After a couple of weeks on the roads, I'm hungry for some trails. Following one of my races last weekend, I went for a wonderful cooldown on some trails in a light mist. Beautiful. Chances are likely I will do a trail run soon but the more important thing is building my long runs for my scheduled ultra in July.
At least I have the hankering.
In other news, I'm thinking of doing some direct mounting on my Northern Lites Snowshoes. I do think come racing season next year, I will benefit. Especially if my goal is to make Nationals. For those interested, here is a link to a video discussing direct mounts: Snow Shoe Direct Mount
And how to do them yourself: Mounting Instructions
Friday, April 27, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Race Pet Peeve and Training Thoughts
Before I touch on my training in this post, allow me to mention a race pet peeve. The people at the start of the race who just all out sprint and just kind of stop. It is disrespectful. I understand it is all in good fun in the spirit of the event. However, for the people who are serious and racing, they create a potential for a collision or allow a runner to get out of their mental focus on their goal. Just my brief thought on the subject.
Training itself in regards to mileage has been fairly consistent this month. Averaging about 55 miles a week. Now that is not normally a large number of miles but considering the issues this year, I like I am experiencing the consistency. And with having done some racing now, I like the hold up. For the rest of this month, I do feel I will be a bit more cautious with the miles as I have to start focusing on ultra training. So I will add an off day or two in the next month. With the focus on the ultra in two months, hopefully, I can add more trail based mileage.
(Brief note: The blog interface has changed in making posts. Surprising to me. Chalk that up to me being new at this and having just found my rhythm.)
Training itself in regards to mileage has been fairly consistent this month. Averaging about 55 miles a week. Now that is not normally a large number of miles but considering the issues this year, I like I am experiencing the consistency. And with having done some racing now, I like the hold up. For the rest of this month, I do feel I will be a bit more cautious with the miles as I have to start focusing on ultra training. So I will add an off day or two in the next month. With the focus on the ultra in two months, hopefully, I can add more trail based mileage.
(Brief note: The blog interface has changed in making posts. Surprising to me. Chalk that up to me being new at this and having just found my rhythm.)
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Good luck and be careful!!!
Good luck to everyone running the Boston Marathon tomorrow morning. Remember to run smart considering the conditions are not going to be the most ideal.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Oh great, he is going to talk about the roads some...
Yes, today's entry is going to focus on some road running. Specifically a road race. Oddly enough this morning was my first race on the roads since the start of the year. Considering it is mid-April and I ran 42 races last year, talk about a drop. (Even more so when you figure it is only my 4th) However, I did come into the year with a goal of racing less.
Locally, there were a lot of options this weekend. Today alone had something like a dozen races I could have picked from all within 25 miles. My choice....Run for Justice in Camden. Mainly, I selected this race to get a true gauge of where my performance level is at on a familiar course. The course was key because I have been struggling with a nagging groin all calendar year. So if I was going to get an honest evaluation of my ability, it had to be somewhere that I could compare something to. Since I had done the Turkey Trot there a few times, I knew what the course was going to be.
Amazingly, I had a sound sleep and didn't feel worried about my body holding up until I started my warm-up. I felt a bit stiff in the...you guessed it...groin. But that is why we warm up....by race time...I was feeling loose. Whew. Once the race started, I ran the race I hoped for. Focused and fast. Except in maybe the last 1/3 of the last mile. My energy reserves started to go there. But I crossed the finish in an amazingly shocking time....15:53. That is only 5 seconds slower than my time in the Turkey Trot.
Mentally, this is a huge boost as a result of the groin issues is a wavering confidence in what I can do in a race. Now I know and it is good. Just have to see how things go tomorrow since I will have a clear sense of my bodies ability to recover. If that goes well....game on.
But for now, I know I made a great decision regarding today's 5K choice.
Locally, there were a lot of options this weekend. Today alone had something like a dozen races I could have picked from all within 25 miles. My choice....Run for Justice in Camden. Mainly, I selected this race to get a true gauge of where my performance level is at on a familiar course. The course was key because I have been struggling with a nagging groin all calendar year. So if I was going to get an honest evaluation of my ability, it had to be somewhere that I could compare something to. Since I had done the Turkey Trot there a few times, I knew what the course was going to be.
Amazingly, I had a sound sleep and didn't feel worried about my body holding up until I started my warm-up. I felt a bit stiff in the...you guessed it...groin. But that is why we warm up....by race time...I was feeling loose. Whew. Once the race started, I ran the race I hoped for. Focused and fast. Except in maybe the last 1/3 of the last mile. My energy reserves started to go there. But I crossed the finish in an amazingly shocking time....15:53. That is only 5 seconds slower than my time in the Turkey Trot.
Mentally, this is a huge boost as a result of the groin issues is a wavering confidence in what I can do in a race. Now I know and it is good. Just have to see how things go tomorrow since I will have a clear sense of my bodies ability to recover. If that goes well....game on.
But for now, I know I made a great decision regarding today's 5K choice.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
DC & The Hills Are Alive
Yesterday, I closed out my racing for March down in Washington DC for DC RUNNING CLUB's Inaugural The Hills are Alive 5K & 10K. This race ended up on my schedule as a result of three factors.
1 - Looking for a 10K on this particular weekend
2 - I was not going to be able to drive to a race on this particular weekend
3 - Schwaggle discount.
Since DC is not far away, in checking transit costs along with race fee, it was going to be the same amount as if I ran local. So I signed up at the end of FEB as it gave me a reason to race somewhere new. For this reason I was excited. Plus, it was a Saturday, meaning I could race and come home to have Sunday to relax.
As part of the trip, I decided to stay over Friday night at The Liaison hotel. This was highly convenient because around the corner was a Capital BikeShare station that I could get a bike at to ride to the race location at Fort Dupont Park since there was a station there to dock.
But enough of the logistics, the reason I am talking about this race on here is because it was a multi-terrian race. It was a mix of trail and road. And the trail portions were made up of some gravel, some dirt and some grass. Oh and the hills. 325 ft of elevation gain per 5k loop. And for the 10K, which was 2X the 5K loop, 650 ft. Since I traveled such a far distance, I was on for the 10K.
I arrived at the start at 7am to get my race packet. I did a short warm up to get a sense about a portion of the course I had questions about. And I was ready for the 8am start. At the start, it did not look like a lot of competition which disappointed me. I knew the 10 Miler was the next day but I did expect someone to make the race interesting. Once the race started, I was off. By the 1.5 mile mark I was up by nearly 400 meters. And the person behind me was doing the 5k! My first loop, I felt good with but knew the second was going to be tough. My in-race analysis of the course was it was difficult to get a solid pace as the terrain changed so often be it having a hill show up or changing from road to grass. And the second lap did not help. I tried to keep the engine going. For the most part I did and ended up with a good time for the torture of the course as it was definitely slow.
In the end 35:19 for a clear 1st. Yes, two minutes slower than my normal 10K. However, it was a nice challenge and a good transition to the roads this month. If anything I challenged my fitness. I'll blog about the 1st road race but after that, I will not talk so much about my races that don't fit into the goal of this blog to focus on more unusual races.
But before I end this post, I do want to discuss the race logistics. Overall, I found it lacking in the amenities one expects. At the race day pick-up. Numbers were not already assigned. The numbers were written next to the name on the list. Also, shirts were given after the races not before. Despite having a set number of sizes and number from registration rolls, the organizers ran out of shirts. Completely uncalled for. Finish line set-up lacked organization as there was no finishing shute. Finishing times were called out and written down as there was not proper timing equipment for the 200 participants. This created an amount of chaos. Thankfully the race numbers were color coded to the distance. So the organizers got that aspect right on the money.
That is not all. No awards. None. (I was told the planned donation for the award did not come through.) I find this sad because the organization has put on solid races with all of things they lacked here.
Yes, I am criticizing a race for not delivering what I expect. Had I paid the full fee of 40, I would be livid. Luckily I did not.
And it pains me because all the organizers were really nice people. The energy of the volunteers was very supportive.
Ironically, the 5K winner was also from Philly and we had seen each other around.
1 - Looking for a 10K on this particular weekend
2 - I was not going to be able to drive to a race on this particular weekend
3 - Schwaggle discount.
Since DC is not far away, in checking transit costs along with race fee, it was going to be the same amount as if I ran local. So I signed up at the end of FEB as it gave me a reason to race somewhere new. For this reason I was excited. Plus, it was a Saturday, meaning I could race and come home to have Sunday to relax.
As part of the trip, I decided to stay over Friday night at The Liaison hotel. This was highly convenient because around the corner was a Capital BikeShare station that I could get a bike at to ride to the race location at Fort Dupont Park since there was a station there to dock.
But enough of the logistics, the reason I am talking about this race on here is because it was a multi-terrian race. It was a mix of trail and road. And the trail portions were made up of some gravel, some dirt and some grass. Oh and the hills. 325 ft of elevation gain per 5k loop. And for the 10K, which was 2X the 5K loop, 650 ft. Since I traveled such a far distance, I was on for the 10K.
I arrived at the start at 7am to get my race packet. I did a short warm up to get a sense about a portion of the course I had questions about. And I was ready for the 8am start. At the start, it did not look like a lot of competition which disappointed me. I knew the 10 Miler was the next day but I did expect someone to make the race interesting. Once the race started, I was off. By the 1.5 mile mark I was up by nearly 400 meters. And the person behind me was doing the 5k! My first loop, I felt good with but knew the second was going to be tough. My in-race analysis of the course was it was difficult to get a solid pace as the terrain changed so often be it having a hill show up or changing from road to grass. And the second lap did not help. I tried to keep the engine going. For the most part I did and ended up with a good time for the torture of the course as it was definitely slow.
In the end 35:19 for a clear 1st. Yes, two minutes slower than my normal 10K. However, it was a nice challenge and a good transition to the roads this month. If anything I challenged my fitness. I'll blog about the 1st road race but after that, I will not talk so much about my races that don't fit into the goal of this blog to focus on more unusual races.
But before I end this post, I do want to discuss the race logistics. Overall, I found it lacking in the amenities one expects. At the race day pick-up. Numbers were not already assigned. The numbers were written next to the name on the list. Also, shirts were given after the races not before. Despite having a set number of sizes and number from registration rolls, the organizers ran out of shirts. Completely uncalled for. Finish line set-up lacked organization as there was no finishing shute. Finishing times were called out and written down as there was not proper timing equipment for the 200 participants. This created an amount of chaos. Thankfully the race numbers were color coded to the distance. So the organizers got that aspect right on the money.
That is not all. No awards. None. (I was told the planned donation for the award did not come through.) I find this sad because the organization has put on solid races with all of things they lacked here.
Yes, I am criticizing a race for not delivering what I expect. Had I paid the full fee of 40, I would be livid. Luckily I did not.
And it pains me because all the organizers were really nice people. The energy of the volunteers was very supportive.
Ironically, the 5K winner was also from Philly and we had seen each other around.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
HORSE HILL 7K Recap
At long last, here is my recap of the Horse Hill 7K snowshoe race:
With not much of a winter down here in Philadelphia, I knew if I wanted to get a snowshoe race under my belt in 2012, I was going to have to travel. Lucky for me, a trip was planned up to Maine for the first week of March. It was lucky for me because a search of snowshoe races had some scheduled to occur while I was up in the region. I had races I could choose from in both Maine and New Hampshire. Due to logistics, our drive was starting on Friday night right after I got out of work. Since we were stopping in Lowell, MA, I knew I was going to be close to the Horse Hill 7K in Merrimack, NH. The race choice was decided: Horse Hill 7K on March 3rd.
Or so, I thought. A couple of weeks out, it looked likely there would not be enough snow for snowshoe racing. However, a few days prior, enough snow fell to have Horse Hill be, GAME ON! Except, it was going to be a lot of hilly single-track. The hills aren’t the problem. To date, I have not gotten the hang of single-track snowshoe running. Considering I’m from an urban city in the Mid-Atlantic and still new to the sport, this is not too surprising.
I was excited and nervous leading up because I knew I was going to get solid competition and was racing in a new pair of snowshoes, Northern Lites Elite Racer model. Also, this was my first race, representing Northern Lites as a competitor, so I was nervous to do well for them as they have invested themselves in me. (Hope I did solid by you!)
I knew I had it in me to do well given the right conditions. Oh the conditions….
While snow had fallen earlier in the week, the morning of the race looked a little worrisome with drizzle coming down. However, I was mentally committed and I drove the 30 minutes or so to the Horse Hill Preserve for the race. Driving up really got me worried as it started to downpour! Oh noes. I was hoping I didn’t show up to have it cancelled. Thankfully, when I pulled in to the small parking lot, it was still on, even if I got my car a tad stuck.
Before the race started, I did a small warm up, part of it on the course. I felt good about the opening stretch since it was wide but about a quarter mile in, the course got ugly. Since we were going through some wetland-ish areas, a couple of puddles appeared. Nothing major but not what I wanted to see. Thanks, rain.
One good and bad thing about racing in an area I am not from, I am not familiar with the competition. All I knew was Joe Johnson was injured and not running. I was not familiar with one of his training partners, Kevin Tilton who happened to be there. Even in the bad weather, the best show up. In talking with organizers before the start, I learned usually 100+ are at this race. While, on this day that number was much much smaller but filled with some quality.
Everyone lines up at the start. I’m about a row back. Bang! Off we go, I get off the line and am in 7th place but within a hundred meters, I make it into 4th. Knowing that the single track is coming up, I gun in for the whole and enter the single track in 2nd place. 1st place is already rocking me but I can see him and feel I can close the gap so I go the best I can. I’m doing well for about a mile in. Until the single track starts to snake itself around. For me the turns became too tight and my lack of technical skill compared to the others began to show. I started catching too much snow losing some balance. During this stretch, I was passed and dropped into 3rd place. However, I felt, I could reclaim second as first was now pulling away. My race for 2nd was a yo-yo. I would gain and loose throughout. Until we hit the ‘rollercoaster’ section of the course. The course weaved through this so much, I lost my sense of direction! And with each turn, I lost a bit of time on second place. Not a lot much but just enough. Once we came out of this stretch, I could see 2nd and hit the gas hard. Unfortunately, I ran out of real estate and finished 3rd roughly 25 seconds back. First place ended up running away beating me by 3 minutes. In a typical short distance race, this would devastate me but when done in snowshoes, I can take it in perspective.
I did learn after the race who Kevin Tilton, the winner and Dave Dunham, 2nd place were. Dave was a former national champion and multiple top-5 national runner. Kevin on the other hand is a multiple top-10 national runner and since this race finished 7th at the World Snowshoe Championships. If I had to lose, better to lose to two people with those accomplishments. They give me a place to strive for.
On this day, placing third to them is quite an accomplishment. Conditions were terrible. Running in snowshoes in the rain is gross and extra taxing. And given the course being of a design not suited to my best snowshoe skills at the moment, I’m happy.
Sadly, this race was the start and end of this year’s snowshoe season. Next year, I hope the winter is more of a winter where I can do more races. Considering Nationals are in Bend, Oregon, I plan on making them. This summer, I also hope to make it to a beach or two to do some off-season training in snowshoes.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Still not about that snowshoe race...
I know, I will get to the Horse Hill 7K recap. Just not tonight.
This post is going to focus on last week's St. Patty's Scramble.
Around this time, last week I was nervous. I thought a good night sleep on Saturday would have been a great thing for me. However, I did not get it. Instead, I felt really jittery and as if I was coming down with something. Mind you 15K sick is not a good mental image when already feeling nervous. Considering I had to be at the race two hours early to help out beforehand, I had some thinking to do since I knew I was going to be involved with course sweeping. I made a decision to drop to the 6K.
As bad as it was to cut out such a distance, it was wise. Not for the sick feeling but turns out I was the only one sweeping the whole 15K course. So I had to run the 15k anyway, just with a bag on my back picking up all the signage. Really not my ideal Sunday. It made me a bit bitter even if I raced for free because I felt the time I had to dedicate was pretty steep compared to the other volunteers. But that said, lesson learned if I do that again.
With respect to the race itself, I feel I could have won the 15K as I was 50 yards up on second where the 6K and 15K routes split. I ended up winning the 6K by a fair margin of 2 1/2 minutes. Just missed going under 20 minutes but when the last quarter mile is a HUGE uphill, it is tough. The one really positive I take away from it all is that I had speed and held it well. Considering I won't have a 'normal' road race until April, it is nice to know I have the turnover on the trails.
By the way, I rocked the INOV-8 X-Talon 190's. Odd at first but a really great trail shoe.
One last note, of a sad nature, I learned there will be no XTERRA Philly series this year. The guy who put it on is taking the year off from doing so. I feel it is going to be no more. Bummer.
This post is going to focus on last week's St. Patty's Scramble.
Around this time, last week I was nervous. I thought a good night sleep on Saturday would have been a great thing for me. However, I did not get it. Instead, I felt really jittery and as if I was coming down with something. Mind you 15K sick is not a good mental image when already feeling nervous. Considering I had to be at the race two hours early to help out beforehand, I had some thinking to do since I knew I was going to be involved with course sweeping. I made a decision to drop to the 6K.
As bad as it was to cut out such a distance, it was wise. Not for the sick feeling but turns out I was the only one sweeping the whole 15K course. So I had to run the 15k anyway, just with a bag on my back picking up all the signage. Really not my ideal Sunday. It made me a bit bitter even if I raced for free because I felt the time I had to dedicate was pretty steep compared to the other volunteers. But that said, lesson learned if I do that again.
With respect to the race itself, I feel I could have won the 15K as I was 50 yards up on second where the 6K and 15K routes split. I ended up winning the 6K by a fair margin of 2 1/2 minutes. Just missed going under 20 minutes but when the last quarter mile is a HUGE uphill, it is tough. The one really positive I take away from it all is that I had speed and held it well. Considering I won't have a 'normal' road race until April, it is nice to know I have the turnover on the trails.
By the way, I rocked the INOV-8 X-Talon 190's. Odd at first but a really great trail shoe.
One last note, of a sad nature, I learned there will be no XTERRA Philly series this year. The guy who put it on is taking the year off from doing so. I feel it is going to be no more. Bummer.
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