July 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

@MobyCarp I read the news earlier and was speechless. I still don't have the words. He was always so encouraging and such an inspiration.

I ran a 10k today. Not a race, though I tried to push the pace... sometimes too much so I walked quite a bit, yet still ended up with a PR of 1:09:19. Unfortunately, Strava doesn't recognize it, but Garmin does.

I'm so shocked also. @mobycarp helped me and so many of us over the years with his advice. Even more so he was such an inspiration. I remember when he retired and he reminded us to SAVE for our own retirements. I remember reading how he did pushups every morning, and would test out his legs/ankle while the eggs were cooking when recovering from an injury. And, I was so proud to say I know someone running Boston! And always end it with - he's an online friend!

@skippygirlsmom texted me this morning when I was out on a bike ride. It was only 30 miles but it was really hot. Her text made me stop and drink and just go slow the rest of the way back reflecting on his advice over the years. Tomorrow a run in his honor.

The last pictures of him are smiling and running a race. I can not think of a more fitting send-off for him than that.

In the tradition of @MobyCarp, who always wrote a great and insightful race report, I will write a short report of my race today. I know we all wish that we could read his report today too (I just read his last one, so much detail and knowledge of his running and himself) and it doesn't feel great to celebrate, but I'm sure he'd understand.

Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
07/01/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 3.0
07/02/19 :::: 4.4 :::: 7.5
07/03/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 7.5
07/04/19 :::: 10.1 :::: 17.5
07/05/19 :::: 3.1 :::: 20.6
07/06/19 :::: 4.5 :::: 25.2
07/07/19 :::: 4.5 :::: 29.7
07/08/19 :::: 3.9 :::: 33.5
07/09/19 :::: 2.6 :::: 36.1
07/10/19 :::: 4.6 :::: 40.7
07/11/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 40.7
07/12/19 :::: 3.5 :::: 44.2
07/13/19 :::: 4.0 :::: 48.2
07/14/19 :::: 9.4 :::: 57.6

Today was the Boilermaker 15k in Utica, NY, which is a large race (about 12,000 runners) that attracts some elite competition. First place for the men was Gabriel Geay - @Teresa502 this is the guy you mentioned right? - who finished in 43:36, a 4:41 pace. First place woman was Caroline Rotich, who finished in 49:07.

And now for the perspective from way back in the pack. The weather was pretty fortunate, around 70 degrees and overcast to start. Word has it that it has never rained during the Boilermaker race in its 42-year history. It was humid though, so I definitely felt it was hotter than the temps implied and I took lots of water, ice and popsicles along the way.

There was about a 15-minute delay in the start of the race because of a police emergency. Apparently there was a homicide close to but off the course (and unrelated to the race). Once the gun went off, it took a while for us to make it across the start line in the crowd. I wanted to be sure I didn't start out too fast, and this was not a problem with how packed it was. I didn't feel great the first couple of miles, I think I stiffened up standing around at the start so long. By the third mile I was doing a bit better but it was gradually uphill. And then the big hill that peaks at about the 4-mile marker. I actually struggled more on the gradual part that I had forgotten about and did better on the hillier hill that I dreaded, but the sun decided to come out full force for a bit so that was a tough stretch. Then a nice long downhill section between miles 4-6 was a great way to make up a little of that time (and the clouds returned!) and I tried to just relax and let gravity do a lot of the work. Mile 4 was my slowest and mile 5 was my fastest split of the race. Then I was trying to kick it to the 10k marker because I thought I might be close to a 10k PR (I wasn't) and then I felt kind of wiped after that - which is not great when there's still 5k to go.

Back uphill a little to mile 7 and then mostly downhill for the rest of the race. The last two miles seemed to last forever. I recognized the street that we finished on but was surprised how far down the finish still was. Even so, the last two miles were the 2nd and 3rd fastest of the race so I'm glad I was able to hang on and finish strong.

My time was 1:37:41 (10:29 avg pace), which is better than last year by 5.5 minutes. Which isn't saying a whole lot but that was my main goal going into this so I was glad. I know I can run a better race. I feel like I'm still really struggling with pacing and consistency. My splits are all over the place, although generally related to the elevation changes. I walked too much for water stops (more stops than I needed and stopping and walking through rather than just slowing), and this is a mental thing more than anything. I am grateful that I have thus far managed to be healthy and I feel like my training season is going okay, so I am hopeful that I can pull together a good race or two in the fall.

By the way, MobyCarp lived only about 1.5 hours away from me and I always enjoyed the overlap in what is local to us. I had hoped I would cross paths with him in person at a race someday but we never ran the same race the same year. Raising a glass to him now.

I just sat down and opened this thread and my jaw just fell open! Oh @MobyCarp how you will be missed!!😢. Such a shock to us all, but you went out doing what you love. You were such an inspiration to me and probably all on this thread. I always said I wanted to grow up and be like you.
May you run forever!
My run tomorrow is dedicated to @MobyCarp

Can’t even process that @MobyCarp is gone. You know it’s a thing to say you “follow” someone online, I feel like I followed him literally, he led in places I wanted to get to, showing what being a runner could be like and how to conduct himself at the highest level. Man, I just feel stunned.

Reading Facebook discussion from those who saw him at the race, I can’t help wondering if he had a blood clot in that calf which contributed to the cardiac event. His daughter mentioned hydration. Anyway, everyone be careful out there. Hard to believe someone that strong could go down.

Holy cow. I don't even know where to start. I haven't been around much lately because I find it increasingly hard to keep up with this thread, but I learned of the news of Kevin's passing on Strava and thought this was the most appropriate place I could come to share my condolences and sentiments.

As a long time member of this group, I definitely felt a connection with Kevin like so many of you did. His ability to keep up with this thread and share his knowledge and experience alone deserved admiration. That's not to mention the amazing runner that he was. I am sure that I am not the only one who has had those " WWKD" ( what would Kevin do) moments. He was a teacher, an example and an inspiration to us all.

As shocked and as saddened as I am to hear of this news, I do find a little bit of peace in the fact that his final moments were spent doing what he loved the most. Rest in peace doesn't quite seem appropriate, so I hope it's not offensive to say Run in Peace our friend.