Philly Half Marathon 2012

This one was rough. I had no real expectations going in. My training for the last few weeks has been almost non-existent. I ran a decent 10 miler two weeks ago but have done nothing since. The highlight of the day for me was seeing all the folks from the running/walking group before the race; seeing Dave at mile 8ish and seeing some new first time marathoners approach the finish and learning that some fitters got PR's out of the day.

I started out running water stop to water stop. I only got as far as the second stop (around mile 3) before I switched to 3 and 1 run/walk interevals. My feet were numb, my legs felt like lead. I felt like I was going backwards - on the downhill. My head was out of the run early. I saw Dave at his usual spot between mile 8 and 9 and asked him to walk with me a bit. I told him I likely wouldn't cross the finish line until after the 3 hour mark on the clock. I was figuring a 2:45 finish at that point. (Remember, I don't cross the start line until well after the clock actually starts)

A Run for Sandy Relief

For an event that was originated less than 48 hours before the start it was incredibly well organized. The idea came from a women in Hunterdon County, NJ who was schedued to run the NYC Marathon. She decided to skip the Marathon (before it was officially canceled) and organize an event to raise money for relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. I saw it on Facebook from a friend around 5 pm on Friday. I was going to be doing my own 10 miles alone on Sunday (or try to find a local running buddy) and thought that for $20 this seemed like a good idea. Another of my training buddies - Kristi Y - decided she would put in her miles there as well.

The event was promoted to runners and walkers as an opporutunity to complete anything from 1 to 26.2 miles. The suggested donation would go 100% to Sandy Relief. Facebook sent the thing into overdrive and by Saturday evening they had 130 registrations. When we arrived (at 9:55 for a 10 am start - more on that later) they were still managing walk up registrations. I just read on the FB Page that the final total was over 200 with 50+ doing the full 26.2 miles.

Ocean City Half Marathon

I highly recommend this race. Small, great location, and well supported. I registered early for $50 and I know someone who registered two days ago for $60. We recieved a long sleeve tech tee, a visor and a medal for crossing the finish line. My enjoyment was definitely enhanced by the presence of friends but it is a great race even if I had been there alone.

11 of us met for dinner on Saturday evening. We chose Italian. That seemed appropriate for a pre- race meal. We had 6 pm reservations which allowed for some down time back at the hotel before sleep. Both  Dave and I had been up early on Saturday (5:30) - he for hockey, me for Phillyfit - so we were lights out by 9:30. The hotel had breakfast at 6 which was perfect. We had a leisurely breakfast and at 7:30 drove to OC for the 9 am start. Very civilized.

A Half Marathon Completed 2 Miles at a Time (more or less)

Today was race day! It was a perfect day for racing. Cool temperatures, low humidity, little wind.

I had decided a few weeks ago that if conditions (both external and internal) were good I wanted to run this race from water station to water station. They are approximately two miles apart on the course and I was sure I could manage that. I even did a few weekday runs just prior to the race two miles at a time (rather than my usual long run intervals) just to get into the mindset. I brought my Gymboss set to 3 and 1's just in case. If the water stop intevals didn't go well I would switch over to the 3 and 1's. I never touched the timer. :)

I started the race in Corral #18. I couldn't see the clock when we finally crossed so I really had no idea at what point we started. I estimated 20 minutes but really had no clue. As I got to each water station without fading my confidence grew. I think I got a little over confident between 7 and 8 though. I felt my pace was pretty quick then and debated with msyelf whether I should pull back a bit. I was past the early part of the race though and figured I'd just let it go. Unfortunately I paid for this later when in the last mile I thought I was going to have to walk. I did take a longer walk break through and a little beyond the last water stop but pushed on by telling myself that I wasn't going to finish if I didn't keep going. I know my pace slowed considerably in that last mile but I was moving... not smiling so much - but moving.

Firehouse Pickle Run in the Streets

Last night (Wednesday) I ran a Run the Day pickle prediction run. The race went through the streets of Garden City and ended at the firhouse with a BBQ. Here is a picture of our group prior to the run.

Chief Cheerleader and
Keeper of the contraband

If you don't know, in a prediction run the goal is to predict your finish time in advance and try to see how close you can get to it. It's a lot of fun and the winners are not necessarily the first people to cross the finish line.

Now, a key thing in a prediction run is that the participants can not use timing devices. Duh, right? Unfortunatley not all of us rememberd that fact. Dave graciously offered to keep all the rule breaking devices for the group.

Helping Others Smile and Move

On Sunday, Dave and I volunteered at the Perk Up Half Marathon, aka the Hurricane Half. Sunday marked the second attempt at the race's innaugural event. In 2011, Hurricane Irene and her flooding rains and tree felling winds put the kabash on attempt number 1. 

Several of my running and walking buddies participated in the event. Here is a photo of them after they all finished! I was only back from vacation the Tuesday before and did not feel I'd be ready. This makes me wimp #1. For two of the ladies in this photo, Perk up was their second in as many weeks and another had just returned from vacation the DAY before. These people are rock stars! 

Anyway, the race sounded like fun and when the organizers put a call for more volunteers I decided to sign up for that. Someone asked me if Perki, our running group mascot would be there.

My tenth half marathon - Philadelphia Half Marathon 2011

2 hours and 40 minutes. 23 minutes slower than my PR in this same race in 2009. I have a goal to get back to my PR (or better) in 2012. Count on it.

Today's race was fun nonetheless. I knew I'd be slow and accepting that makes all the difference. I crossed the start mat 24 minutes into the race. I got a high five from the mayor and off I went. I purposely elected not to start out with any of my phillyfit friends. It's not that I don't love running with them - quite the contrary. However, I knew that at my current level of fitness I would not be able to keep up with any of their run intervals. As it was for the first 5 miles or we leap frogged a bit but I resisted the urge to latch on to anyone. I needed to keep my own pace in order to finish.

I decided to forgo the 3 and 1 intervals this time. I just had a feeling that I'd get too comfortable with the walk portions. I decided to run and just walk for one minute at water stops and/or mile markers. I ran to the first water stop (2.2 miles) and took my first walk break. Did the same for water stop #2 and #3. By now we were just past the 5 mile marker. I knew the next water stop was 2 miles away so I made sure to walk at the 6 mile marker and more or less kept up a run for a mile walk for a minute interval after that.

2011 Bridge Run

The weather for today's bridge run was gorgeous. It started out cloudy and ended up bright sunshiny. I'll spare you having to read the whole post and say now that I had an awesome time.

I arrived early. I was in the parking lot around 6:45. I did that on purpose remembering from two years ago that the traffic backs up quickly on Cooper Street leading to Campbell Field. I woke up at 6 am; grabbed my bagel and water and got in the car. I ate the bagel and drank the water to pass the time while I waited in the car. Around 7:30 I headed over to the stadium. There were quite a few phillyfitters running this race; John C, Kristie, honarary member Jamie, Jim, Roy and Julius. Sophorn elected to save her legs for the 50 mile run she is doing on November 19th. Maggi woke up sick.

I headed to the field and immediately spotted John C's orange hat. Roy was there with him. We stayed there through the opening ceremonies which featured the best rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" I have heard. I don't like the song - but I have to admit this woman sang it very well. Among others, Carl Lewis spoke for a minute or two and reminded everyone not to go out too fast. Then we began the walk to the base of the New Jersey side of the bridge. On the way over we saw Sophorn and her camera. She returned my gloves that I had loaned her last week when she did her 30 miles in the snow and glop. They were toasty warm from being in her pocket and I was glad to have them. I saw Julius and his friend Karen when I arrived at the bridge.

Lupus Loop

Great day and 5k race for the 20th annual Lupus Loop. After yesterday's Snowtober mess, today was a pleasing bright sunshiny day. Still very cold and breezy but sun sure makes a huge difference.
My friend Kristie and her family organize a team - Linda's Loopers - for this race and I was pleased to make it this year. (Last year I woke up not feeling well). I crashed early and hard last night after supporting Phillyfit's 13-21-30 milers yesterday so by 7:30 am I was ready to go. Due to traffic issues every where else I was one of the first of our group to arrive. This proved to be an issue for my feet which were frozen by the time the race started and so I clumped along for 2/3 of the race.

There were several phillyfitters on Kristie's team in addtion to her friends and family. John C (who ran 30 yesterday) and Sherry (who ran 10 and hung around freezing to support her teamates) were there. Maureen was also there and she and I ran together. That was especially nice for me. I haven't run with her in over two years. She kept me moving and smiling.

OCNJ Half Completed

First let me congratulate Jamie for her awesome PR (20+ MINUTES) at this race. She trained well, she ran well and I'm so proud of and excited for her. I think a marathon may be in her future some day :)

My weekend started with Phillyfit's Saturday miles. I did not run. I was just there. Kristie came over about 4ish and we headed down to OC. We chatted the whole way and before I knew it we were on route 9 heading into Marmora. With Kristie navigating we worked our way to Jamie's in-laws house. I wrote the house number down as 13 but it was actually 31. There was no 13 which was a bit disconcerting at first. Then I remembered she told me what was on the mailbox and that helped us get straightened out.

This was the first time I met Jamie in person and I was also introduced to her two adorable children, Ben and Elijah. Jamie's father in law had prepared an awesome pasta dinner for us. It was an early night. Everyone was in bed by 9:00 p.m. I slept better than I thought I would being in a strange place. Guess I was just that tired.

I Can Still Do This.

I had a blast AND I finished. Mission accomplished. I missed 2 1/2 hours by 2.06 seconds. I finished with no foot or joint pains. I am a very happy runner. So that's the end of the story. Here's how I got there.

For the first 9 miles I kept pace with Sammy, Anne, and John. I knew in my head that their pace was likely too fast for me but I stuck with them anyway. The worst that would happen, I figured, was that I would crash in the last few miles and walk more than I wanted/planned and that 'worst' was not the end of the world. I decided that I was willing to trade a crash and burn for their company and chatter as long as I could.

I was pleasantly surprised to still be feeling strong and still with them at mile 7. By mile 9, though, I called ahead to Sammy to use her watch for their intervals. At this point although my pace slowed from theirs I was ok. I kept up the 3 and 1 intervals just at a slower pace. We had run the first mile then turned on the interval timer. I had had it in my head before the race that I wanted to run 1 mile; do 3 and 1's for the next 11 and then run the last 1.1 mile. So when mile 12 came I finished my walk interval and ran the rest of the way home.

SEI Rush Hour Run

For the 4 years that I have been with Phillyfit people have raved about this race. It's a 5k on a Thursday (yesterday) evening on the same trail where we do most of our training runs. The course is part of the first 3 miles of our runs so phillyfitters are very familiar with this stretch. That's not the part everyone raves about though. For $25 entry fee you get a tech tshirt (nice one too) and a post race party like I've never seen or heard about. Not just all kinds of food but all kinds of drink too! I resisted (not really sure why) but figured I could afford the $25 this year and so many from the group go and we typically run together on Thursday evenings anyway... why not.

I arrived at the SEI complex just before 5. The race started at 6:30 but it didn't make sense to go home first. Slowly other Philyfitters arrived and evenutally 15 of us were there to start. We all ran our own races, the earlier finishers cheering on the ones who came behind. So by the time the last of us finished we were altogehter in a group again to head up for the party.

Marathon #4; the good, the bad and the ugly.

Let's take them in reverse order because the good was very good and the other two can be dispensed with quickly.

THE UGLY

This is a totally personal thing and has nothing to do with the event itself. I'm very frustrated with myself for having a delusional goal for this race. I worked hard and I really thought I was finally going to break 5 hours and 30 minutes. Not only did I miss that mark, I came in 7 minutes slower than my previous best (my 1st in 2008). I'm not disappointed (afterall I did start and finish) but I'm frustrated at my failure to be realistic in my abilities.

THE BAD

And really this is minor. The race was great. But all except the first and last miles were open to traffic. This was an issue early on when runners were still bunched up. At times there were cars coming in both directions. In the end, the cars had to figure out where to go we just kept running. I did not hear about any people accidents but I did see a dead rabbit, a dead racoon and a dead turtle. Not sure if they were casualties of the race or not but they were pretetty ugly.

Goofy Challenge Part II

Temperature at start below 30
Temperature at end about 41

5 Mile in 01:03:29 (NET). Pace: 12:41
10 Mile in 02:06:41 (NET). Pace: 12:40
20 Mile in 04:39:00 (NET). Pace: 13:57
Finish in 06:12:28 (NET). Pace: 14:12

Things to feel good about:
- I finished; which is all I wanted to do anyway
- I was smiling at the end
- I kept moving (duh or I wouldn't have finished)
- Although I hit the wall at mile 18 (as I did in my first marathon 14 months ago) this time I had run a half marathon the day before so definitely in better shape
- At mile 20 I broke through the wall; something I never did in the first marathon

Goofy Challenge Part I

Temperature: hovering around 32
Precipitation in the form of freezing rain/sleet/some snow

5K in 00:34:11 (NET). Pace: 11:00
10K in 01:10:45 (NET). Pace: 11:23
15K in 01:48:28 (NET). Pace: 11:38
Finish in 02:35:43 (NET). Pace: 11:52

I estimated a 12 min pace allowing for:
Stopping for pictures
Walking if necessary (it was on the last hill)
Taking it easy to save for the marathon tomorrow

Run the Bridge

What a fun race! I forgot to tell you my goals last night. So I'll tell you now before going into my race report. My first goal, as always, is to have fun. Beyond that I thought a lot about this one and decided that an 11 min/mile average pace would be doable and a really good goal. My training runs have been 12 minutes and slower but they have also been much longer than 6.2 miles. So here goes.

Saturday night/Sunday morning marked the end of daylight savings time. Still I was in bed at 11/10 for a good night's sleep. I was up at 6 am for breakfast of bagel and peanut butter, vitamins and water. I also took a throw away bottle of water with me. I packed a bag of dry clothes as, once again, it was raining this morning. All of the training runs in the rain with USAFit Philly were going to come in handy. If nothing else, it meant I just didn't mind it (or care) anymore. My only regret is I forgot to pin a Phillies Rally Towel to the back of my shirt.

As I headed north on 95, I made a last minute decision to take the Ben Franklin Bridge instead of the Walt Whitman because it was not going to close until 7:45 and it was only 7:15 as I approached. The traffic once I was over the bridge was heavy though. It took close to 30 minutes to get from the bridge to Campbell Field. I parked, walked over to the field and picked up my packet and t shirt. I went back to the car to drop everything off, pin my bib to my shirt and put the timing chip on my shoe. I double checked that my car key was tied to my other shoe, locked the car and headed back to the stadium. As I climed the steps they were singing the National Anthem.

The runners and walkers were assembled on the field (but not on the tarp... being instructed not to do so). At 8:15 we began the walk to the base of the New Jersey side of the bridge. At 8:30 the gun went off and so were we. Funny note: just before the gun went off I looked down and saw two nickels on the ground. I had no pockets though so I left them there.

So the first three miles of the run were on the bridge. Two up hills and two down hills. I imagined the long slow up hill to be Edgmont Street in Media. A street I have run many times in both directions. Although the bridge climb was probably longer it wasn't any steeper so I had not trouble with this picture. I attacked it at my own comfortable pace. I thought too that the Valley Forge loop, which has a much steeper hill to start, prepared me well for this. I passed mile marke 1 at 10:54. Ok, so far so good. As I crested the top of the hill I lengthened my stride and let gravity help me down the other side. Around the turn on the Pennsylvania side and now back up to the top. At mile 2 the clock said 20:10. I must have picked up time on the downside. Just past mile 2 I passed NJ Governor Corzine and his bodyguard. At mile 3, at the bottom of the hill and the end of the bridge, he passed me but this was also where he stopped. I continued on the rest of the course; a flat 3.2 miles.

Interestingly the next mile was the same route I took driving off the bridge when I arrived earlier. We ran through this faster than I drove it! I forget the clock was at mile 3 but I remember still being on track.

Before I move on I have to comment about runners trying to pass each other. I thought to myself as I ran that the runners would have done well to think of themselves in cars as they passed each other. When you pass someone in a car, you check first before pulling in front to see that there is room. Twice, I was almost clipped by someone who passed and then slowed down as they moved in front of me. HELLO!!!!

Anyway, back to the route. Mile4 was finished in over 11 minutes. I'm not sure what that was all about except that maybe coming off the downhill of the bridge I slowed as I adjusted my gait to run on flat instead of downhill. The final clock (except for the finish) was at mile 5 and I was back on track there. Just after mile five the group running in cadence came up behind me. I managed to stay in front of them the rest of the way and found it amusing to listen to them. One ditty was about Fred and Barnie; the chorus being Yabba-Dabba-Do in cadence. Think about it.. it's kind a cool!

Philadelphia Distance Run

On Sunday I ran the Philadelphia Distance Run in 2 hours, 28 minutes and 6 seconds. Given that my goal run right now is the Goofy Challenge (really two runs) I was happy with the time. I was also pleased with the way my hydration and fuel strategy seemed to work. I wish I had done better with pacing and that I had eliminated the walk over the Falls Bridge.
I had hoped to pace the first 5 miles at more than 11 but less than 12 miles per hour. Then see if I could pick up the pace slightly in the next 5 miles and finish the last 5 at the quickest pace. According to my chip times my pace for the first 5k was 10:29 and my overall pace was 11:18. I went out too fast and got slower. I have to work on this. I do not use a running watch and maybe the only way I will be able to control this is to get one.

I felt good at the end despite this 'failure' despite having run the 9 miles the day before. So mentally I like i'm making progress toward Goofy.

Media Five Miler

Last night was the Media Five Miler. I took 1:27 seconds off last year's run with a 10:37 pace. It was a very humid night and I'd been having sinus issues for two days so all in all I am very happy with the results.

You can read about the race here if you like.