Spirit of Columbus Virtual Half

Well I took the plung early and ran a half marathon.

This was a virtual race that I participated in. So it really was not a race but more of a guide for myself to see how I would do and guage my pace. It was also a good gauge as to how my body would react and recoupe. I mapped out a course that followed the Washington and Old Dominion trail. It was a good run. The temperature was good. Not too hot and not too humid. There were some other runners out there and just about all of them were real friendly saying hi, good morning or waving. There were also a lot of bikers who were not as friendly.

I was running with headphones on and maybe they thought that I had them turned up, but they did not acknowledge the fact that they were passing me. Some of them startled me a bit. There were times were I felt myself getting into a grove and then I would see a biker out of the corner of my eye or they would cough right behind me. Not cool. Oh well. I was not sure how long it would take me but I was able to complete the course in 2 hours and 28 mins and change. My personal record for a 10k, almost half the distance of a half marathon, is 1 hour 1 min and change. So if I am able to keep up that same pace for 13.1 miles I should be able to complete the half in about 2 hours 10 mins and change. Not sure if I can keep that pace up for that long. I guess that is why we train. Well I took some pics with my phone of the virtual start line, the turn around and the finish. I have posted them here.

Well I feel that I am ready for the Baltimore running festival and we shall see if I plan to do a full marathon. I am sure coach dennis will talk me into it.

Thanks for reading.

Aug 18th

Training update.
Well my training has been, well, limited.
We just got back from our last vacation trip to Jamestown and Yorktown.
We all had a blast. We walked about 25 - 30 miles. Needless to say I did not do any running while we were down in Williamsburg.
So this wil be very short as nothing is going on right now.
Will update later.

Race Report for Harris Teeter presents YMCA Loudoun County 10K & 20K

I ran the 10k.
Race started at 7:30 for both the 10k and the 20k and followed the same route. There was a spot where people running the 10k did a turn around and those running the 20k kept going to their turn around. So the start and finish was at the same spot for both groups.
So we begin the morning and all is well. It is getting hot and humid. On our drive to Leesburg we see some fog rolling through the mountains. The Temp is around 74 degrees and it felt like it as there was about 98 percent humidity. There was barely any wind to speak of so right then I knew that I was going to have to keep myself well hydrated. As we got under way the temperature rose but the humidity went down which was good but you could still feel it.
The route was a little different then last year, not that I ran it last year, but it seemed to make sense to me what they did.
We started on Harrison Street in front of Tuscarora Restaurant. We went south on Harrison Street until we got to Catoctin Circle and then we took a right. Last year they turn right on to Fairfax Street and then to King Street where the runners entered the W & OD Trail. This year we stayed on Catoctin Circle for about a mile allowing the pack to thin out a bit before entering the W & OD Trail. Once on the Trail it was an out and back course. The 10k participates had a turnaround just before Milepost 37 while the 20k runners continued on to their turnaround spot just beyond Milepost 40.
There really was nothing bad to say about the whole experience. Even though there were a lot of runner participating and the W & OD Trail is narrow, it never seemed like I was in cramped quarters. There were a couple of water spots available and even then it did not feel like a big back up. There were 708 (354 Male and 354 Female) finishers for the 10k and 604 (330 Male and 274 Female) finishers for the 20k. Total of 1,312 runners for the event.
Overall, for the 10k, I finished in 386th place. I finished 246th in the male division and 33rd in my age group.
I am not sure if there were any runners that could not finish due to the heat, but it was a hot one. One really nice aspect of the race was running on the W & OD Trail as most of it was covered by trees so that keep the sun from beating down on us.
Would I do this race again? Absolutely. Even though there was not much crowd support while you were on the trail you were never really alone as there were plenty of runners with you.
Again, I enjoyed this race a lot and I thought it was well managed.
At the end they had a big pile of wash cloths that were buried in ice and it was very refreshing. There was plenty of water and snacks available after the race but I am not sure the placement was very good. It was right next to the finish line which made it very congested as you were bumping into other runners as well as crowd cheerers. They had a real nice band playing in blocked off parking lot that had nothing else around it. It would have made more sense to have all of the other refreshments down there.
Well I am about 2 months exactly away from my first half marathon and I am very excited about it. I am very ready for it. I am trying to decide if I want to do another 5k or 10k race before then. Not sure. I guess I will have to consult my coach on that matter.
I will keep you updated.
Thanks for reading.

A little late - less then a week to go

Wow. Am I behind. So much for updating this blog weekly.
Well it is the summer and things have been crazy.
We went down to the outer banks and had a great time.
I am still focusing on my training and still doing my runs. I have cut back on some of my cross training. We have not done Maya in a long time. I have not been biking or lifting either. Softball is over so I have one night that has freed up for me.
So I have less then a week for my next race. It is the Harris Teeter presents YMCA Loudoun County 10K. I am looking forward to it as it should give me a good idea on how I should do in October at the Half Marathon.
Well that is really all I have to write for now.
I promise to update on a regular basis.

12 weeks to go

Well this is the week after the 4th of July. It has been a great week for training, in a round about way.
I did not do my usual running over the 4th of July weekend as 1. we were camping and 2. with all the walking we did in Busch Gardens I felt that was exercise enough.
So Monday and Wednesday was the normal 1/2 hour run at work with Colin and Harris for a total of 6.2 miles. It feels so good to run with other people, even though I hold both of them back I still enjoy the company and I know they do as well.
Now comes the weekend which I had a lot of activity scheduled. I had to do my long run, a bunch of yard work to do including cutting the grass plus I had a make up softball game smack in the middle of the day.
So I get up Saturday morning and I had a quandary. I was speaking with a buddy at work and he was giving away a youth motorcycle. I told him that I would take it. I was hoping to get it from him on Friday at work, but no such luck. So he was going to bring it to the house Saturday morning on his way out to his Dads place in West Virginia that he is buying. Anyway, I was not sure when he was going to be out, plus he mentioned maybe I could get it from him on Monday.
We I delayed and then decided to go out for my long run. I was planing on doing 10 miles.
Well I was 3 miles into it and he calls me. He was having some trouble finding the house. I directed him back to where he needed to go and told him I was on a run but on my way back. As I was doing a loop I really was not that far from home, a little less then a mile. So I turned around and headed home, unbeknownst to me was another runner following me. As I turned around she gave me a high five with a smile on her face. What a great feeling. It takes me back to some of the races I have done in the past, but more on that in a minute. So I was on my way back up the long hill in our neighborhood to our house and well as I could have figured there goes my buddy from work. He did not stick around long as he had to get going. This kind of gave me an excuse to cut my run short as it was getting real humid out. So I decided to end my run short at 4 miles. I finish all my other "chores" around the house so fast forward to Sunday morning. My wife and I wake up and she is feels like going for a run. She is training to do a duathlon in October so she has to be able to run 2 miles, then bike 10 miles then run 3.1 miles. I decide to join her and we end up doing 5 miles. I felt great! Mainly because it was early enough in the day and because I got the miles in that I wanted to. Again it always feels better to run with a partner. I am not sure why that is.
I usually plan on posting on Sunday night but time got away from me. However, I am glad that it did and here is why. So we go on our normal Monday lunch time run at work minus one as he had other things to do. I happened to wear my Cherry Blossom shirt and I am not sure if that has any meaning but about a third of the way through our run another runner was coming towards us and gives me a high five. Not sure why but it sure does feel good.
These two high five activities takes me back to the races that I have run in. I have enjoyed all of them and I think back to why. One because my family was there cheering me on and two crowd support. Some of the 5ks don't have good crowd support except for the beginning and the end but it is such a short distance compared to other races that I am starting to focus on.
So my recommendation is if you are thinking of participating in a race, do it. Just make the commitment and do it. You will be surprised and what gets you going. For me, having a bunch of people yelling and screaming saying "you can do it" makes me want to run faster. All it takes is that first step forward.

4th of July

Well this has been a very slow week as far as the training runs go. Not really much to say.
On Monday we ran for 3.1 miles. A nice 5k at lunch time with some buddies at work. This ended my monthly running stats at 52.91 miles. Not too bad.
On Wednesday to start the month of July we did 3.23 miles. I must say I really enjoy running at lunch time. It forces me to get up and away from my desk and the company is great as well. I do wish we had a shower to use. There is one in the girls bathroom, but now that we have females working here it is very hard to use it.
I did not do my scheduled Saturday long run as we were in Busch Gardens for the 4th of July holiday weekend. We did a lot of walking so I figured I would be ok. I must say that I am glad that today is a running day for me. I am starting to get those feelings of "I must run". Its not a bad feeling but I finally understand what some people go through when they get injured and can not run for a while. This makes me take a step back and really start to review my running so that I make sure I don't injure myself. I will have to make sure that I keep my pace slow today. I can just feel myself wanting to burst out of the gates like a bat out of hell.
Like I said not much going on now. I will post again in a week.
Thanks for reading.

Harris Teeter presents YMCA Loudoun County 10K & 20K | Leesburg, Virginia 20175 | Sunday, August 09, 2009 @ 7:30 AM

Harris Teeter presents YMCA Loudoun County 10K & 20K | Leesburg, Virginia 20175 | Sunday, August 09, 2009 @ 7:30 AM

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