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.

Fast Fun Run

Distance: 4.51 mi.
Time: 00:33:12 - 7:22 ppm.
Running Buddy

I met the CRC group at Freedom Park for the bi-weekly fun run. I missed the last one or, more importantly, I missed the food and beers afterward. That would not be the case today. There was a large crowd, including Billy, Carolyn, Megan Hovis, Emily, Anne Marie, Eric, John, and many others. I enjoyed the chance to chat with Megan for awhile as Eric and a dude named Brad set a somewhat brisk pace up ahead. This is a really tough loop as it is very hilly, so a 6:57 (my time for the final mile before I left to go find Anne Marie) can easily feel like a 6:20. I was happy with the quicker pace because of my bombed workout, though. 

First Miners' Run

5.97 mi in 00:45:17 - 7:35 ppm

Well, I finally showed up for a "Miners' Run," named for the fact that everyone is supposed to wear a headlamp so they can see in the dark. I um..don't have a headlamp, but figured others would, and it usually gets light before 6 this time of year, anyway.

I was the first to arrive at Old Bell. I stood next to my car and watched curiously as a car sped past the turn on Sardis, hit the brakes, threw it in reverse, and barreled towards me backwards before stopping right in front of the gate...then pulling up and rapidly parallel-parking right behind me. Mike Kahn got out and exclaimed, "See man, I can do this valet stuff, too! Just hire me now!" We were shortly joined by Stan Austin, Alex, Megan Hovis (sans Ben), and a guy named Matt from Boston.

Between the early hours and some stomach issues (yes, again) I didn't feel all that great this morning. We met Jamaar at the park and I turned back, followed by Kahn, who was worried about being late for work. I truly felt all right but I ate a big July 4th dinner a little later than I normally would eat and that doesn't work when you have to run at 5:30 a.m. It was a fun group and I must say it's nice to have the run done with before 6:30 in the morning.

Longest Run of the Season

Distance: 14.14 mi
Time: 01:43:25 - 7:18 ppm
Running Buddy

Two weeks ago I hit 14, for a season-long, and last week I went back down to just over 10, so I wanted to hit 14 or more today. I would have been okay with doing at least 12, but I told myself I'd keep going if I felt all right. The CRC group options for the day were either 6:30 a.m. at Providence Day or 7:00 a.m. at Old Bell (with the same group). I almost made the 6:30 option. I wanted to be able to run the first few miles with them so as not to have to join in when they were already doing sub-7:20 pace. Alas, 7:00 it was.

The group was huge today. Caitlin, Paul, Alex, Jason Martin, Beigay, and a couple more joined us at Old Bell after starting at PDS. Waiting with me at Old Bell were Aaron, Kahn, Boriana, Caleb, Compton, Alana Hadley, both Fillnows - I can't remember everyone. The Hovises met us later down the greenway. I love it when Kahn shows up because he's freakin' hilarious, and this was the first time I got to run with El Presidente, Senor Linz.

After we made it to the park, Paul and Alex took off for a tempo run. We came back through "lower Boyce," as they call it, where I badly turned my left ankle on the trail. Sprained ankles never heal, so it's a recurring issue for me - the left one, especially - not a big deal but it means I'm in for a not-so-fun week. We went back to Old Bell to pick up Meagan Nedlo - who wasn't there - and Boriana called it a day.

I'm still a little weird about running in large groups, so I normally end up setting the pace. It was Caitlin, Jason, and I up front for most of it and we kept it under 7:10 for a good portion. The funny thing about group long runs is how people just drop off and go home one-by-one. You'll be talking to someone, and then all of a sudden they're gone - out of your life again. Very strange. I ran with Caitlin and Jason almost all the way back to Sardis before turning around and heading back to my car all by my lonesome. I got in just over 14 for the day, making this my longest run of the season so far by a hair. I ran a faster pace and felt much better than I did a couple weeks ago, when we ran through Matthews for 14. The slightly cooler weather definitely helped.

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.

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!