The 2014 Race Season begins

The start of my 2014 race season kicked off with a bang ... it started with 3 races over a 2 week period, over 3 weekends.

The kick-off for me is always the Van Metre 5 miler whose proceeds go to the Children's Hospital. I thoroughly enjoy this race. It always has great community support and a good group of runners. This year seemed a bit smaller with 366 runners but the Saturday weather was perfect for it ... dry, cloudy and in the low 40s. I knew I had 2 more races coming up so I pushed but not too hard, and of course this year I am carrying a bit more "baggage". The run was great ... I did push and felt it near the end but not hard enough to know I went over the edge. I finished in 60th place with a time of 38:10, about 40 seconds off my PR but I was very happy with the run.

Post-Cherry Blossom 10 miler

The following Sunday was the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. This was the 5th year I ran this race, 5 of the last 6 runnings. Again the weather was great, it was sunny and in the low 40s to start. It was interesting to note that I have never run this race with a full bloom of cherry blossoms, either they are past full bloom, blown off from storms or, as was this year, not yet out. I think I saw 6 trees with blossoms. This race was a very comfortable one. I did not push. I know this because I did not have a single sip of anything during the entire race. The run felt great though - I was passing people and did not have a lot pass me. This is a big race, 15,462 finishers this year, and I managed to finish in the top 13% at 2359th at a time of 78:23. Again, shy of my best Cherry Blossom, but only 50 seconds shy of it. I was very happy with the run knowing that I had one more big run coming up.

The next Saturday, only two weeks after my first race, was the important one, the Marine Corps 17.75K race. Finishing this race meant a guaranteed entry into the Marine Corps Marathon. I had looked at the course profile but I was not sure how hard it would really be. The registration of this race was limited to 1775 runners - it sold out in 9 minutes so I was lucky to be here. The weather again worked out. Sunny, no winds and low 50s. The start was a bit slow, almost 1800 people heading up and down a 2 mile single lane logging road. The hills were tough and there were LOTS of them. We did have a couple fo miles of flat but over an 11+ mile course there were more hills than anything. The last two miles we were back on the logging road single lane but by then it had thinned out so I could go at my pace. It was one of those races where I had no idea where I finished since I had not seen a lot of people pass but because of the layout I could not tell where I was. The tougher part was my bib did not register at finish. So based on my Garmin it looks like I finished around 265th of the 1740+ finishers, at 1:33:40. Certainly not my best pace but given the course, the 2nd toughest I have ever run, I was happy.

Overall in all 3 races in a two week period I finished in the top 16% or better. For an old guy that was carrying an extra 10 or 15lbs this year I guess I should be happy.

I hope everyone else is having a good start to the running year.

Next up for me ... the Marine Corps Half-Marathon in mid-may and then onto some serious training for the Marine Corps Marathon.