developed a really painful side stitch and couldn't shake it. WTF? This had never happened to me in a race before. Every step sent a sharp pain through my side. I had to alter my gait and try and ignore it. The group headed off away from me and I was now on my own to the finish just trying to relax and feed off the crowd support and bands (I noticed one of the bands was playing a great rocking rendition of "Wanted Dead or Alive" which was awesome but also an indicator that I had now lost focus on the race itself!)

Painful mile 5 passed in 5:29, the stitch eased a little during mile 6 (5:24) and I was able to finish pretty solid down the last slightly downhill stretch with the crowds cheering. I could see the clock ticking towards 33:00 and was just unable to squeeze under it. Just as I finished I heard the ladies winner being announced so at least I had held her off and it meant my family were able to see me on the local tv network which was showing the race live!

Caitlin followed soon after in a PR of 35:45 and yet another great race, Matt in 37:10 and very happy too. We warmed down together and grabbed some breakfast before going our separate ways.

My immediate reaction following the race was one of disappointment. I had not met my goal and in running it's black and white, I'd failed in the goals I had set myself for this race and this training block. So you come to terms with that and resolve to get back to training and continue improving and enjoying what you do.

The next few weeks I have a few races lined up and hopefully I can kick on. The calf problem I had right after my 5k put a brake in my training just when I didn't need it but also meant that the last couple of weeks have been very low key so I can now ramp it up again after the enforced 'break'. I'll spend a few weeks just jumping into runs and workouts as I see fit and not following such a rigid schedule before thinking of next goals. Looking forward to it!

(I officially finished in 20th place out of over 41,000 starters. I was first in my age group which makes it two for two in that category for big races I've completed in Richmond).

33:02

2011-04-02T14:05:00.000-04:00

Not a great day at the office. More details later

Pre Richmond

2011-04-01T05:06:00.000-04:00

After last weekend's excitement of being able to run again and watching CRC break the World Record, this week has been uneventful so far. I did a couple of fairly low key workouts Sunday and Tuesday which my legs struggled to get to grips with after those few days off but I remain healthy and feel nicely rested and ready to give this race a good bash on Saturday.

I'm writing this from Lisa's parents' house where we'll be staying until Sunday. They live about 45 minutes from downtown Richmond. We drove up yesterday and I went and got my race number and checked out where I plan to park on Saturday morning. I did this as the event is huge! This will be by far the biggest race I have ever been in. Last year this was the 22nd biggest race in the WORLD and this year they are trying to crack the top 20. Around 45,000 runners will be toeing the line! I'm in the first seeded wave. By the time I finish there will still be people who haven't started yet...

I'm hoping that I can get as near the front of my corral as possible so that I'm not held up in the crowds but we'll see. Once we get started it should be like no other race I have run, with big crowds lining the whole route and bands playing the whole time. The route is literally an out and back on Monument Avenue which I ran a couple of miles on during my last visit here for the marathon. Pancake flat and hopefully fast!

What to expect time wise? Pre calf scare, a PR attempt certainly looked on the cards. The few days off last week won't have helped but I'm certainly going out there with the intention of attacking my best ever 10k time. I've gotten myself pretty fit this cycle. It would be a shame to waste it....

New World Record!

2011-03-28T21:55:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I was proud to witness history unfolding as I watched many of my friends, new friends and teammates churn out lap after lap around the PDS oval in pursuit of the 100*5k world record. It all started at 6am on Saturday morning as Ben Hovis launched the assault with a 16:04. Just over 30 hours later and the record was in the bag. Average pace? 5:58 per mile/18:34 per 5k. Not bad for 100 different runners all from the same city right?

Fastest was in form speedster Johnny Compton who powered around the track in 15:12 while 14 year old phenom Alana Hadley skipped over the puddles in the Ladies' fastest time of 17:08. There were many other notable performances and it would be unfair to single any others out as I would forget other equally notable performances if I did so. Not one person was late for their run even throughout the night when the weather was at its most merciless. I was watching/timing/lap counting between 10 and 3 am and the rain and chill was unrelenting.

The best part of the whole event for me was meeting new people whose names I had seen before but now had a face to place next to them. The old Facebook friend confirmer button has been going into overdrive since Sunday afternoon! It was a joy to spend so much time with a bunch of people all sharing the same passion.

Go CRC! I hope I can represent well this weekend when I return to Richmond for the 10k!!

Dodged a bullet?

2011-03-26T12:36:00.001-04:00

I really thought my stupidity last week had blown my Richmond chances, but after 4 days of complete rest and TLC on the calf I felt confident enough to give it a test run on Thursday. 2 uneventful, cautious miles later and I was hopeful that the worst of the injury was behind me, a hope that was all but confirmed on Friday when I ran 4 more incident free miles.

A note to Coach was sent and I was told to try 60-80 minutes on Saturday. If that went well we would come up with a revised run-in to the race next week. I am now in relieved possession of that schedule after a solid ten miler this morning. Phew!

My run this morning was early- on my way to watch the first couple of hours of the Charlotte Running Club's 100 by 5k relay record attempt. Good luck everyone!!

Biting off more than I can chew

2011-03-21T09:15:00.003-04:00

I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty decent all things considered. I went for a quick jog around the neighborhood and the legs actually felt fine, a little sore but seemingly nothing untoward. I headed off to the race and got a good warm up in. My legs even felt like they had a bit of ping in them as I was doing my strides! I lined up for the race and had a quick check on who was there. John C who was going to crush it and Nick F who I expected would try and hang with John were going to be the first two out of the gate and I was going to stay out of that! Then there was Brian on his ‘home course’ and the ever competitive Aaron who I thought would form the second group and I fancied I could probably hang with these guys. Other than that it was the usual faces.

Sure enough Nick and John shot out of the gate on their way to a 9:38 split for the first two miles! Aaron and Brian followed and I hung back about ten yards behind just feeling myself into the race. By the end of the race I had worked myself into third place with a good solid race behind a fading Nick and a dominant John. 21:19 and happy with that in the circumstances. I warmed down with John and Aaron and a few others and the calves were sore but manageable. I figured a couple of easy/rest days and I would be fine for the last push in towards Richmond. Bang, Sunday morning and I woke up with that all too familiar feeling in my right calf. I think it’s just a strain and there won’t be any long term effects but still Richmond is very much in jeopardy now.

I’m disappointed and annoyed with myself because I’m the idiot who thought he could get away with two races so soon after each other (especially with one of them being in spikes) but shit these things happen and I don’t think it was THAT crazy to race twice, after all I‘m very fit at the moment. So we’ll see what the next few days brings, I’ll keep you posted….

15:31:13

2011-03-18T23:29:00.004-04:00

Happy to PR and just about to head out for 4 more miles of pain! Here's a quick race recap from my training log before I do the 4 miler!

Right calf was a little sore before the race so was a little concerned but could tell in the warm up that it wasn't going to be a factor and felt pretty good doing my strides etc. while we waited around to start.

About 25 of us toed the line so it was chaos at the first corner. I was trying to get to the kerb and out of trouble as soon as possible but spent most of lap 1 in lane 3 and lap 2 in lane 2!

Race settled down a bit on the third lap and I found myself in 5th place at the front of a big bunch with the top 4 strung out ahead. Happy to see the clock reading 3:04 at the k and 4:55 at the mile as I was feeling pretty comfortable.

Reeled in 4th place pretty quickly. Any time someone from behind would pull alongside me I would try and relax and hold them off- I guess I prefer just running on my own than sitting on someone!

Went through 3k in 9:18 and knew a PR was on the cards as long as I didn't screw it up in the last 5 laps!

I was definitely starting to work a bit harder now. One guy went pretty smoothly past me but I overtook someone else falling back to stay in 4th. As I hit 800 to go I worked out as long as I went under 2:36 I would get the pr. I was fighting it now but held off the guys behind and closed in about 70 I think.

Very happy to get a pr. If I ran a couple more of these I think I could go faster in the right race but I'll probably just stick to the roads again for a while!

Warmed down with a BW guy who knew Tim trying to flush out some crap before toeing the line at Shamrock 10 hours later!

k splits

3:04,3:06,3:08,3:09,3:04

Don't be afraid to use it

2011-03-17T11:24:00.002-04:00

I was pretty pumped after Sunday’s workout. Exhausted but pumped and seeing it as tangible proof that I’m getting fitter by the week. Coach summed it up best though (as ever) by telling me that it seemed to him that I was in great fitness right now, don’t be afraid to use it! So that is my mantra going into my 5k tomorrow night. Even though I’ve ‘trained through’ this week (after all my main eye is on the 10k in Richmond in two more weeks) the plan is to lay it all out there tomorrow night and notch a good time. I’m hoping I can get myself into a good group and get pulled along by them. Last time I ran a 5k on the track I was solo the whole way and that becomes a bit of a chore when you are running 12.5 laps! I’m also going to break the race down into kilometre segments rather than miles- 5 kilometres seems a lot more manageable on the track than thinking of it in terms of three miles plus 200 metres!

So that race will be all over by around 10pm tomorrow night. Then it will be a question of warming down correctly, scarfing some food down and heading home for a few hours sleep before the RFYL 4 Miler Grand Prix opener on Saturday morning at 8am! I really like this race. It’s a tough rolling course and being the first race of the Series always seems to attract the big guns. My best race I ran there was back in 2006 when I ran 21:03 and I think if I wasn’t doing the 5k Friday night I would have had a shot at going under 21 at this race but as it is I am assuming my legs will be trashed from the race and I’ll be making up the numbers with a good view of all the racing going on at the front. I’m essentially running the race solely as it is a GP event and would cost me the points if I didn’t turn up. I’d be watching it anyway so I might as well be out there on the course in some shape or form!

We’ll see. All I know is that come 8:30 am Saturday morning I will need a nice long nap. Chances of that? Minimal to nil!!

Progression

2011-03-14T12:45:00.000-04:00

The key workout I have been re-visiting every couple of weeks during this training phase has been the 6 or 8 mile tempo run followed by a 1600 and a 1000 at the track. It’s the first time I have done these type of workouts and I’m finding them very beneficial. This is how they have progressed over the last couple of months….

1/22 6 miles @ 5:47, 5:15, 3:14
2/5 8 miles @ 5:45, 5:10, 3:11
2/19 6 miles @ 5:48, 5:03, 3:08 (followed by some 400s)
3/13 8 miles @ 5:35, 5:05, 3:04, 3:04

Now I just need to put this progression into good work at the actual races themselves!

Diary of a good week

2011-03-13T21:28:00.004-04:00

Hi all. Another week in the books at a decent if tiring one at that. Got my last really long run and hard workouts out of the way and am looking forward to racing the next three weeks.

The week began with a solo 9.3 mile effort on the roads in my new shoes I had won at the race. I clipped along at an average sub 7 pace and was impressed by the shoes. they have a lower profile than I have been used to of late but I like the better feel of the road you get with these type of shoes so will take the numbness in my forefeet while I get used to them!

Tuesday saw the usual Miners/track double. The track workout was a fairly light one after the race at the weekend. I did 8 400s with a 2 minute recovery. The first 4 I wore my flats and hit an average around the 70 second mark, the last 4 I threw on the spikes and managed a 66 average. I still feel awkward in my spikes and as if I am not exploiting them to their full potential but they're still certainly faster than my flats.

Wednesday I had a lie in (especially for Steve that one!)and just ran an easy 5 at lunch time with my co-worker buddy Ryan. He ran a sub 40 in his second ever 10k last weekend and over the summer I'm going to help him get his 5k time into the 18s hopefully.

Thursday I had decided was going to be long run day so that I could move the second workout of the week back to Sunday. Not only that but as I would be running to work and Lisa was going to have to come and pick me up, I would be doubling and running half way home in the evening. I still wanted to meet up with my usual Dowd am buddies so mapped out a route whereby I could run from my house to the Dowd, meet the guys and run half of the remaining ten miles to work with them. This worked out well although my legs were very tired by the end. That will be the last time I run for over 2 hours in quite a while I would imagine though! The legs had recovered pretty well by the time I ran my 5.3 after work and so hit over 24 miles for the day.

Friday I was able to take completely off knowing I was still going to be on track to hit the goal of 75 miles for the week. I met the Friday runners group that hang out at The Burger Company for lunch and also signed up to run for the store again this coming season. This was the prize I won for coming second overall in the GP series last year and it's the last season they are handing out sponsorships as a prize so I had better make the most of it! I am very grateful for the opportunity to represent the store and am looking forward to picking up my new race shirt next week!

Saturday I got up early and took a trip down memory lane running the old 7.5 mile loop through Mcalpine that Tim and I used to run before he upped and left Charlotte. I ran in the Defyance again and again enjoyed the ride. I got home just in time to get the kids up and head out to watch the Corporate Cup Half and Relay. I had fun just hanging out and watching a bunch of my mates racing and cheering them on. In a series of notable performances it was 14 year old Alana Hadley who once again deservedly grabbed the headlines with a 1:21 win in her first ever Half (on a very challenging course!)

This was the second year running I had watched this race but this year was in much happier circumstances as last year I had planned to run this race until a calf strain two weeks before put paid to that. It is nice sometimes to be able to just kick back and watch everyone else race. I haven't had to take any significant time off since last year's race- this is definitely the longest injury free period of running I have had since I started running!

Today was the climax to the week and was a pretty daunting workout of an 8 mile AT tempo on the Lansdowne loop, jog to PDS track and run a mile in 5:10 and 2 kms in 3:03, all with 400m jog recovery. Luckily I had recruited the company of Rocky Falcone to help me out and help me out he did indeed. We hit 44:43 for the 8 miles having gone through the 10k in sub 35 and then laced up the spikes to hit 5:05, 3:04, 3:04 on the track. I was exhausted but very satisfied with the workout. As I write this Sunday evening my legs are still very sore from the workout but I'm not running until after work tomorrow so hopefully they will be showing some signs of life again by then.

I ended up running 75.5 miles for the week and am looking forward to this week with Tim coming into town Wednesday and Thursday, the track meet on Friday night and the 2011 GP opener on Saturday less than 12 hours after that! I will preview both races later in the week but if you want a good Shamrock 4 miler preview in the meantime, check out Brian's blog....

Get Your Rear In Gear 5k

2011-03-06T21:35:00.006-05:00

Time: 16:16
Position: 1
Assessment: Adequate

So I had a decent enough run on Saturday. My main goal was to win and I achieved that. I would like to have been a bit faster (seeing as I hope to go faster than that pace for a 10k in less than a month!) but as I ran the race on my own and the second mile was very tough I need to put the time in perspective.

The day started with Lisa dropping me off three miles from the start line so I could warm up while she went ahead and parked. The girls were both running in the Fun Run so I was able to watch that before my race. A few strides and mutual good lucks with Aaron and we were off. Having scoped the start line for any other potential rivals and not seen any that I knew, I soon locked in side by side with Aaron. Up front, my new friend from Friday lunches at the Burger Company and fellow non-American, Bjorn 'Storming' Norman, had taken it out at a very rapid rate.

We turned on to 4th which was a long downhill and soon pulled alongside Bjorn. I had been expecting Aaron to go tearing off down this hill with me hanging on for dear life but I actually found myself pulling away from Aaron, early signs that maybe he wasn't going to have one of his better days.

After about half a mile of this downhill we turned on to Kings and began the long climb that would take us through the best part of mile 2. My Garmin beeped at 4:56 at the mile mark which was fast but not unexpected when considering the course layout. I passed Caitlin who was out watching and taking pics and continued grinding up the hill, happy in the knowledge that once this was out of the way it was a pretty flat run in to the finish.

I passed Thomas on the bridge back over Independence and hit the second mile in 5:26 (!). Thomas had said that I had about a 60 yard gap so I just kept up a hard pace during the third mile pretty safe in the knowledge that the victory was mine unless I fell apart. After a third mile of 5:16 and a 38 second sprint down into the finish area, I crossed the line in 16:16. Aaron followed 26 seconds behind. We quickly shook hands before he headed straight off a la Spada to Mcalpine where he was due to do a workout with one of his runners! Bjorn easily clung on for third place and was very happy with his time. I chatted briefly with Theoden and a few other guys I knew and waited for the awards ceremony. I was invited on stage to receive mine which was a free pair of shoes from Omega Sports (I picked up a sweet pair of Brooks Defyance today).

I had decided I would run home from the race to make it 14 for the day and mean I only need do 5 today to meet my mileage goal for this 'down' week so with pretty sore legs I headed home and it was actually a pretty decent run.

Later on that evening I made the most of a rare 'Hall Pass' and met up with a bunch of guys at Taco Mac for beers, wings and nachos- diet of champions! Aaron bought me the Guinness he owed me after the race and a good time was had by all, especially my Tarheel fan friends!

Today I enjoyed a much needed lie in before watching a dreadful performance from Man U against Liverpool. It was raining heavily outside and was one of those days you just wanted to stay in, so we did! At about 1pm I decided to head out for my quick run. Got drenched but legs felt okay and ready to hit another 75 mile week this week...

16:16

2011-03-05T16:12:00.001-05:00

A win and an okay time on a tough course. Fuller recap to follow

Cathartic workout

2011-03-02T21:04:00.002-05:00

Most people who know me here probably don't realise how passionate I am about sports other than running. I don't have a College to hang my hat on and of the big three sports here I love watching football but don't follow any particular team, I can take or leave basketball and definitely leave baseball!

My big sporting passions were left over the pond when I came over. I am a huge Man United fan, have been since I was 8 and used to regularly attend games. I watch all the games I can catch on the Fox Soccer Channel and ESPN and whenever they are playing midweek I follow the games on the BBC at work! I also get very passionate about watching England play pretty much any sport, especially our 'big three', football, cricket and rugby.

What has this got to do with running? Absolutely nothing! Just gives a bit of context to my workout on Tuesday. I was sitting at work at 4:30, winding down for the day and starting to think about the 7 minutes of pain on the track I had ahead of me. Man U were playing a huge Premiership game against arch rivals Chelsea and were standing at 1-1 with a few minutes left. I would have happily taken a draw but disaster struck as first Chelsea won the game with a disputed penalty and then Captain Fantastic Vidic got sent off and will now miss our next crunch game at Liverpool on Sunday.

So I left for the Dowd to get ready for my workout in a foul mood! I jogged down to the track for my warm up, spikes in hand, and passed Theoden and Thomas who were also going to be at the track doing their thing. I put my spikes on for the first time since last summer and did a few strides to try and get used to running in them again before I started my workout. The mile (well, 1600m) passed in 4:46 and was faster than prescribed despite the fact that I never really felt that comfortable in the spikes. I walked around for 10 minutes and got pretty much fully recovered for the 800. I was happy to hit this in 2:13. I ran the first lap solo in 66 and Thomas joined me for the last lap and I was consequently able to hold it together for a respectable time and a decent workout that went SOME way towards cheering me up after the Chelsea result. A jog back to the Dowd and I was done for the day,

So this week I'm getting some freshness back into my legs after the last month or so of hard work. Monday I took completely off and the rest of the week other than the workout has been and will be very easy, leading into the race on Saturday. Looking forward to see where I'm at when I race. Plenty of smack going back and forth between myself and a certain CRC Chairman and close friend who will be towing the line alongside me. Should be fun!

Week in review

2011-02-27T17:19:00.002-05:00

75 miles on nine runs (two doubles). Long run (18), two workouts. Good week! Day off tomorrow!

Tempo success!

2011-02-26T16:41:00.003-05:00

This morning I headed out at the reasonably earthly hour of 6:30 for some tempo action at McMullen Creek Greenway. I had emailed all the great and good of the Charlotte running community to advertize the workout but only my trusty training partner Steve had responded to the call. We did a two mile warm up and caught up on recent events before changing into our flats, doing some strides and getting straight into it.

I was pretty excited about doing this workout as though I had run at McMullen on various occasions I couldn't recall ever actually doing a workout there and it was going to be a nice change from McAlpine! Also, in spite of the workout on Tuesday and a sub 7 minute average 18 mile run on Thursday my legs were actually feeling okay!

We headed out on the trails 5 miles out and back and nailed it. I ran 56:58 (57:17 once I had added on the 0.07 miles at the end to make 10 miles on my Garmin!) and Steve hit 57:24, over a minute faster than when he last did this workout in October. A quick warm down and some strides in the parking lot and it was back to the house to watch Man U beat Wigan 4-0, England beat France 17-9 and help Lisa get the house ready for Emily's 8th birthday party that is just about to start as I write this!

Very satisfied with the workout and with only 6 miles needed tomorrow and a 'down week' next week I am looking forward to getting some freshness back into the legs before next week's 5k. The last 4 weeks were the key weeks of the current schedule (65,65,70,75 with some tough workouts) and I've come through it seemingly unscathed. On Tuesday I have a 'fun' workout planned of 1 mile on the track as fast as possible followed by full recovery and as fast an 800m as possible. I'll let you know how it goes!

Pushing through

2011-02-23T09:23:00.002-05:00

After my latest workout last night (12 600s with 1:30 recoveries) I sent a note to Coach telling him how the workout went. I had got the workout done and was pretty pleased with it considering the tiredness in my legs at the moment but was concerned that I hadn’t met the prescribed goal paces towards the end and indeed after 9 of the repeats had considered pulling the plug and not completing the workout. This was the response I got….

“You're in that spot of training where leaps and bounds are made... but not realized for a few weeks. Thanks for finishing the workout, there's a method to the madness and unless just a stupid move, pushing through is the way to go”

This made me feel a lot better and justified my decision to finish off the workout despite not feeling my best. I know there are definitely times when it is much wiser to stop doing a workout than carrying on but this wasn’t one of them as there was no risk of me aggravating an injury or anything like that. When I’m hurting with 800m to go in next week’s 5k I can draw on how I finished off this workout for inspiration to push through to the end of the race as fast as possible. It’s almost as much a mental thing as physical…..

Also, here's to hoping that I am indeed in that spot of training where leaps and bounds are made! Next up? 18 miles tomorrow (getting my long run out of the way before the weekend) and 10 mile tempo on Saturday with Steve before a hard earned cutback week next week

Week in review

2011-02-20T11:38:00.001-05:00

72 miles on 8 runs including 2 workouts and a long run. Good week, legs are tired but trusting the schedule to get me to the start line of Richmond feeling fresh and ready to roll!

Getting it done

2011-02-20T11:23:00.002-05:00

So after yesterday's workout my legs were sore all day, you know, that 'empty' feeling when you can't imagine ever running again! 16 miles were looming this morning and I wasn't all that positive! Especially seeing as I was going to be running solo and starting before 5am as I had promised Lisa I would be back home before the kids got up at 7.

With that in mind, I hit the sack at 9.45 (yes, on a Saturday night- this is what my life has become!) to get a few hours sleep in and hope that a few more hours rest would get my legs into some sort of shape for the run.

Well after a pretty slow start my legs eventually came round and I got it done, albeit with not one mile under 7 minutes! I checked out the 5k course I am now definitely going to run in a couple of weeks and got home in time to be there when the kids woke up. My legs are tired but this was the first time I have hit over 70 miles in a week since Richmond training last year. And no rest for the wicked yet- 75 on the schedule this week before cutting back again the week after- I'm sure I'll be looking forward to that by the end of this week!

Hard day at the office!

2011-02-19T16:04:00.003-05:00

This morning I completed one of the toughest workouts I've done in a long time. Tough mainly as my legs weren't firing from the get go and I could tell it was going to be a long day! Luckily I had great company in Aaron, Spada and Falcone and the weather was beautiful so I was able to get it done. As I sit here a few hours later though my legs feel trashed. Tomorrow's planned 16 miles which I need to get started by 5am could be very interesting! Hopefully I will be doing a loop that incorporates a preview of a 5k course that I am now planning to race a week on Saturday.

I got home to find that good friends and fellow Charlotte Running Club members John Compton, Billy Shue and Alice Rogers had won their respective Half and Full races at Myrtle and Allen Strickland had nailed his qualifier for NYC. Awesome!

Cheesy Disney pics

2011-02-18T20:54:00.016-05:00

The girls liked our 'Pirates' themed room!

Hollywood Studios

The Mainwarings meet Buzz and Woody

Sunday at the pool

The girls at Chef Mickey's

Valentine's Day at Magic Kingdom

Valentine's Dinner at Cinderella's Castle

Epcot!

Last night at Planet Hollywood

Post Disney Update

2011-02-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

Got back from Florida on Wednesday evening after a fantastic trip! The kids had a blast of course and it was nice to get away from the office for a few days. All my running went to plan too and I was able to get it all done while the kids were asleep so it didn’t interfere with our vacation at all! With all the miles I was able to get in (47.5 in the 5 days we were there) and all the walking around the parks during the day I was able to maintain my weight while I was there too, in spite of the mountains of food consumed. We were on the Meal Plan there so I took full advantage of what was on offer. Let’s just say my glycogen levels were nicely topped up while I was there!

We drove down Friday and I got the day off to a good start by heading to the track before we left and nailing a good 10*600 workout. It was cold and I wore tights for the entire workout. A week later and it’s t shirt and shorts weather here! The drive down took a good 9 or 10 hours. Lisa insists on driving everywhere we go and I have given up on trying to persuade her otherwise so I was just shacked up in the passenger seat all the way down there. We went in the Scion to save gas costs and legroom is at a premium- by the end of the drive my glutes were so tight! I got up Saturday morning to run and check out the local paths and routes for the rest of the stay and my legs were not cooperating at all, this run felt truly horrible, but I got it done and for the rest of the trip my legs were fine.

We went to Hollywood Studios on Saturday and Sunday I got my 15 mile long run in. I ventured out of the resort we were staying at (Caribbean Beach) and found excellent running conditions up the road at the Boardwalk resort and this was where I ended up doing most of my runs while I was there. This day was our day we weren’t going to be heading to the parks so we just hung around the resort and luckily it was warm enough to spend the whole afternoon swimming and sliding at the pool.

Monday was just an easy run followed by the highlight of the trip- a day at Magic Kingdom followed by dinner at Cinderella’s Castle. Tuesday called originally for 12 400s on the track so I had found a good 0.25 mile stretch of the Boardwalk where I was able to replicate this on the road- traffic and, as it turned out, pedestrian free. The workout went well and set me up for a final day in the parks that we spent at Epcot. Wednesday was an easy run before we hit the road. Once we got back to Charlotte and we’d unpacked and put the kids to bed I headed out for a shake out run to hopefully prevent a recurrence of the awful run I had had on the Saturday. It worked as Thursday’s Dowd run went well. Today I’m heading out at lunch time with a work colleague for some very easy miles- tomorrow another workout with the horses looms…..

I am also excited for a few of my friends competing in the Half and Full at Myrtle Beach tomorrow. The forecast is great and on a notoriously flat course some good times should be on offer!

I will post some pictures of our trip later....

Pre Disney Update

2011-02-10T12:37:00.000-05:00

This time tomorrow we’ll be cruising southwards down 95 towards Mickey and Friends so I thought I’d update this thing before we left. I’m taking the computer down there but it’s very unlikely I’ll be on it much!

So this week has been three ‘easy’ runs and a tough but successful Tempo workout on Tuesday. Tomorrow I’m getting up early to bash out some intervals on the track before we leave, leaving me with a Saturday recovery run and 15 miles to do on Sunday down in Disney World. The legs appear to be coming round at last….

Really looking forward to my vacation, will be nice to get away from it all and relax for a few days, not that there’ll be much relaxation! Each morning will start the same with me sneaking out of our resort room before dawn and getting my miles in before the kids get up. We’re staying at a resort that has a 1.5 mile ‘jogging path’ around the lake apparently, so that will no doubt be familiar territory by the time next Wednesday comes around and we have to leave! A quick breakfast in the room and then off to the parks for the day. We’re going to hit Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Lisa has booked all our restaurant reservations so we are all set- Valentine’s night we have snagged a table at Cinderella’s castle in Magic Kingdom so we can ‘dine with the princesses’. The girls are going to go nuts....

I’ll be back next Wednesday so this might not updated again until then

Week in review

2011-02-07T14:41:00.001-05:00

65 miles, 7 runs in 5 days of running including 2 workouts and a long run

A solid week, probably my best for a while, hoping to keep the momentum going over the next couple of weeks in spite of the vacation we are having at Disney World which will straddle the end of this week and the start of next

Running with the horses

2011-02-05T06:31:00.000-05:00

After 24 hours of non stop rain there was just a faint drizzle in the air as I headed out the door for yesterday's second workout of the week. The original plan to run this at Mcalpine had been thwarted by the rain that had left the greenway in a muddy mess, so it was off to the (in)famous Lansdowne loop to get it done. The workout on tap was 8 miles AT Tempo followed by a jog to PDS track and straight into a mile, 400m jog and finishing off with a final 1k effort.

It was going to be a tough workout but luckily the recruiting email I had sent out earlier in the week had attracted the attention of a few of the faster runners in the area. Previous Charlotte Marathon winner Steve Spada, 7th Place Master at last year's National XC Champs, Rocky Falcone and last week's 1st and 3rd place finishers at Winter Flight, John Compton and Ben Hovis were all present and ready to get to work.

The 8 mile tempo went well. We were all together through 5 miles, chatting away, ensuring that the pace was kept honest but relaxed. Ben, John, Rocky and I created a slight gap on the third and final lap and then at the 7 mile mark Ben and John made a bit of a move, stringing out the pack a little further. I hung tough on the final hill though and pulled back alongside the pacesetters. We went past the 8 mile mark in 46:03 with Rocky and Steve just behind. Their days were done, Ben, John and I were only just getting started.

The three of us jogged to PDS track and launched straight into the mile. I took it out, trying to get straight on the 5:10 pace the workout called for. Ben quickly had had enough of that and took over as we came through the 400m mark, inspired by the cheers of his wife and 2 time Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier Megan who was doing her own run around the track. John meanwhile was jogging about ten yards behind us. Through the 800 in 2:35 and on pace, down the back straight John glided past me as if I wasn't there and set off in pursuit of Ben. He went on to run 5:05 with Ben a couple of steps behind and myself closing in 5:10.

Ben and John jogged back off to the Lansdowne loop to finish off their workouts with another 4 mile tempo and I jogged around the track once in an attempt to get ready for one last kilometer push. Rocky was at the track now and helped me out on my last lap. I ran 3:11 which wasn't as fast as planned but on the whole I was pleased with the workout. I jogged back down Sardis with Rocky, 16 miles and a solid workout in the bank. Watch out for John and Ben at the Myrtle Beach Half in two weeks time!

Ramping it up

2011-02-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

Have run 42 miles in three days since last post! Miners Run/16 400s workout double on Tuesday, 5 easy yesterday, 15 long run into work/6 mile easy after work double today. No run now until a workout with some Horses on Saturday am!

Week in review

2011-01-31T12:42:00.000-05:00

Only 40 miles (planned 50), 1 decent enough race, 1 solid workout, 2 days off!

Ready to hit it hard tomorrow.....

Winter Flight 8k

2011-01-31T12:25:00.000-05:00

Apologies for the late update on how this went. Lisa went to see her Mom for the weekend after the race leaving me in control of the whirling dervishes till Sunday bedtime so I didn't have much time to myself this weekend!

The race went well, pretty much to plan, although I would have liked to have been able to stay with Ben a little longer than I did and pushed him more for third place. 26:54 is where I am right now, not bad for a rust buster and plenty of motivation to build on this over the next few weeks. For the splits and a summary of how the race panned out check my log....

Had a great weekend with the kids after that. The weather was amazing, especially on Sunday and we did plenty of outdoor stuff to take advantage. I was meant to run when Lisa got back last night but by the time we'd put the kids to bed it was after 9 and I was tired so the run wasn't going to happen. I got 8 hours of sleep instead and feel great today because of it- must do that more often! The plan was then to run those 12 miles this morning instead (as I had Monday as an off day originally) and carry on with the rest of my week as planned but when I woke up this morning I decided that if I did that it would mean a 75 plus mile week, which I'm not ready for right now.

So two days off in a row and only 40 miles last week! What a slacker! Luckily I'm doubling tomorrow and my legs get an extra day to recover from the race so I'm hoping I made the right choice. The next 4 weeks see me hitting 65,65,70,75 and some tough workouts mixed in there. I'm ready for this!

Tired but happy

2011-01-25T11:54:00.000-05:00

Well my cutback week has started with no reduction in intensity so far! The downside of this is that I'm feeling pretty tired right now and the legs definitely feel like they need a rest. The upside? Well that's pretty obvious! I DO get to rest now for the remainder of the week heading into Saturday's race!

My decision to do this week's workout on Monday ahead of my usual Tuesday or Wednesday date with the track was proven to be overly cautious in relation to the weather we are actually going to receive. By Monday the weekend's forecast of ice storms and general armageddon heading our way Tuesday through Wednesday had changed to "some neighborhoods may get up to half an inch of rain"! Got to love the accuracy of the weather forecasting around here!

At the point when I heard this rather dramatic change in forecast the decision had already been made to head to the track after work yesterday, so it was with tired legs but a grim determination that I started my warm up last night. Luckily I was able to sneak out of work a bit before 5 so it was still relatively light for the first half of my workout.

The workout was 5*1600 with just a 200m jog recovery, followed by a 3 minute rest and then 4 400s with a 1:30 rest in between each. The aim was to hit 5:25s for the miles and 74s for the 400s. In the end I hit 5:20,24,23,24,24 and then 72,71,72,72 so I was very pleased with this and it provided me with a bit of the confidence booster I had alluded to in Sunday's post. If I can hit those mile splits on Saturday without the 200m jog in between each one I will be satisfied. Coach may disagree (we haven't discussed this) but I think anything under 27 minutes on Saturday should be considered satisfactory, especially on what is apparently a pretty challenging course. With at least three 'horses' (as Aaron would put it) confirmed to line up in John Compton, Ryan Woods and Ben Hovis the pace should be honest from the start if nothing else!

This morning my legs were stiff and tired as I headed out the door for my recovery run but luckily I was meeting up with the 'Miners' (including a welcome return from Jay!!) so I was able to grind out just over 7 miles with less discomfort than would have been the case had I been solo and leave myself with tomorrow off, 9 on Thursday and 4 on Friday on the schedule.

Week in review

2011-01-23T22:21:00.000-05:00

65.4 miles, 1 long run, 2 workouts. 4th successive 65 mile week, cutting back to 50 next week and then after that I will hopefully start hitting 70 plus again. Right upper leg is still a bit sore and giving me a few concerns, could do with a confidence boosting race and/or workout this week.

Speaking of workouts it looks like I am going to get this week's second 'stressor' (the first being the race) out of the way tomorrow as the weather forecast looks grim for Tuesday and I don't really want to leave it until after then to do it as it looks like a beast on paper (5*mile plus 4*400)

Today's run was two loops of a 4 mile route I had mapped out while Sophie was off birthday partying at the Y