Tomorrow is RaceDay

Yes, tomorrow is race day.  It is a 9AM start for a Beltline 8K.  The 8K is a distance that does not happen too often.  Another unusual component is that the course is close to home.  I have run 2 races that go through the neighborhood in the last couple of years and it is fun. Lining up with your neighbors and neighborhood kids.  Running the familiar streets and seeing all those runners you see along the streets and passing by our house.  This kind of thing is great for the neighborhood.  There will be a cheering station for our particular neighborhood along the route.

This is the first running of this race and it is part of what is now a four race series along different parts of the Beltline.  I try to do them and always enjoy them, but sometimes there are scheduling conflicts. They did start off unorganized and with always late starts but are coming around with experience.

As I prepare for this race I must also look to next Sunday.  That is the date for a half marathon race that I will run.  I have done it a few times and know it is challenging.  I am looking forward to it but must manipulate my 30 for this week and next week to be prepared for it.  This week my 30 is a 25.

I will blog further on my training schedule and preparation for the half over the next two weeks.  Right now I am trying to decide if I should set my goal for an 8 minute or an 8 1/2 minute pace.  Crunching that around in my runner's brain.

I will let you know about the 8K.

What do you think?
Zippy

Harbin Park 10K trail race

Yesterday was the Xterra Harbin Park 10K trail race. For me, it started with a 45 minute drive early morning drive to a rural park.  About 7:11am I topped a hill, cruising down a country highway (as country as can be in metro-Atlanta) and Jimi Hendrix came on the satellite radio as I was suddenly looking at the vast horizon of a burning red sky. Morning was breaking and it was quite a beautiful site. It slowly slid into a variety of red hues with some purple thrown in.  What a way to start the day.

Arrived at this great park in good time to get a good parking spot, pick up my race bib, stretch, and get my warm up run in.  Today I get to use my Asics trail shoes.  It really is a beautiful day, mild weather but humid because in a little while, on my way home, it will begin to rain and rain all day.

The race is a sell out as they always seem to be.  500 runners on the trail.  It is a good trail about 4’ wide and nicely groomed.  There are plenty of brownish leaves to hide the rocks and roots along the way. There are also plenty of rocks and roots.  At several spots along the course there are also beds of sand which I hate to run in.  Only once did I trip on a root.  I caught myself before my face hit the ground, thank goodness. Going up one of the steep hills, and there were a lot of them, it was so slippery with small and medium rocks that it felt like my legs were acting like wagon wheels; going round and round in big circular arks just like in the cartoons.

I came in second place in my age group.  The first place guy was 8.5 seconds in front of me.  I did not see him until I had passed the 5.5 mile mark.  This means that he had to start ahead of me.  With these trail runs I like to start a little farther back than usual because it gets pretty hairy when everyone gets compressed onto the trail.

This was a well-run (pun) race and the organization was good.  Dirty Spokes, Xterra do a good job.  I had a good time and would do it again.  Maybe I will next year.

What do you think?

Zippy

Happy Trails

This weekend is a 10K trail race. This is my first trail run of the year, only because I have not been able to schedule one. They are fun, but you can add another mile to the race because you are running side to side along the trail so much.  This requires concentration which is a challenge for a runner whose mind wanders (me).  It is a great challenge and such a change from my normal runs.

During my first trail race I wiped out.  Trip, tuck, and roll.  It happened so quickly.  I hit the ground and fortunately bounced right back up and kept on going. This one was not nearly as bad and painful as the trip and fall on a concrete sidewalk and I have had many of those. It made me concentrate much more.  They have been many more trips along the way. It is a challenge.

The race on Saturday means that I am in a race prep week. It affects my 30. Going into the race I want to be setting at about 17 miles.  That seems to put me in a good place for a good fast race pace.  Keeping up with that and then planning how to reach my 30 after race day is constantly churning in my brain. On Sunday I should be left with an 8 miler and that sounds very good to me for a Sunday afternoon run.

How about the day before a race run?   I used to like to do a 1 or 2 miler just to check everything out. Make sure that everything is working and I can breathe in a rhythm.  Now, older and stiffer, I prefer a series of stretching to loosen myself up and save my knees a little on the day before. Then post-race I like to take a walk later in the day with my wife.  That seems to help my recovery, along with my compression leggings.

What do you think?

Zippy

Mountains, Bears, and Bugs

This weekend I ran in mountains of Tennessee.  The mountains there are like mountain hills, or at least that is one of the things I thought to call them when I was running up and down.   They are steep in both directions and instead of being long and winding they are quick and abrupt. You are going straight up and then right back down at the same kind of steep angle. Much has been written about running uphill and downhill and the rigors. How tough it is on you, and it is tough to be sure.  I will only say that afterwards I really felt it in my butt.  OK, I will say one more thing; I was taught that when running uphill to use your arms like you are pulling your billfold out of your back pockets.  OK, just one more; also taught that going uphill is a good place to pass people if you have trained for it.

Along the way, in this very rural area you have plenty of time for your mind to wander.  Being a city boy, my mind sometimes goes off on what is lurking in those woods.  This means big scary things like bears.  Big scary bears.  Along the side of the road I did see several samples of bear poop.  How do I know?  Because we have seen bears up in this area and so we Googled what to look for as far as bear poop.  The big berries are a definite clue.

As I was coming downhill at a pretty good pace, starting around a curve, and just about to start another uphill climb it hit me.  Distracted by watching a lizard with a really pretty blue tail run across the road in front of me I had no idea of what was coming.  It just suddenly hit the back of my throat.  Bam! A bug.  Darn! I gagged, and spit and gagged, and spit.  It really threw off my rhythm, so important to this hill running thing.  It took a while to settle down and get back into a rhythm.  Hope I got some protein out of it.

The mountain running was good training.  It certainly works some muscles and resolve.  These type of training runs will help prepare me for my next Ragnar race coming up in late October in Tennessee.  More on Ragnars to come.

What do you think?

Zippy

Hydration Contemplation (with images)

I am sweater.  Not the wool or cashmere type, but with soaked yucky type.  No post run hugs for me.  And I run in the hot and humid south where for months it feels like you run in a sweater of the wool or cashmere type.  Therefore, hydration is very important to me and us all out there pounding our feet in the heat.

 

My most tragic story about water concerns a marathon.  I admit I was struggling in hotter than normal April heat in southern Tennessee at the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon.  Up around mile 17 my goal became to just make it between one water stations.  This gave me “baby steps” goals (from the “What about Bob” movie) to get me through to the end. Pulling into the mile 20 they told me they had run out of water.  Run out of water. This was an extremely tough mental blow.  Regroup, re-evaluate, some regret, and then resolve. I finished  and knew that I should plan to be self-sufficient.

Water stops in races have been problematic for me at times.  I have had many collisions and near collisions with runners that get their wonderful cup of water and stop to drink. I can understand their plight, and their need for that drink.  I have had that need before and have looked forward to that next water stop (I always try to thank those wonderful volunteers).  But, stopping in front of a mass of runners is not a good thing.  So, now I don’t use the water stations and I think an added bonus is that it actually cuts a few seconds off my time.

I had been running with a plastic bottle of water.  The sloshing of the water in the bottle worries me as I run so I would squeeze the bottle until the remaining water was at the top of the bottle before I put the top back on.  In this way the bottle would scrunch down to nothing by the end of the run. This was not the most effective way to hydrate with having to remove the top, squeeze the bottle, and then put the top back on. It also went against my desire for a low carbon footprint and reducing my contributions to landfills.

In “Trail Runner “ magazine I saw the Ultra Aspire water bottle and ordered one on them.  It works very nicely and can carry enough water for those long runs on hot days.  It has a pouch built into the hand strap where you can store a key, dollar, or energy gel.  The strap is adjustable and really quite comfortable.  It is a little heavy when full and it does slosh.

Next, from the same magazine, I saw the Solomon system.  It fits quite perfectly into the palm of your hand and is strapped down so you do not have to hold on to it, the strap does this for you. The strap, on the upward side of it, is made of absorbent material so you can use it to wipe sweat. I have one for my right and left hand because they do not hold as much water. These water bottles (flasks) do not slosh. They were more expensive, but are my favorites.

What do you think?

Zippy

SOCKS -yes socks

Socks are a simple thing, but they are important to us runners.  I had gotten to the point where I had a bunch of socks that didn't match.  These were my every day running socks.  Well, I have found a good use for these lone soldiers that refused to run away even though their partner did. You can take one of these lone socks with you when you run and use it as a sweat wipe.  They are absorbent, can fit over your hand if you wish, and if you lose it, it is OK.

Anyway back to what I was saying about socks.  The old mix is out and I have replaced them with all new socks.  I ordered Puma’s runner socks from Amazon.  Anything for runners seems to have a high price tag these days.  They make cool stuff for us and sell it to us at a premium.  These socks were the most cost effective and came in a pack of 6 pairs. So, I ordered 4 packs.  Now when my running socks come out of the laundry I can throw them into my runner sock cube and pairs don’t matter because they all match.  Great plan, huh.

 

These seem to be good enough and not at a silly price.  I did 12.5 miles today in a pair of them and they were fine.  Check them out on Amazon; they come in white and black.

I do have some special ones that I like to race in.  My favorites are the EURO socks.  They seem to be comfortable and keep away blisters.  Because I just race in them and do not run my training runs in them I do not need as many of them.  They run (get it run) about $10.  That is crazy.

What do you think?

Zippy

Pre-Race Routine

So, pre-race routines are critical to all of us; right? It gets us ready to run, stretches us, calms us, and gives us a game face. I certainly have my routine and it is mine. Oh, I tweak it and evolve it, but it is necessary for my race. When I am in those pre-race minutes on the anxious side of the starting line; it is the execution of my routine that makes me feel ready to run the best race I can for that particular race.  Although I might not be 100%; my routine is. That makes me somewhat calmer knowing that I have prepared as I always want to do. Then I tell myself that I will run the race and accept my time and place.  Whomever will pass and beat me will deserve it.  I am ready to run.

This pre-race routine is reserved for only pre-race. It is sacred to my competitive spirit and recorded performance compared to other prepared runners; the ones that are looking around to see who is in their age group. Those runners that are in competition with themselves as well as the other runners in the pack.  Those of my kind and mind set.

The night before I have a light, early dinner normally carb enhanced.  This is a long time tradition that comes from those pre-race spaghetti dinners that seem to have faded in glory due to more efficient ways to get those carbs. Dinner is nothing heavy or spicy that must be carried around with me the next day.  No reminders.

Once, the night before a race, my wife and I went out for some pizza.  It was some killer pizza and I thought what the hell.  You know, just another race.  Well, during the race I did decide it mattered and the pizza, with that tomato sauce kept reminding me about my dinner choice.  At least I seem to learn from some of my mistakes.

Race day morning I get up early, back timed from the race start time. A big factor in the wake up time is how long it will take me to drive to the race.  A 7:30 start time would usually mean a 5:00 get my butt out of bed alarm.  Get dressed in clothes laid out the night before and grab the bag of clothes and accessories also packed the night before. Grab my energy snack and get out the door and into my truck (I always drive my truck to races).

In route, I stop just down the road at a McDonald’s for a small cup of black coffee.  I can sip the coffee and eat my energy bar on the way because I need to eat my snack two hours before the race start.  The energy bars is now an almond butter bar, with other healthy goodies, that my wife makes and stores in the freezer.

I like to get arrive at the race site early and get a good parking spot. Then I can veg out for a while. Finally, I get out and stretch slowly.  This is followed by a warm up run of a half to one mile. Then I am ready to go to the start line and hopefully have a conversation or two while awaiting the “go.”

Pre-race for this one was all messed up.  Do you remember the 30?  Well, on Sunday (the race was on Monday –Labor Day) I found myself needing 6 miles to reach my 30.  Bad weather and work had put me in a bad situation and the hours of rain on Sunday would not let me out on the road until about 5pm; not leaving much recovery time before a 7:30am race time. A compromise was in order; so I did 4.5 miles settling on 28.5 instead of the 30 that I was desperately wanting.  This I knew would still cost me something in the race.

Next, I slept late.  Tough week at work with a crazy scheduled that changed every day and I just could not get up when I needed to.  Not 5am, but 6am. I dressed quickly and grabbed my snack which I had to eat immediately right out of the freezer. Stopped and got the much needed coffee and sipped at it as I drove, but my intake was minimal. At the race site my stretches were cut short to accommodate a necessary warm up run of about ¾ mile.

Waiting at the starting line I did not have that comfort. I had not done all I should have done.  I was going to run and run the best race I could that morning and take my results and settle with that.  It turned out OK.  I ran a good race and my time was acceptable.  But, what if?

What do you think?

Zippy

Summer Soaker 10K

Today is Labor Day and I ran the Summer Sizzler 10K. It was a well organized event and a fast paced run down Peachtree Street.  Running down Peachtree always seems like a treat to me. The slight rolling hills made it a fast course. Plenty of water stations, however I try to avoid these and will speak about that soon.

On the way to the race, oh so early this morning, there were some sprinkles of rain and huge flashes of lightning.  But, during my warm up stretches and run it remained dry.  Then in those 10 minutes when you are on the anxious side of the starting line it began to sprinkle.  When the start was issued it was raining and it rained the whole race.  Not fierce, but some big drops, and a steady plopping rain.  By the fifth mile there were puddles to avoid along the asphalt.  My wet running clothes added at least five pounds to my weight.

The end of the race was not to my liking with too many corners to turn.  Right at the end there were three corners.  I like to turn a corner and see the finish line so I know where I am going and can leave what I have left on the course.  That last bit is a great place to pass others, too.  But, today by the time you turned that last corner there was little room to make that last move and have your final kick. Still, it was a good race and my pace was 7:33.

So the posted results showed me as 2^nd in my age group, defeated by about 30 seconds.  That is a good measure of defeat.  The awards had me listed as 3^rd place because they are based on the gun time. So the 2^nd place award winner was slower than me (5^th in our age division) but because he started ahead of me he was placed ahead of me.  I usually try to place myself about 1/3 of the way back in the starting group.  There are always plenty of slower runners at the front of the pack that you have to maneuver around and I must have had to maneuver around the 2^nd place award winner.  I did not stick around for awards, but still something is not mathematically or logically right with this plan.  If you are timed by a chip, that is what should determine all of your placings.  Not one for the race and one for the awards.

The after race expo was stocked with goodies and vendors; however with the rain coming down I took off.

My pre-race routine was scattered for this one and I will address that next.  Stay tuned.

What do you think?

Zippy