Monday Night Dowd Group

Distance: 6.11 mi.
Time: 46:40.51.
Pace: 7:39.

Two days after my half, I met up with the Monday evening group from the Dowd at 5:30. This run is organized by Caleb and is always a good one. This time it was attended by Boyd, myself, Jocelyn, Carolyn, Paul, Eggers, Brinkley, and Jay. Paul joked that Eggers, Brinkley, and I always seem to come as a package deal. I was just looking forward to getting in some shakeout miles, as my legs and right foot have been excruciatingly tight since the race.

We looped around through Dilworth and the Freedom Park areas before heading back, 6+ miles later. I was glad to get in some easy miles, feeling much more loose afterward. I also enjoyed sharing war stories with Eggers, who raced the Columbia half, and Paul, who always loves to talk shop.

Cut-off Loop

6.06 mi in 00:44:30 - 7:20 ppm

Back to the Dowd for the day. I have tentative plans to do my second workout - a marathon-pace tempo run - on Saturday, but given the restaurant week shenanigans that may be a bit ambitious. My only goal for today was to not get caught up in a faster pace or too long of an easy run - both of which are easy to do with this group!

I had to give something to Chad, who along with his wife was running a bit late, so I waited while they pulled in the parking lot and the group took off without us. Chad and I ran a sub-7 mile in order to catch up, and then I was awake! They were doing the 9-mile Colville loop, so I parted ways with them at the 4-mile mark and ran back to the Dowd. The pace was brisk again (7:20 average) but I felt a lot better than I had the day before.

Dowd Sauna

7.04 mi in 00:52:29 - 7:27 ppm

I met the group at the Dowd for some easy miles today that weren't really all that easy. We had a huge group but the conditions just keep getting tougher out there. I wanted to be able to go shorter than most of them - closer to 6 or 7 miles - so when it became clear there was no plan as to our running route, I shot up front and set the pace. I had us turn from the Booty Loop down back towards Freedom Park so I could run on the greenway and go back up Morehead to the Dowd. If anyone wanted to add extra there would be ample opportunities to do so.

Well, I set a quicker pace than I should have, and suffered a bit for it. Too fast for an easy day. There was a 7:21, a 7:16, and a 7:24 in there before I slowed down and let someone else lead. Given the weather conditions those paces surely must equate to 7-flat or better on normal days. Perhaps I should start taking the weather into consideration when calculating my pace....or better yet, just stay at the back of the pack next time.

Run For Your Life 4-Miler

Disclaimer: I did not race today. I showed up to watch my friends run, cheer for them, and take some video of the race with my Droid. The footage turned out already despite some shaky handling of the camera by me and the cloudy weather. The videos are in three parts; I gave the files to Mike Kahn to upload to the CRC youtube channel because he's the video-editing pro.

If not for the pinched nerve in my back - which is starting to feel better - I may have signed up on race day today. It was cloudy and barely 70 degrees just before gun time at 7:30 a.m. The race would start at the Dilworth RFYL and run part of the "Speed Loop," as well as a section of East Boulevard, before coming back to where it started. I slapped hands with Brinkley, Eggers, and Paul before the gun and found a cheering spot with Jamaar and Layla that was, I would guess, about 600 meters in.

RFYL 4-Miler

Someone I'd never heard of - Bert Rodriguez, from DC I'm told - smoked the field by running 5:00 pace, all the while looking like he was on vacation. Paul finished 2nd after beating rival Bob Marchinko for the first time. Anne Marie set a new PR and got an age group award. Eggers ran his best race of the year; Mitchell showed up and hung with the chase pack of Billy, Chad, Rich Harris, and Jim McKeon.

Tough Long Run

13.44 in 01:42:37 - 7:38 ppm

This one was tough. The humidity/dew point/temperature/whatever you want to go by...it's all been hell on us runners lately, and that combined with a still-empty stomach made things interesting for me today.

I persuaded Mitchell into getting up a little earlier and meeting our group at Old Bell at 6:30 a.m., and really, we would have been better suited to start earlier. We did have a huge group, though: myself, Mike, Spada, Paul, Alex, Ben Hovis, Nate Stanford, Kevin Ballantine, Ryan Koziol, Billy...I must be forgetting someone. We were going to take a break from the trails and run a road loop that Paul had mapped out and assured us all would be a downhill finish.

That of course meant an uphill start as we wound our way up Sardis, through Lansdowne, and then out Providence Road. Mitchell was able to glean some information from Spada about the New York City marathon that he's running in the fall. I took a break to urinate behind a tree and then had to run a 6:49 mile in order to catch up because the boys were already setting a quick pace. I blame Alex, who insists on running 7:10 pace or better every step of the way! We went all the way to Rea Road and then past the Olde Providence neighborhood, the site of my Firecracker 5k. Here we stopped to get water as Paul was nice enough to set out about 8 bottles under a tree for us.

We turned down Colony and I suddenly began to feel very weak. I informed Paul and then Kevin that I was going to slow down my pace and look for a shortcut back because I didn't have the energy to stay with them. Alex took a pee break without telling anyone and got way behind - he passed me before I turned off but never caught the group.

I turned down Carmel and made my way to Sharon View and Old Providence Road. I was going to take this route and then go across Providence and down Sardis Lane, which I figured would cut me short by about two miles from the 15 that everyone else was doing. I completely missed the downhill finish, however; my shorter route featured some pretty steep hills. Given how well I know these roads, I was aware of this, and just wanted to be done. I slipped into the high 7s and eventually even ran slower than 8 minutes per mile in this section.

I made it back to Old  Bell after getting in just over 13 for the day. The group showed up not much longer than I did and they were all spent as well. Spada said he was really hurting and we each took our sweet time passing out water and Gatorade and relaxing in the road.

I went home, made some food - which luckily I was able to keep down - and then slept like a baby for about five hours. I'm pleased to report as I write this that the stomach issues appear to have subsided, but man this was a tough day!

..Second Dowd Run

7.63 mi in 00:57:21 - 7:31 ppm

I made it back to the Dowd again. This time it was Paul, Caitlin, Caleb Boyd, Kevin Ballantine, Matt Jaskot, Compton, and several more. David Brinkley even showed up; he's usually there every day to lift and decided to run with us this time.

We ran part of the Booty Loop and passed Anne Marie as she was doing another pick up run - which she nailed. I should add here that things really do go better for her when she doesn't run with me. I might be faster but she's a much smarter runner.

Caitlin, always the leader, took us down the greenway and then back to the Y before going off to do more. Compton discussed the possibilities of a fall marathon and then randomly disappeared. Paul, David, and I mostly ran together and discussed various training plans as well as a bit of race strategy for the upcoming RFYL 4-miler.

First Dowd Run

7.97 mi in 00:59:18 - 7:26 ppm

There is a CRC group that meets at the Dowd every Wednesday and Thursday at 6am to run. From what I gather it's a lot of the same people I usually see on the group long runs. I decided to make it out today for the first time.

I met Paul, Alex, Kahn, the Crockfords, Thomas, Michelle, and a few more. They were doing the 9-mile "Colville Loop" and I tagged along before having to find a bathroom because of stomach issues once again. Luckily there are always porta-jons nearby in the Eastover neighborhood as someone is always tearing down a million-dollar home and building another one in its place.

I ended up getting in a solid 8 miles for the day.

2011 Summer Breeze 5k

Location: Freedom Park.
Warmup: 2.72 mi in 21:53 - 8:02 ppm.
Race: unofficially 3.13 mi in 19:32 - 6:14 ppm; officially 19:33, 43rd overall.
Cooldown: 1.84 mi in 16:04 - 8:43 ppm
Running Buddy
Race Results

This one...did not go well. For starters, I could not have expected much after basically taking it easy for the last three weeks. I had only done one workout in that time period, and it was the very short one that Eggers and I completed at Marion Diehl this past Tuesday. The time off had not done anything to shake my fitness, but it hadn't helped, and it really took my mind off racing and sapped the competitive edge. When the going got tough this morning, I pulled a LeBron James. Only for me, there was no Dwyane Wade to pass the ball to when I didn't know what to do with it. It was just me, and I was left to stew in my own disappointment for hours after this one was over.

Let's go back to the beginning. There's one thing I've done right lately, and that's train my body to get up around 5:30 every morning. This made for an easy start to the day as I made my pre-race oatmeal with over two hours to spare before I was due to toe the line. Run For Your Life separates the men and women in this one; they start at 7:30 and we go off at 8:00. I took my sweet time getting ready and rolled in to Freedom Park around 7:15.

I began my warmup and went to pick up my chip, running into Eggers in the process. I guess he wanted to make sure he got here early enough, this time :)  Brinkley was doing his warmup from home, and he arrived a few minutes later as Eggers and I took off for a warmup and to see the ladies finish up. We ran away from the park up Sterling Road and watched as Michelle Hazelton came through first. I stuck around to cheer for Christi Carter, Emily, and Anne Marie and then Eggers told me that we only had five minutes until gun time. The women's race had clearly started late, so I figured they would keep the 30-minute difference and start ours late, as well.

I was wrong. I got to the starting line and the race directors were already giving out instructions. It was disgustingly humid and I was soaked after a nearly-three-mile warmup. I did some quick striders and hurried back to the line. The baby joggers were sent off and I wished good luck to Paul, Jay, Eggers, and Mike Mitchell - who, like me, chose this race over the one at McAlpine at the last minute. Brinkley was somewhere on the other side of the starting grid. I then noticed my shoe was untied. The director was literally counting down as I re-tied it with a few seconds to spare, and then....Go!

When I previewed this course, I was jogging around talking to Anne Marie and not really paying attention to where we were. The course starts out with a steep incline, then levels, then another incline up Cumberland Avenue towards East Boulevard (reference the map above). Despite the rough start I got out of the gates significantly quicker than normal. Mitchell had shot off with the leaders, Brinkley was right in front of me, and Eggers was nowhere in sight. I ran better than 5:40 pace for the first half mile and then backed off a good bit. We turned on East and I surged ahead to take the lead of the chase pack, with Brinkley now about 5 seconds ahead of me, at the back of the lead pack. After a crowded, quick start, everyone seemed to be calming down. We turned right on Queens Road and approached the mile marker. I passed Mike Kahn, who yelled out, "Yeah, Blackwood! Get that hill!"

Hmm..Get that hill... I came through the opening mile in 5:51 and began the long, slow climb up Queens Road...and the competitive side of my brain - usually quite strong - slowly began shutting off. I felt a bit devoid of energy, but otherwise the system seemed to be fine. People started passing me, and I just didn't do anything about it. Eventually, Eggers came by, and he even shouted some encouragement, no doubt witnessing my demise this whole time from a point below and now front-center. A few more people passed me as we finally turned off Queens and passed the two-mile marker. I don't remember seeing my time at that point, but the watch later revealed a 6:41 - 6:41!!! - second mile. I've been known to run faster miles on easy days and long runs. Clearly, that was the race right there. Did I start out too fast? Yes, I did. But there's no way I couldn't have still run about a 6:10 for mile two, which would have sent me well on the way to going under 19. I simply did not race.

Giving Emily and Anne Marie the very enthusiastic "thumbs down" with about half a mile to go.
[photo by Christi Carter].

I can at least say that no one passed me in the last mile, and when I went by a screaming Kahn again near the finish I managed to pull out a decent kick. I came through the chute in an official time of 19:33, significantly slower than what I ran at Great Harvest on what should have been a much faster course. (Running Buddy even measured the course to be accurate, which is apparently a GPX rarity.)

Mitchell finished sixth overall, Brinkley ran 18:14 - and Anne Marie actually set a new PR! Other than that, however, most people I talked to had a bad race by his or her own standards. Paul won easily but has run much faster recently; Billy Shue ran much slower than usual (but still a very solid 17:25) and suffered from severe fatigue and nausea afterwards; Eggers ran 19:06; the list could go on and on. The conditions were certainly a factor; apparently the dew point level was just below the "don't even go outside" mark.

I was - and still am - pissed off. I'm not about to make any excuses. I simply let myself get distracted the last few weeks, and it led to a bad race. It happens, and as Jay told me afterwards, "it's a long summer." I'm not blaming the weather, and I'm looking forward to getting out there again in order to make some better memories!

Jay and B-Mac's Last Stand

Distance: 7.17 mi
Time: 00:52:14 - 7:16 ppm
Running Buddy

This was the final meet-up run for Jay Holder and Brian McMahon, both of whom are moving in the near future. A group of about twenty of us met at the Sardis lot to get in a run together.

This run will forever be known for three things: the last run for Jay, the last run for Brian...and the day that Billy Shue swam across the pond, losing his shorts in the process. For those unfamiliar with McAlpine, just trust me when I tell you that this pond is disgusting. Some of us were genuinely concerned for Billy's health - that he might get a rash, grow a third arm, or come out of the water with three poisonous snakes coiled around his head. Things went from funny to bizarre to borderline frightening when Billy revealed to all that he had lost his shorts. At first we thought he was joking, but it quickly became apparent that he was not.

As Billy fished around in the toxic water for his shorts, the three women in our group - Megan Hovis, Jordan's girlfriend, and Carolyn Maye - quickly darted off around the other side of the lake. There was a genuine fear in the air as Billy arose out of the water...to reveal that he was wearing underwear beneath his running shorts. I don't know what's more strange: the fact that Billy somehow lost his shorts in the water, and didn't realize it - or the fact that he was wearing white boxer-briefs under his running shorts (and thank the Good Lord that he was).

Kahn found a shirt for Billy to wrap around his waist for the two-mile run back to the Sardis lot, but as far as I know he didn't wear it. I didn't bother to look. I joined Jason and Carolyn in setting the pace up front as we headed back.

Kahn had been going around with a camera phone, asking everyone to mention their thoughts for Jay. I hadn't had a chance to really get to know him, but gave him a shout-out for starting the club, seeing as how joining the CRC is one of the smartest things I've done, personally speaking, in a long time. There is, apparently, video evidence of Billy running back with us in his underwear, then later going back to try to find his shorts. I can't speak for Jay and Brian, but I know I'll be laughing about this one for awhile.

I'll leave you with some excerpts from Billy's Athleticore entry (copied with his permission):

[Training Run] Planned on just running 4 easy miles, but since this was Jay and Brian's last big group run before moving, I wanted to stay with them and the group and really enjoy this last run with them. The group today was Paul, Ben, Megan, Beigay, Jamaar, Greg Shore, myself, Stephen, Meagan, Jordan, Kahn, Alex, Jason Martin, Jay, Brian, Carolyn, Stan, Mo, Matt, John F, and Jason B (today's run list was obtained from Megan's athleticore).

Had to send the boys out with a bang, so I swam across the shorter width of the lake, but lost my shorts in the process - good thing I was wearing my briefs on underneath, but I really liked those shorts! I tried to sweep around with my feet and hands under the water, but couldn't find them. I'd try again later...

Hopefully I won't grow an extra body part or have my male reproductive system messed up - if my future wife one day gives birth to a baby who only has one eye, 3 eyes, or an arm growing out of his/her face or shoulder, I'll know why.

Interesting run back to Old Bell with the group, with me pulling a Vicente Hernandez and just running in my underwear briefs!

[Training Swim] Swam across the McAlpine lake (the shorter width) for Jay and Brian's sendoff! Lost my shorts though, but at least had my briefs on underneath - made for an interesting run back to Old Bell!

[Training Run #2] Kahn very graciously gave me a ride back to the park for me to get my key which I had inadvertenly hidden in the grass when I swam across the McAlpine lake (Paul had very graciously picked up my shoes and socks but couldn't see the key hidden under the grass). I got the key and told Mike he could just head home since I was going to look for my shorts again. BMac watched my 2nd attempt at trying to find the shorts, along with plenty of others who came out jogging, walking, or fishing (one guy) at the lake. I still couldn't find the shorts! Maybe they'll surface at some point! I just swept with my hands and feet under the water with my eyes closed - no way was I going to open my eyes without goggles in that water!!

I jogged back to Old Bell again in my underwear, but with the shirt Mike gave me hopefully concealing the briefs from the front, but I did have to pass a few people on the way back and also saw Donny Forsyth and a group of younger kids (high-school/college) who could tell right off the bat I was running in my underwear. I also passed by the woman who I creeped out with the skull back around Halloween - I could tell she was creeped out again. When I got back to Old Bell, BMac was detailing the event to James Haycraft, who was enthused by the whole thing.

I think I creeped out a woman with her kids at Old Bell - they were going to go for a walk or something on the greenway but they pulled in, stepped out of the car, saw me, got back into the car, and drove off.

We love you, Billy. Please don't let your shorts come off in the race tomorrow, because I can't run fast enough to stay ahead of you.

Touring Matthews

Distance: 14.00 mi
Time: 01:44:44 - 7:28 ppm
Running Buddy

I woke up at 5:30 this morning, unsure if I wanted to try a workout or join the CRC group of Paul and a few others for a long run...and it's this lack of organization that beckons a structured training plan in my life. I've been working on it through Athleticore, and researching some more ideas for workouts, but for right now I just need to get the discipline I'm displaying on weekends to carry over to the week.

I knew I'd end up joining the group after going back to sleep for a while, and I made it to the Sardis lot just before 7 a.m. Soon, I was joined by Ben Hovis, Paul, Jay Holder, Billy Shue, Mike Kahn - whom I met for the first time - and two other guys. I was wearing the Saucony trail shoes, so I was a little surprised when Hovis led the group up Sardis Road, away from the greenway. Billy and Paul later told me we'd be running through Matthews for a bit as a break from the park. Fair enough, but I had a feeling I'd be buying a second new pair of shoes after this run (and I was right).

Hovis looped us through downtown Matthews and eventually to a greenway just off Trade Street, where we all promptly got lost. The pace stayed conversational, though it did dip down below 7:10 for at least one mile after starting off easy. Our group wandered down the greenway and ended up right near the Matthews exit of I-485 - a little off the beaten path, for sure - before heading back into the town. I started to feel a bit rough about 10 miles into this. This pace is quicker than I used to do for long runs, sure, but it didn't bother me at all last week or the week before. I attribute it to poor nutrition for most of this week.

I stopped to re-lace my shoes as they were most definitely bothering me, being on the roads and all, but I caught back up to the group when they stopped to find water at a church. I led the way down Fullwood and back to 51 before slowing down for good. I was nearing that "barrier point" where I was about to reach recently-uncharted territory as far as distance is concerned. I definitely hit a major wall before mile 12, but I was pleasantly surprised to look at the watch afterward and find that I still kept those last 2 miles under 8-minute pace, despite the pain.

I was soon joined at the park by Jay and Kahn, and we sang Happy Birthday to Kahn's son rather enthusiastically. I have to say this run hurt but as I write this I have since done yard work, chased my niece around the yard a good bit, gone out and bought some new shoes, and grilled steaks and chicken for the whole family (sis goes back home tomorrow). So clearly, I recovered just fine. Hopefully I'll finally do what I've been saying I need to do for weeks - starting eating clean again. Either way, it's nice to once again up the distance barrier by a few miles. I'm really hoping the recent long runs will do wonders for me, especially since I've taken a two-week break from any kind of speed work.

It all gets going again this week. 

Can't Stomach the Workouts.... But I Can Watch a 5k?

All in one session: warmup for 2.01 mi then right into 3 x 8 min with 2 min rest, then cooldown.
Running Buddy

The information above means that I lumped everything into one session this time instead of separating the warmup and cooldown from the workout. Well, the cooldown was separate, but we'll get to that later.

As the title of this post should indicate, I would go on to bonk a workout on account of stomach  problems for the second time this week. I took some gel on the car ride to McAlpine, which probably was part of it, and set off down the greenway for a warmup. As I approached the park I could see a large crowd setting up for an event. Oh great, I thought. What now? I have a way of accidentally running through large festivals, but my concern immediately turned to excitement when I noticed people were setting up for a 5k. Ah, yes! The "Run for Peace 5k" benefiting domestic violence prevention was this morning. Somehow I had forgotten about it, otherwise I likely would have signed up, and instead of cramping through a workout I would have been preparing for another race.

I took off in the direction of Harris Blvd. for my workout and let's just briefly note that it did not go well. I didn't allow myself to get too frustrated because I knew it was all in the stomach, but I did make a note to not let this happen again. Be it beer, soda, or poor nutrition the previous day, something would have to go - if not all of those things!

As I headed back to the park - and the race site - I saw Chad Crockford, and a couple minutes later noticed Paul Mainwaring stretching. Ok, whoa... This might be a race worth watching.  Paul is one of the fastest runners in Charlotte, regularly running in the low 16s or under for a 5k and beating pretty much everyone except for John Compton so far this year. He looked like he wouldn't mind being bothered so I introduced myself. We discussed training, race history, and today's race and then I told him I'd stick around to yell at him and Chad.

Uniquely, this race separated the men and women into two different heats, with the idea being that the opposite sexes would have a chance to cheer for and support one another (again, this race benefited domestic violence prevention). As the men's race started I jogged over to just past the mile marker. I watched Paul come flying past and then moved to the hill. A high school kid was bravely hanging on for dear life about 15 seconds behind Paul and 20 seconds, at this time, ahead of Chad, Michael Creason, and a few others. I jogged around a bit and yelled encouragement at everyone. Paul won easily in a time of 16:29 and Chad finished second, eventually reeling in the high school kid just before the two-mile mark.

I joined Paul, Chad, and two other guys I didn't know for a cooldown on the greenway. I'm beginning to realize that, as much as I love running alone, it isn't going to get me anywhere and I could do myself some good by trying to run in groups more often. Training with people who are faster than I am is going to do wonders for me. Don't ask me why it took so long for me to realize this, but hey. Paul casually said some things that really encouraged me, including the fact that I should be happy I'm already running around 19 after being away from training for so long. You can read his blog here.