Weekend Bling Report
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Well, apparently Internet Exploder didn't post my race report from Venice back in October. The Reader's Digest version was that it was a great, flat course, great support and extremely well run. I picked up an honorary Running Club Venezia shirt and wore it for the race.
PR's the race, too. I could have run much faster (maybe a BQ time) but I was "on holiday" and had an easy run...one of the easiest marathons I've ever run at 4:16:17.
This past weekend, I ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge. It was 2.5 miles to the doughnut pick up, eat a dozen doughnuts, run the 2.5 miles back to the start...all in less than an hour. I did it, and finished in 50:57 without puking. Second in my age group, and fastest among my coworkers (and I'm the "old guy"). The temperature was a cold 27°F.
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Well, apparently Internet Exploder didn't post my race report from Venice back in October. The Reader's Digest version was that it was a great, flat course, great support and extremely well run. I picked up an honorary Running Club Venezia shirt and wore it for the race.
PR's the race, too. I could have run much faster (maybe a BQ time) but I was "on holiday" and had an easy run...one of the easiest marathons I've ever run at 4:16:17.
This past weekend, I ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge. It was 2.5 miles to the doughnut pick up, eat a dozen doughnuts, run the 2.5 miles back to the start...all in less than an hour. I did it, and finished in 50:57 without puking. Second in my age group, and fastest among my coworkers (and I'm the "old guy"). The temperature was a cold 27°F.
A dozen donuts? As in 12 ? Were they regular sized? I am intrigued and speechless.
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Yes, as in 12 regular, glazed doughnuts...~2400 calories (I know they are currently listed as being 190 calories per doughnut. 200 is the number they use for the race). That was for the "Challenger" class. You got your box as you entered the consumption zone, opened it and ate the doughnuts (water was available) as fast as you could. After eating the dozen, you went through an "inspection zone" where you showed your empty box, ran through the split timer and then returned back to the start (mostly uphill).
A dozen donuts? As in 12 ? Were they regular sized? I am intrigued and speechless.
I ran the first mile in 8:46, the second in 8:49, and arrived at the consumption zone at 20:30 where I picked up my box and walked in and through the consumption zone. I ran through the split timer after eating my dozen and going through inspection at 29:32 to run the 2.5 miles back. Elapsed time for Mile 3 was 16:15 (including eating doughnuts). I carefully ran the uphill portions on the way back. Ran the fourth mile in 9:59, even though I dialed back and walked the steeper uphill portions three times.
Making the "turn for home" after mile four, the course flattened out and was downhill for a portion, then began a slow rise back to the start finish area. I just opened up the throttle and the stride and finished that mile last stretch in 7:12. Sugar burn! I felt a lot better than I thought I would after eating that many doughnuts and then running back 2.5 miles. Gun time was 58:28, chip time was 50:57.
There were many more "casual runners" (more than 4,000) who just picked up their box of doughnuts and then ran on back to the finish.
When I got home, my wife asked if I wanted lunch. MFP almost gave me an AYFKM when I entered the consumption in my diary.
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I really wish the mfp phone app had a way to post pics here, so I'll just have to edit this in couple days. I ran the 10K race of the Los Cabos half marathon on Sunday. The course was described as "flat" but I have no idea what they meant, lol. If that was flat, I would HATE to see a hilly course from them! It was hilly enough that I had to stop and walk a few seconds on 3 occasions and I havent done that since my very first 10K last year.
Despite the hills and walking I still had a great run and set a new PB with a chip time of 54:32. There was a great post race party with live band, free wine, free beer, free tequila and free food! Met and talked with some great folks from all over the world including Kenya, Brasil, locals, and from all over the States.1 -
BLING REPORT.
OK, I forgot I can't edit an older post here so I have to make new one, sorry..
Anyway, here are some pics from my race. It was by far the largest event I've ever attended, and also the most fun! Over 2000 people in the just the 10K!!!
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Today was the White House Challenge, a nominal 4.4 mile race and the 6th and final race in the Freezeroo series. The distance is not certified. Garmin reported it as 4.34 miles; another runner said he got 4.38. So I think it's a little shorter than 4.4. I ran it in 27:51, for an average pace of 6:25 per Garmin, good for 6th of 119 overall, 1st of 7 in the M 60-64 age group, and a nice ego boost when the 55 year old guy I edged out by one second asked how old I was.
No bling for the low budget race, but winning my age group for the series was good for $25 in cash. Thinking of that as an offset to the series entry fee, I ran 5 races (sat out #5 due to training schedule) for $25 net, or $5 per race. Pretty cheap entertainment, and bragging rights.
Didn't think to take any in-race or post-race pictures; the rain kind of discouraged that anyway. But I did get a couple of nice scenery shots before my warmup. Part of the course was just south of Lake Ontario, and the classic directions to the parking lot say, "If you drive into the lake, you've gone 100 meters too far."
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I see my post with the spam bait number (# of finishers in my race) got approved, but the system didn't recognize it for "last post" purposes. So I'm posting now to reset the last post indicator.
I ran a race yesterday, details in the previous post.0 -
Finished my first marathon of the year. Time was 5:13. Wasn't my best time by a long shot, but that's what happens when you don't train properly.3 -
Finished my first marathon of the year. Time was 5:13. Wasn't my best time by a long shot, but that's what happens when you don't train properly.
Doesn't matter how fast, what matter is that you did it! I still haven't done my first HM yet, so you are doing far better than I am! Congrats!1 -
Finished my first half marathon on February 26th! Can't wait for another shot at it in November!
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Congrats!0
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Johnny's Runnin' of the Green is a 5 mile race that is traditionally the start of the road racing season in Rochester, NY. It is run on the same Saturday as Rochester's St. Patrick's Day parade, which never actually falls on St. Patrick's Day. Most years, over half the field wears green or Irish-themed costumes.
This year, the temperature at gun time was very near the forecast, at 16º F (-9º C). The wind was milder than the 15-18mph forecast, at 9 mph. That's from the Garmin feed, after the fact; in real time, all I knew was the wind wasn't as strong as the forecast.
There had been an inch or so of lake effect snow overnight. Higher winds earlier had taken out a tree on the route, which brought down a pole with a street light but apparently didn't break any of the power cables. The street was closed for that pre-race, but enough was cleared to let the runners just run around the tree. The down side (besides the elimination of some good tangents) was that there was a stretch of road that wasn't treated with salt and had no pre-race vehicular traffic, i.e. it was snowy.
Under the conditions, I estimated that anything below 35 minutes would be good enough to win the M 60-64 age group, and it was. 2nd place in the age group ran 38:03. I ran 33:25 officially for a 6:41 average pace; Garmin saw more distance and hence a faster average pace:
Johnny's gives out bottles of wine to age group winners. I don't do alcohol, and the sparkling grape juice was reserved for the under-age age groups. So I thought to text my daughter and ask whether she wanted red, white, or rose wine. The answer was red:
Not a PR for a 5 mile race, but a respectable effort under the conditions. 49th of 876 finishers overall, 1st of 30 in the M 60-64 age group. That's a good result for me in a field that the better local runners turn out well for. The total number is a bit low, and there were fewer costumed runners than the past 2 years. I attribute that to the weather; the serious runners showed up, some who would wear costumes in better weather stayed home, and perhaps some chose to dress for the weather instead of in costume. It's all good.
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Much like @MobyCarp, not a PR for me this weekend. I went in with high hopes and coming away with a renewed respect for hills and an overwhelming feeling of being undertrained. The entire course (Strava Route, hopefully it works) was hills. My goal of 6:50's vanished, but I managed to finish 6th of 163 runners @ 1:06:17 (7:04 per mile according to Strava). That was good enough for 2nd in my age group, which is something that does make me somewhat proud.
Me on the left with the reps from the Shepherd's Spine Center, the races primary charity beneficiary.
Bling attained - one Road Race dog tag, one 15K finisher's dog tag and a delicious red velvet mini-bundt from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Not shown is the 2nd place finisher's tag that got added to the chain.
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@99clmsntgr -Congrats on a great race and the age group award. i love the ide of the dog tags!1
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lporter229 wrote: »@99clmsntgr -Congrats on a great race and the age group award. i love the ide of the dog tags!
I was just about to post this. That is some nice race bling.1 -
I forgot to post this earlier in the week. I ran the Heart Mini Marathon on March 12. They offer a 15k and half marathon. I always seem to go with the longer distance if there is a choice. I thought about bailing on this one: it was going to be cold (20-22 degrees), we had a formal event to go to the night before and would be out late, and it we lost that precious hour of sleep because of daylight savings time. I have been battling Achilles issues since January also, so wasn't sure it would hold up for 13.1 hard miles.
Anyway, I finished in 1:26:56, which earned me 3rd overall female. I got close to 1st/2nd in the middle miles, but they had a faster gear that I didn't. Not even close. I was happy with how I did. I typically suck in really cold temps.
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Just ran my local Parkrun 5k - I do it most weeks, but usually with my 9-year-old son so not at full pace. I ran 20:42, which is the fastest I've run in over a year. This lets me know my marathon training is on target, anyway!4
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I finished the Lucky Charm 10k in just under 47 minutes. The weather cooperated and the slushy mess that was forecasted missed us. My time was good enough for 36th place (out of 372 runners). I am slowly working myself back into shape.
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USATF Masters 8K Championship at Shamrock 8K in Virginia Beach on Saturday. This is the first time I've got a finisher's medal for that short a race. In spite of running a PR 30:59 8K (6:14 per mile, 3:52 per kilometer), I didn't qualify for any individual or team awards. Part of the team issue was we didn't have enough healthy guys; the third scoring runner on our M 60+ team was actually the 70-74 age group winner running down because too many of our 70+ runners got injured for us to field a 70+ team.
My 30:59 was good for 8th of 18 in the M 60-64 age group and 42nd of 161 if restricted to just the USATF Master 8K competition. In the full Shamrock 8K field, I was 8th of 139 in the age group and 73rd of 7760 overall. The USATF Masters competitions draw a tough field.
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Completed the 50km New Forest running festival race on Saturday. Finish time of 6:07:23. Had a few issues with an my knee giving out on my after 20 miles. So the last 10 were a real slog!
In the gym today and I'm starting a proper training plan tomorrow!5 -
I ran a small half marathon in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania on Saturday. The race went well until the last couple miles when I somehow got off course. They had the 5k and 10k courses joined at the end the the HM course and I managed to run an extra 1.4 miles. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. I dropped 10 places because of this and finished 17th. While I really enjoy smaller races in the farmlands, I will have to think long and hard about this one next time.
And the hills. There may have been a few hills along they way as well...
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Not exactly long-distance, but I worked hard for this one. You only got a medal if you ran 4 of their 5k trail runs during the season. I started late in the season and had scheduling conflicts thrown at me after I started and was already somewhat committed to finishing, so ended up running in three different cities, with one run being in -21*C weather, one while I was miserable-sick with a head cold, and the other two on back-to-back days a week later (so still coughing a lot). One was VERY icy, and I don't own cleats! Probably should've quit when I was sick, but got through it and was glad I pushed through. Plus the course in Warsaw was so flat and wide I wouldn't even call it a "trail", so I got a PR!
Just noticed everything in the picture is in English... so on the back is a Tony Robbins quote, nicely translated into Polish, but they unfortunately managed to misspell both his first AND last name. Oh well!
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There are some fast runners in this group. Me, I'm a turtle. But I like racing. I'm also older, so even slow I can sometimes get AG awards if the event is small.
I ran my 3rd marathon yesterday - the B&A Trail Marathon in Maryland. It isn't actually on trail, but on a paved rail trail through woods and some suburban neighborhoods. It is a very low key event, with minimal bling, and no crowds. There were 200 marathoners and 600 half marathoners in the race. It was cooler than forecast, which was great (47 at the start, 48 at the finish instead of the 60 or so I was expecting). The trail was crowded but manageable until the HMers split off at 13 and pretty empty for the next 13 except for locals walking their dogs or riding their bikes on the trail.
I had a good race, finishing in 4:16:47. I ran faster than intended by about 10 seconds per mile for the first 19 miles but it felt good and I had done some of my easy runs at that pace. Since pacing is always a problem for me, I was amazed at how consistent I was. Then I fell apart in mile 20, but my overall finish was only 2 minutes slower than my A goal, and 5 minutes faster than my PR. I had no real idea what to expect because my last race in the fall was a disaster thanks to undiagnosed anemia, so I had no realistic guide as to my fitness except how I felt when doing my runs.5 -
Cowtown Marathon Race Report (Feb 26th)
(Sorry so long...this was my 1st marathon)
A 1st race for a particular distance is always exciting, and the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth was my 1st marathon. In Texas, you never know what kind of weather you’re going to get in February...it could be in the 70’s, or it could be cold with snow and ice. Fortunately, the weather was just about perfect with temps in the low 40s to start, warming up to the 50’s by the time I finished.
The one thing I really liked was that there was an indoor waiting area for the runners. This made it so much more comfortable. I had my throw away hoodie and gloves I bought at Goodwill, but I totally could have survived without them. It was nice to have them when I was warming up outside before the start of the race.
The elite runners were in Corral 1. I was in Corral 2. It moved very quickly once we got into the race area, and I didn’t even have time to snap a picture. I ran with the 3:45:00 pace group. The pace leader said he would start slow for the 1st 2 miles since it’s so crowded and after that, he’d make a push to increase the pace. He was great and would point out the best tangents to run.
It really was fun running in the town that’s been my home for the past 20 years. There was a lot of community support. My 1st big excitement was running through the Historic Stockyards in the 6th mile. This is a tourist area where all the country bars are. My husband and son would be in this area, and when I saw them, I got to shout out a big Happy Birthday to my kiddo. It was fun seeing them even though it was just a few seconds. My son had a soccer game so they had to see me early on in the race.
From there, we ran down Main Street, into the wind. I ran behind the tallest guy in our pace group. He sure helped block the wind. Me and another guy in our group were jockeying for the best position behind him. Lol! It was kind of funny because whenever we’d hit a windy area, the group would make a smaller ball of people, getting closer together to avoid the wind. Then, we’d spread out again when not faced with the wind.
At the end of Main St. lies the biggest hill of the race. I actually enjoyed it because the courthouse and the tall buildings of downtown were in view. Running through downtown was a lot of fun too. This is around the 10 mile mark, and I was holding onto the pace group strong.
After the half-way point, we got into the TCU area. There is a really pretty area in a neighborhood where there is a tunnel of trees. I loved it! Still holding on and gradually heading south and west, south and west. Somewhere around miles 16 to 17, I just started drifting back farther and farther. I just couldn't keep up at that pace anymore. I was still running though and knew 3:45:00 would be a stretch for me. Therefore, I didn't let it get me down. From that point forward, I was just running as fast as I could where it was fast without being too painful.
One thing I noticed was that I never felt out of breath. As I got farther and farther, my legs just got more and more tired. I was able to keep my pace under a 9 minute mile through mile 21. Starting at mile 22, I slipped to a 9 to 9:30 min/mi pace. On a good note, almost everyone I saw was walking. I was happy with the fact that I was still running.
I finally approached the last mile. My legs were burning, but they were still going. I checked my watch, and was pretty ecstatic to see that I had less than a mile to go. It looked like I should finish between 3:50:00 to 3:51:00. However, the unthinkable happened. I tripped on some railroad tracks and hit the pavement with the left side of my face. I shouted a cuss word that rhymes with duck. Someone came running to help. I'm just thinking how can this happen?? I have less than a mile to go. I've got to finish this race! I know my face is scraped up and bleeding. I stand up...I feel ok. I decide I'm not in too much pain. My knee hurts a bit but not bad. My face hurts a bit, but running won't make it hurt worse. I decide I'm going to go for it. I start walking to see how I do. So far, so good. Once I started walking, some medics caught up with me. They told me where to apply gauze, understood I wanted to finish and told me to see medic once I crossed the finish line.
From there, I ran it into the finish line. I felt a little weird having a bloody face, but I also felt a little like Xena the Warrior Princess running across the finish line of my 1st marathon in under 4 hours with a bloody face!! 3:54:06 was my official chip time!!
From there the medics got me and took me to the area for the injured. I did get to stop and get my medal en route! They checked me for a concussion, made sure my knee was ok, and bandaged me up. After being released, I went and got my food, finishers shirt, and told my story about 10 to 15 times.
I wasn't sure if I'd like running so long, but I really did enjoy the marathon, and I hope to run the Cowtown again next year but will do some high stepping over all railroad tracks!
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OMG, what a story! Love your write-up. OMG those pics of you finishing!!!
You look like you've been in a bar fight. You should show people that pic and just tell them "you should have seen the other person" LOL.
Thanks for sharing, glad you are OK.1 -
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silverfiend wrote: »OMG, what a story! Love your write-up. OMG those pics of you finishing!!! You look like you've been in a bar fight. You should show people that pic and just tell them "you should have seen the other person" LOL.
Thanks for sharing, glad you are OK.
@silverfiend Thanks!! I thought about making up a story that I got hit by a car but maybe saying that some girl gave me a jab to the face as I was passing her would be more interesting. Lol!!0 -
@BeeerRunner Awesome race report! The second picture is priceless, you're determined look, and the medic on the edge of the picture coming up to you, but nothing's going to get in the way of you finishing!
You had one heck of an inspirational first marathon, for us wannabe's to look up to!2 -
@BeeerRunner - You show great determination in finishing that race. As a bonus, you can save the finish line shot and tell your grandkids you were an extra in a Zombies Run movie!2
