1 - 2 - 3 in row, 3 Races in 3 Days for Dan H. and I

As per my previous post we ran the Matchstick 4 miler Friday night. Dan ran the other Subway race in Green Saturday. Last year this weekend I ran the Black River Buzz Anderson Memorial 5k and the next day the Columbia Station 1/2 where Pete Mycek and I met, but I had decided that I would not run the memorial 5k as 2 races in one weekend was plenty if not too much. So I woke up Saturday morning about 6:30 and couldn't sleep so I decided to get up and put down weed n feed on the entire yard and in the back of my mind thought if I get this done in time I could make it to the race in Spencer. I finished the yard before 7:30 so I decided to go. I changed and Marsha which by choice would sleep in decided to ride out there with me and cheer me on even though I would not be pressing for anything better than around 22 minutes I told her. We arrive with time to spare, did a mile warm up and got in line and talked to a guy in my age group that planned on doing under 22 minutes, great, but I let him go and hit mile 1 at a somewhat comfortable 6:48 and coming back past Marsha and the park entrance I told her the guy way out in front of me in the orange was in my age group and she says " go get him" so I speed up a little and catch him by mile 2 and talk to him for a second then go by and pick off a few more people and get back to the park with maybe a 1/4 mile to go and Pete meets me at the road and says come on pick it up so he pushes me hard coming in to the finish and my easy 5k ends up at 20:55 and 3rd in my age group.
Sunday morning arrives and again I don't get a very good nights sleep, I picked Dan H up at 6:45 and we head out to Columbia Station. Pete was there hoping to beat his PR of 1:39 and Dan was saying 8 minute miles was his pace for the day and the other of 4 MCRR members was Steve Combs going at a 6:30 pace.I was planning on helping Debbie Sheel to break 1:40 so I set my gps for a 1:39 1/2 which was a 7:28 pace and off we went. ZOOM, Debbie takes off and is pulling away fast so Pete and I ran together hitting almost every mile split for the first 4 at 7:25 to 7:30. Finally at 4.5 miles we catch Debbie and take a small lead on her, at mile 6 I slowed down to let her and Dan catch up and Pete pulled a bit ahead then. During those 1st 6 miles we noticed by our gps that the miles were to far apart and by mile 6 we had about 6.4, the rest later. I told Debbie she was still on target but we had 7 miles to go and I took off to try and catch up with Pete. It took me a 1/2 mile or so to do it but I got up next to him and and we looked out ahead and said let's catch the girl in the red before the race is over, somewhere between 10 and 11 we pass her and couple other fellas and come upon the guy I followed quite a bit last weekend. Pete and I ran with him til about 12.5 miles when he started to pull away and I had a tiny bit of leg calf cramp coming on so I told Pete to go get him and wow did he have alot left, Pete goes by him fast and beats him and finishes about 12 seconds in front of me, he took 2nd in our age group and I took 3rd. Dan and Debbie also both won their age groups. The down side of this race was it was 13.67 by my Gps and my time showed it. Everyone that had a gps agreed and had already told the race director. Debbie couldn't believe when she saw the clock at 1:48 but I told her to knock off 4 minutes for the over extra half mile still not putting her where she wanted to be. I crossed the finish line in 1:41 almost to the second the same time I crossed last year and I forgot to say this was a totally new course this year and a little easier than the old, I think I did around a 1:38 today at the 13.1 mark and Dan running those 8 minute miles finished just 30-40 seconds behind me if I recall right, no results up yet. I averaged 7:28 minute miles today. Time for a little rest on Monday and see how I feel about speed work on Tuesday

Matchstick 4-Mile 06/26/09

This evening Marsha, Kyle and I ran the Matchstick in Wadsworth. It 's race directors are MCRR members and friends we have made running, Kim, Randy and Bob. It was 79 degrees when we arrived about an hour before the race. We are still waiting for results to be posted but I PR'd with a 26:07, Marsha was close with a 31:25 and Kyle was, well he took the week off and he didn't do well, walking alot of the last mile he says, came in a little over 37 minutes just as I was headed out to look for him. I warmed up with Marsha , Kyle, Rachel and Dan H. and got some good news from Dan, he will be going with me Sunday morning to the Columbia Station Half. Rachel told me at speed work Tuesday night that she would be around 30 minutes in the 4 mile which sort of made me laugh as she keeps up with us during speed work and I told her she would beat 30 easy and she did coming in less than 20 seconds behind me. I also need to thank Denise Young for a great race, she passed me around the 2 mile mark and I hung with her to the end, Matt met her in the last 1/4 mile and was encouraging her to pick it up and beat her time from 2 years ago and it was down to the last 50 yds. when I gave it all I had left to get past her by a single second, without her push that last mile I'm sure I would have been a bit slower the last mile. I placed 2nd in my age group and 32nd overall of maybe 300 people.

Mohican cancelled, got to run Park to Park

Last Saturday I was about 1 hour away from leaving for the Mohican 100 where I was to run the last 25 miles as Bob Pokorny's pacer when his daughter called and said he had to drop out. The day started here in Medina pouring all morning then it got hot and humid, Bob made it 37 miles or so but ran into a few issues with dehydration and heat. Now with no plans for Sunday I tried to register for the Park to Park half marathon that Marsha, Jeanine and Janet were running the next morning. It was to late to register so I called the guy in charge and left him a message that I would like to sign up for the next 2 half marathons, one tomorrow and one next Sunday, and on their web site if you sign up for 2 as a package you get a discount. He called back and told me to sign up for both at the race and I would get the discount, $55 for both races, pretty cheap for 2 halves. I went out without a warm up due to a long line at the port a potty and planned to run a slow mile to get started but ended up with a 7:15 first mile and running with Tim in my age group, he had run Cleveland in 1:35 and we both said our goals were to break 1:40 today so we ran about 9-10 miles together before I lost track of him on the woozy bridges. Forgot to say that for a mid June race the temps were in the low 60's at start time and it was a bit chilly. I ran most of the last couple miles with next to no one around me and got to mile 12 which sent us back into the park we started at and on a gravel trail. It was cooler in the woods so I picked up the pace to see if I could catch anyone before the finish but didn't see a soul and couldn't believe when I finished in 1:36:11 that there were only 8 people in front of me. The race started with a bunch of half marathoners and a bunch of 5k ers in the twisty woods and I never knew where all the people went in front of me and had no idea how many were in front of me. My running buddy Tim ended up 3 minutes behind me but we took 1st and 2nd in our age group. After a short breather I ran back out to run Marsha in for a 1:53 then ran back out again to run Janet in for a 2:02. I placed 9th of 90 and Marsha was in the top half as I recall.

Ran an easy 4 miles before the MCRR meeting Monday night and listened to Milt Place talk about his running and training, a very interesting talk. Then went to speed work Tuesday but took it pretty easy with about 4 800's in the 3:20's. Taking the next couple days off for rest with the Matchstick 4 miler coming up Friday night and then the Columbia Station half Sunday morning. Running this one with Pete and Debbie Sheel, most likely trying to just break 1:40 on this hilly course.

Weekend on the Move.....

Ladd will have a tiring day tomorrow, helping out Bob Pokorny who is running the Mohican 100. Ladd will be meeting him after he has ran 75 miles to run the last 25 with him.... in the dark... wow sounds like fun! Wish I could be there! NOT!

Picture: Janet, Marsha, Jeannine

I will be running with a new friend Jeannine for her first 1/2 marathon on Sunday. I know she will do great and I am really looking forward to it! Our other friend Janet is coming too.... may I predict? Jeannine 1:54, Marsha 1:56, Janet 1:57....... hmmm we'll just have to see!

Running is great we have met so many new and wonderful people! Thanks to all my new running buddies!

Louisville YMCA 10k Saturday June 13, 2009

I'm not a fan of 10k's but the Subway series picnic was right after the race so we ran it. Kyle was not ready for a 10k but they also had a 2 mile race so he went with us. There were 144 runners in the 2 mile race and I decided I would run Kyle in the last 1/2 mile or so for a warm up before our race. I ran out and was happily surprised that Kyle was the 6th runner I came to going out on the course, I turned around and he had 2 people just in front of him, we passed the first one with ease but the end was nearing and we didn't quite catch the other guy but were gaining til the end with Kyle finishing 5th of the 144 in 13:55. 2nd in his age group. Our race was about to begin and I see a guy in my age group that I beat by 1 second a week earlier and we get to talking and have the same goal in mind for today so we paced off each other the whole race with him beating me by a single second this week in 43:40 or so. I placed 3rd in our age group right behind him. Kyle and I ran Marsha in and she placed 2nd in her age group with a 51:59. I was 21st across the line and Marsha was about mid 60's out of a 185 runners. A note for next year, skip this race, to many turns and hills plus an hour drive.
Sunday we had a group run planned at McDonalds at 10:00. 4-6 ladies and Pete, me and a new MCRR member for the guys, we ran 8.4 miles at an 8:05 pace which was a little faster than I would have liked but Pete led the way as the new guy and I talked behind him most of the 8 miles.
Rest day on Monday and Speedwork Tuesday. Tonight we did 6 800's at 2:56 to 3:20 with the majority at 3:08. Dan H., Frank and I did this while Marsha, Kyle and Janet did 4 400's and Kyle added an 800 also. Patrick and buddy doing way faster laps but at least we weren't puking at the end Patrick. Bob and Suzanne there also but Bob is tapering for the up coming Mochican 100 this weekend that I will be joining him in for the last 25 miles. He'll have run 75 MILES when I join him and he stills plans to be running a 9 minute pace the last 25. WOW. I hope I can be some help to him on those last 25 as half of it will be in the dark.

A New Record High Week

Starting this month I will be counting my mileage starting on Monday and ending on Sunday so I won't get 2 long runs in a week as before I was going Sunday thru Saturday and could get 2 long runs in during that week. This week just happened to set a new record with 7 on Tues., 5 Wed., 15 Thurs., 5 Sat., and 15.5 today = 47.5 miles for the week. 50 will come but I'm not trying to break this record quite yet. We ran the Relay for Life 5k in Brunswick yesterday and it was pushing 70 at race time. I finished in the top 10 with a 20:17 but have not seen any results yet to verify and Marsha finished in 24 flat and won her age group, I was second. Then there's Kyle, I helped him to a great new pr last weekend and he takes almost the entire week off and comes out this week and Mom passes him in mile 2 and beats him. Sure heat was a factor cause he has run very little in the warmth but now he better get out and run some more so he can beat his mom again next time. We stayed up a bit late last night with our bonfire and didn't get to bed til 1:00 but managed to get up and out the door by 9:30 and ran 13.5 miles together then I ran a couple more to go see Jim A. for a total of 15.5 miles.

It's June but feeling like March

It is finally June but the nights have been down in the 40's and it's very cool for our evening runs. Tuesday nights speedwork was tough but was nice being as cool as it was. We did 5 1000's at all around 4 minutes and I did a final 800 in 3:05. 7 miles total for the night, then Wednesday night Marsha and I did a easy 5 miles at a 8:53 pace around town. Thursday night Dan and I met the Hinckley group for a tough 15 mile run in 2 hours 45 minutes finishing just before dark. Today was a much needed rest day so we can get up and run a small race in Brunswick that we ran last year. This week may come close to a record week, after tomorrows warm up and cool down plus the 5k I'll have 45 miles in this week. Not sure what my most is for a week but that's got to be close.

Where'd the Weekend Go

I got off work Friday and it's Monday already. Marsha had a doctors appointment Friday and got the ok to race so she decides she really wants to go to Brewster, Ohio and run the Shearer's Chip Chase that we ran last year. I was kind of against going for a couple reasons, one being we were not pre-registered which means it cost us an extra $10 to sign up at the race and it's almost an hour drive. We pack up and go and get there about 6:15 and it's sunny and hot, about 72 degrees. The race starts at 7 but hardly cools down by then. Lots of friends were at this race so it was nice to see everyone. Bill, Marsha, Don and I go out for a warm up run and are getting ready for the race and I felt overheated before the race and didn't feel like a good time was gonna happen but that race adrenaline always seems to kick in and help. I ran most of the race with a guy in my age group and as we got towards the final 1/2 mile I see another guy in our age group and as we near the finish line I give my best kick to edge him out at the line by less than a single second. My time was 20:38 which I'm pretty happy with except for the little extra bit I had to run in this race, the lead bike took us off course and added 2/10ths of mile to the course and it ended up being 3.28 miles long, finished 25th overall out of 338 but 5th in my age group. Marsha had her worst time in awhile, just over 25 minutes but managed to place 3rd in her age group. We got home after 10 pm and went to bed so we could get up and go to the Livestrong 5k at AI Root that Kyle and I were running and Marsha was volunteering at. Kyle was looking to break 22 minutes for the first time so I told him I would run with him the first 2 miles and keep him on pace and then I'd take off. We hit mile one where Marsha was standing at 6:45 and Kyle says we're going to fast so we lay back a little and go down a hill for a slight rest and hit mile 2 at exactly 14 minutes but Kyle is telling me his legs and chest hurt so I decide to stay with him til the end. We hit a second water stop after the second mile and I tell him to keep going and I grab 2 waters and ask him "do you want to drink it or wear it" and he says wear it, I throw one glass down his back and one in his chest and I'd swear I threw gas in his tank as he seemed to pick up the pace just then. He was hurting but we were getting close, as we neared the school he says he can't breathe but I'm telling him we will be done in less than 3 or 4 minutes. We hit the track and I sprint away to the finish and he stays right on my tail as we cross the line in 21:40 and 21:42, over a minute off his best time ever. We finished 13th and 14th overall of 130 runners.

A couple hours later I was teeing off at Blue Heron for a very long 5 hour round of golf, shot 97 which was the low in our foursome but not a great score for me but ok since I have only played 4 times this year.
Sunday morning comes around and we have a group run planned starting at 8:30. I got to run 11 miles with 6 ladies at a slower pace than I usually run but it was a nice run and probably good for me after the 2 back to back 5k's and a good pace to try for the 24 hour run. This weekend just seemed to pass me by. Tomorrow I hope to do speedwork and then Thursday hopefully some hills in Hinckley and another 5k next weekend.