Valentine's Run Double

Distance: 4.6 mi.
Time: 35:55.
Pace: 7:49.

I met the CRC group at Freedom Park for a Valentine's Day-themed run. I missed the memo to wear red or pink, but the Hovises had on enough of each color to count for everyone. We kept the pace easy, something I was rather thankful for, and a few of us went out for Italian afterward. I was hurting for some calories after the day's work.

CRC Help

Distance: 13.21 mi.
Time: 1:37:44 - 7:24 ppm.

I had tentative plans to meet Eggers and Brinkley at 8:00 at Old Bell. The possibility of a missed connection was detailed the night before, so I wasn't that surprised when I got to the lot and neither of them were there. I was glad I was there, though. I wanted to get this thing out of the way. My plan was to run up the road and try to find the CRC group of Aaron, Megan, Jason, and Kahn. I had a long-sleeve dry-fit on top of a short-sleeve dry-fit with my longer running shorts and a hat. I honestly felt fine except for my hands: I hadn't been able to locate my running gloves, a problem that will need to be rectified sooner rather than later. I took off down the greenway and hadn't yet made it to the park when I found Megan Hovis and Jason Martin. It felt like a reunion: I really enjoyed running with them over the summer, and it had been awhile.

Megan told me later that she barely recognized me at first on account of how much weight I had lost. Truth be told, it's a lot. I weighed 218 in March, before I had recovered from my injury; I weighed 205 this summer, even when I was training hard; today, before my run I weighed 187. I don't think I have weighed under 190 since right after college. This is an accomplishment. Body fat, not weight, is the important thing for health reasons, but when it comes to moving fast, I need to be light! Kahn said something about my weight earlier, as well: "I can tell even with layers on that you've lost a lot of weight. Your face is still ugly, but thinner, ya know?" Love that guy.

At various parts of this run, I found myself with Jason and Megan; Jason, Megan, Ben, and Compton; Aaron and the Matenas plus the rest and Mike Mitchell; and towards the end, just Mitchell and Compton. I greatly enjoyed the conversation and the faster pace. It's a good group. I ran my last mile - solo - in 6:45.

Working the Legs

Warmup: 2.16 mi. in 17:09 - 7:56 ppm.
Session 1: 2 x mile with 3:00 rest. 6:09.7, 6:07.
Session 2: 2 x half-mile with 2:00 rest. 3:02.2, 3:00.4.
Cooldown: 1.95 mi. in 15:49 - 8:06 ppm.

I headed over to McAlpine today feeling a bit worn down, as seems to be the Thursday afternoon custom. I cut the workout short by a couple reps on the mile part, but what I did do went pretty well. The NCISAA state meet was to be held here tomorrow, and I chatted some with Ben Hovis about the prospects of his Providence  Day boys taking the title (he was cautiously optimistic; they would go on to win). I was hurting but the workout went pretty well.

McAlpine Speed Intervals

Warmup - 1.90 mi in 00:14:58/7:54 ppm.

Session One - 4 x half-mile at speed interval pace with 2:00 rest. 3:03, 2:59, 3:00, 3:06.

Session Two - 4 x quarter-mile at speed interval pace with 1:00 rest. 1:31, 1:35, 1:33, 1:27.

Cooldown - 1.95 mi in 00:15:02/7:43 ppm.

Today was yet another case of me staying up late the previous night, then sleeping in and rushing out the door to get the work done. This time, my motivation to run fast including an impending mountain getaway, so I had plenty to look forward to while I was racing around McAlpine Park. 

I did my warmup trot down the greenway, where surely enough I passed Mike Mitchell, who was just finishing up his run. I had entertained ideas of recruiting him for help but figured I would be too late, and I figured right. I approached the park and realized I was once again in the midst of a large race. A large high school race, to be precise. I bumped into Christi and Jamaar and then proceeded to jump into the first part of my workout: 4 x 800 (I actually did half-milers) at "speed interval pace," which is basically about 5k race pace (hopefully a little slower at this point). 

On account of the meet I headed away from the park and towards Harris Boulevard. I was bummed I couldn't run on the course, but oh well. I just tried to get comfortable and I felt like I was working hard enough but not really hurting, and the two minutes between each rep was more than enough. I finished the halves and adjusted the watch to do quarters, still on the Harris/Margaret Wallace section of the greenway. This time I was hurting, without much rest this time, and just tried to get through it. Somehow my last one ended up being my fastest, even though I spent it trying to get out of everyone's way.

As I was walking around, about to begin my cooldown, I heard a distant voice call out, "Get out of the way!" I crossed the course and made my way over to the bushes, and heard once again, louder this time: "BLACKWOOD, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" It was Hovis and Compton, two Providence Day alums up to no good as usual. Actually, they were preparing to watch their varsity boys compete in what was actually a 3k. I watched the start from a safe place off to the side and then cooled down back to the Sardis lot, satisfied with the day's work and ready to get out of town for a bit.

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!

2011 Upgrade Lifestyle 5k

Location: Birkdale Village
Warmup: 3.00 mi in 00:24:01 - 7:59 ppm.

Race: Unofficially 3.03 mi in 18:39; officially 18:40, 7th place overall.
Cooldown: 1.68 mi in 00:13:43 - 8:09 ppm.
Running Buddy
Full Results

The 6th-place runner appeared to be just out of reach when I opened up my stride on the last big downhill, with just over half a mile to go. I was kicking but it appeared I had let him get away too early. Suddenly, not even a quarter-mile later, he was coming back to me. Could I catch him? I dug down for one last effort, but it was too little, too late. I had given a much better go at it today than I had last week, and that was all I really wanted.

A few quick highlights and explanations before delving into the details...

• Running Buddy measured right at 1.54-5 miles at the turnaround, meaning this should have been a true 5k to the T. It would appear I cut the tangents so sharply on the way back that I actually ran shorter than the meet directors had intended. Well, isn't that the idea, if possible? It makes sense because they were counting on traffic on both sides of the road for a good portion of the course, and I didn't really follow that idea; I was running through people at one point. It was a fantastic strategy. Everyone else I talked to, including Ben Hovis, measured this one almost exact.
• I started off way too fast again. My first mile was right at 6-flat but I was in the sub-5:30 range at the half-mile mark. Not good.
• Despite the uphills on the way out, this was a fast course. That combined with nearly ideal weather conditions (over 70 but cloudy at gun time) led to many people running much faster than they have lately.

I was up and ready to go at 5:40 a.m. today. I made my pre-race oatmeal, showered, stretched, and did some push-ups before packing my gear and hitting the road. I overestimated the Saturday morning traffic on I-77 and as a result made it to the show even earlier than I'd planned. Megan Hovis, the Fillnow twins, and John Compton were all directing and/or volunteering for the event. I saw Ben and Allen, then Mike Beigay and a couple other guys, and tried to get a feel for what the competition would be like. I was then introduced to Nathan Stanford and Todd Mayes, two guys who I knew to be very fast.

Ben later told me that that was about it as far as the CRC crowd was concerned. I did my warm-up on the course, again uncertain exactly where the turnaround was, and headed back to the Residence Club. Jamaar (cheering), Christi (racing), and Theoden (cheering and taking photos) were all present and accounted for at this point. Allen had mentioned earlier that he didn't feel well, and I soon noticed him walking around in a t-shirt with a towel wrapped around his head, looking like he was about to pass out. He then told me he was going to have to pull out due to sickness, and had given his bib to Jamaar. Well, there goes my plan of racing with Allen. He told me he'd find me a sub-19 guy to chase, and then pointed out a young teenager named Patrick who had been finishing just ahead of him at the GPX events. Patrick was wearing an orange shirt, which made things pretty easy.

The pre-race announcements were mercifully quick as I did some striders with Christi and lined up right behind Hovis. I foolishly wondered if I could beat Beigay, since he would be pushing a stroller (um...no). After an airhorn start, we were off. It was impressive to see Hovis blast out of the gates. It wasn't long before he was completely out of sight; Beigay, Mayes, and Stanford formed a chase pack of three. I got out of the gates way too fast and started slowing down, letting Patrick and 40-something runner Bobby Aswell get ahead of me. We were less than half a mile into the race and my fate, place-wise, was sealed: I would no better than 5th and no worse than 7th.

Herein lied my problem: I wanted to still hit my goal of no faster than 6:00 for the first mile, so I had to slow way down, but then I would have to maintain and be ready to surge, all whilst running up and down some imposing hills. I came through the mile in 6:04 and had to really work to keep the pace from going over 6:10. The uphills really did me in but I saved myself on the downs (note to self: do a freakin' hill workout soon). We passed an aid station and began to approach the turn: surely enough, it was a good bit further down the road than what I had run yesterday. Hovis flew by in the opposite direction and I then caught a glimpse of Compton, standing in the middle of the road right next to a sign that said, "Turn Around." 

I noticed Mayes and Stanford, then Bobby and Patrick in front of me make the turn without going around Compton, so I did the same. I tried to go wide without running off the road, came to a nearly complete stop, turned my arms, went off into the grass, and nearly took out a mailbox. I heard John chuckle and say, "Nice turn." Yeah yeah, whatever... I noticed the Garmin had read 1.53 miles before I got to him so I happily guessed we'd be running a true 5k. 

It was now time to get to work, and I was hurting. Bobby and Patrick were still within my grasp but they weren't slowing down and I couldn't seem to get any faster. I just kept looking at the watch, trying not to slow down too much as opposed to actually speeding up. I hoped I had some turnover left to shoot down the big hill and into the finish, but it would be a fight. It would have been nice to have more than two guys to race with, but hey... On the next uphill, Bobby began to pull away from Patrick, and he began to pull away from me. We reached the big downhill and I opened it up but it appeared to be nowhere nearly enough. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, Patrick appeared to be slowing down. I knew I had sub-19 in the bag but I wanted to catch him. I tried to dig down but there just wasn't much left and he sped up just enough to slay me. I came through the chute in a time of 18:39.

As discussed, there was much talk post-race about how this was indeed a surprisingly fast course. Anytime you have a mostly downhill finish, when everyone is kicking anyway, that will lead to some fast times. Christi especially blew it out of the water, running sub-20 by a good bit. I met her, Jamaar, and Sarah Keen (with a cameo appearance by Leonard Hilliard) at Toast in Davidson for some tasty post-race breakfast. 

Some photos, with many thanks to Theoden Janes a.ka. "Run with Theoden."...

Pre-race. Always, always, always messing with my laces.

Hovis (in black, far right) fast out of the gates.

Too close to the leaders for so early. (From left: Patrick, Beigay and his child, and Hovis).

Still ahead of Mayes (back) and Stanford (in hat) a quarter-mile in.

Trying to reel in the youngster. Patrick is young but he's fast and ran a surprisingly smart race (Megan's coaching??) for someone his age.

Sarah, myself, Christi, Jamaar, and Layla (the pup). Glad to be done!

'Til next time, people. Thanks for stopping in.

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. 

Long Run with a Group - That's Right, with a Group

Distance: 11.00 mi

Time: 01:20:25/7:18 ppm

Running Buddy

I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to start running with groups. This will still be a difficult task for workouts, but the CRC makes this remarkably easy for long runs. A club board member - usually Aaron or Cailtin, as far as I can tell - usually makes a post Friday or Saturday night asking where the Saturday or Sunday long runs will be. No one had commented so I made a post saying I wanted to do about 12 at McMullen no later than 7am, with a pace of about 7:30 per mile. A few people commented on it saying they would be there around the same time, including Ben and Megan Hovis, Jason Martin, and some others I didn't know. Boom, I had a group.

I actually showed up to the Trader Joe's side of the greenway a little late and saw a group of about 10 runners in front of Starbucks. I knew this was part of my group so I put my shoes on quickly and headed to the greenway. As they jogged by I made note that this didn't exactly look like the group I was trying to meet, so I waited, and found another runner who looked just as confused as I did. I made my introductions to Youssef (sp?) and, after realizing we had missed our connection, we both trotted down the greenway. Youssef and I discussed jobs and running plans and the usual things one might say to someone after a first introduction, and I realized he would make an excellent long run partner. We actually didn't say a whole lot but our pace started out right at 7:30 per mile and quickly dropped. Eh, Youssef, this pace is a little quicker than how I usually start for long runs, hehe....heh... 

About three miles in we came across Megan Hovis, Jason Martin, and the "Godfather," Bill Shires. Aha! For some reason I kept running while Youssef turned around and hollered, "You want to run with them? I'm going with them." I slammed on brakes, turned around, and joined what was now a group of five. Megan is an Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon and the wife of Providence Day coach Ben Hovis, an acquaintance of mine from back in the day who would later be joining us; Jason is an acquaintance from way back in the Resurrection Lutheran days who also knows the Eggers family very well; Bill is about 45 years old and still runs marathons in about the 2:40 range. In other words, this was a good group to stumble upon on a Sunday morning. I joined the conversation while noting the "total average pace" on Running Buddy was quickly dropping from 7:30 to 7:25 to 7:22... 

Megan also writes the nutrition column for the CRC newsletter, so I mentioned to her that I'd bonked two workouts on account of stomach issues this week. She said that was happening to everyone lately and could be attributed to the heat. I talked to Jason about coaching and training and when Brian McMahon joined us, I talked to him about the NBA Finals. We later met up with Ben, and Youssef went back to Rea Road. I ran a little bit further with them before turning around, as I didn't want to do more than 12 miles for the day. I think Megan and Bill ended up doing 22 and I am completely confident they were running well under 7:00 pace by the end of it.

My average pace was down to 7:18 for 9 miles and I clicked off a 6:50 by myself before slowing down some on the last mile. So yeah, this was a good run. I doubt I would have been able to hold the pace for more than a couple more miles, though. 

Now time to destroy some breakfast and watching the Indy 500 before seeing my buddy Joel get hitched! It's going to be great weekend!