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.

2013 Cherry Blossom Sunday

Yesterday was the annual Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. This was my 4th running for this race and it is one race I always enjoy running and yesterday was no different.  It was a bit cold at the start although it was forecast to warm up so when I got ready to head down I threw on just some shorts and a long sleeve technical shirt to run in.  I grabbed an old fleece to keep me warm at the start line which turned out to be a good idea as a bit of a breeze made it a bit cool.

I started the race in the red wave,  the first wave behind the elite runners, and I managed to be in the front part of the wave so fewer people to have to run around.  The start was nice and fast and I quickly got into a pace that was comfortable. I did end up having to run around a few people who did not seed themselves properly - if you are an elite runner why are you plodding along at a 11 min/mile pace before mile two?  In general I was running with a great crowd,  friendly, polite and keeping a great pace.  When we hit mile 6 at the top of Hains Point Park we did hit a strong winds right in our faces.  It made it cold and was creating some chop on the Potomac but did not show us down.

The last few hundred meters, up and over the rise by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, was great as I had left a bit in the tank so I kicked it a bit to cross the finish at the Washington Monument. I had two guys come up to me after - one saying how my kick motivated him and a second to say how he had been spotting me all through the race,  due to my orange shirt,  and how great a race I ran.  It is always nice to get some compliments on the course.  Finish time was 1:17:33 - more than 10 minutes faster than my first Cherry Blossom in 2009 and another personal best for the course by 1:42. It was a great race.

The race was not the best thing about the day though.  After grilling some burgers and squash for the girls for lunch the 4 of us headed to the Mason Centre forthe Arts to see the Russian National Ballet Company perform Swan Lake.  Kris had wanted to see a ballet after I told her about Alice in Wonderland that Laura and I had seen at the Kennedy Center, so I got her 4 tickets to Swan Lake for her birthday.

The performance was wonderful. The company has some wonderful artists,  both dancers and set designers.  The lady dancing Odette impressed all of us.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the performance and it made a great end to a great day.

Cherry Blossom 2012

So the official results are in and posted so time for a recap.

I had not been running all week, a slight tweak in my upper calf had been bothering me so I did some elliptical and stationary bike the past week. I had been running well before and had a great 5 miler the beginning of March, ran just the race I wanted to, so I was comfortable that a week of taking it easy on the road was not going to punish me.

I woke up early Sunday and had a quick breakfast of English muffin, Canadian bacon, OJ and a banana. A very global breakfast :-). The temperature was hovering in the mid 40s so I was more worried about La being warm than me. I had already planned a throw away jacket for the start. As always I plan to metro into DC for the race - it is fast and easy to do this and the metro is close to both the start and a Starbucks for Laura. We got to DC in lots of time but the porta-John lines and the lines for bag drop meant I got to my corral with only a few minutes to spare so I was not up as close to the front as I wanted.

I did not do any real warm up as the crowd meant I would be paced a bit slow for the first mile or two so I figured a good warm up period and I would not be too frustrated like I was last year wanting to run fast from the start and no room to do it. I was in the second corral so after the elite women went I only had one group starting in front of me.

As I expected the first two miles was a bit slow but not as bad a last year when I was in the third corral. I felt good throughout - picked up the pace on the small rises, no real hills, and had lots of energy to kick when I needed to get around someone. I ran light - just a bottle with Gatorade and some ClifBloks stuffed in the pocket. I like the taste of the Dark Cherry. Turns out they are the ones with the most caffeine so no wonder it gave me such a kick.

After the first 5 I took a look at my Garmin and saw I was just a few seconds behind plan so I picked it up. I did actually run the second half faster than the first - 7.5 mph for the first 5 and 7.7 for the second. As I came to the last rise with 1/4 of a mile left I kicked it up again and crossed the line under my 80 minute plan, finishing in the top 17% - 2846/13974. I felt great - I had cut almost a full 5 minutes off my 2011 race.

After a day of thinking about it I do feel I had a bit more in me that I did not leave on the course. Maybe this is a good thing as I have another short race in a couple of weeks and then a half-marathon in May. Maybe I leave the big, leave-it-all-there race for one in August or September. But it is good to know that I feel like I have more.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A Quick Race Report

Today was the 40th running of the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.

Unofficial results - 1:19:17 - almost 5 minutes faster than last year.

I will do a full report when results are official

New Shoes ... for the race Sunday

I know the title is something most runners would NEVER say. Nothing new for a race - no new shoes, no new shorts or shorts or socks. No new food or drinks. Well technically the shoes are new but they are the same model (yes the same year) as I have been running now for a couple of years. I do seem to burn through them pretty quickly. I made the mistake last time of only ordering one pair so when the ones I had were getting worn I had to look around to find some that were my size and the right model since they have since replaced them with a newer model.

Anyway - I will be breaking them in the next couple of days just to make sure that I am ready for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler on Sunday. I am trying to figure out what I need to do to get a front spot in my corral so I do not end up doing what I did last year and have to run around people that were in a corral that they did not belong in. If you are in a race and you are walking within the first 3 miles then you probably did not belong in one of the first couple of waves of runners. With 15,000+ runners little things like that become VERY frustrating. Last year I ended up running 10.5 miles in a 10 mile race because I ended up running around that many walkers. Enough griping - I am just looking forward to getting out there and running a solid race and enjoy the views on the tidal basin.

I will post the update when I am finished the race.