Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon

Well, it's over.

This past Saturday, I ran my second marathon, the 6th Annual Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Rehoboth is our family's default vacation spot each summer - my in-laws have had a beach house down there for over 25 years, and I've developed quite a fondness for the area in the 22+ years I've vacationed there. So I was especially looking forward to this.

The trip down on Friday, though, was pure hell. A trip that generally takes around 2 hours, 45 minutes on a good day took over 5 hours this time. Massive traffic delays, along with bad weather here in Virginia and sporadic backups until we reached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland was the culprit. My wife, in her infinite wisdom, offered to do the driving, since she knew I'd be a raging idiot if I were behind the wheel (and she would be correct).

Our late arrival meant I missed packet pickup on Friday night and would have to do the duty nice and early on Saturday before the race. As it was, I was the first person in line at 5:30 AM on Saturday, which gave me time to go back to my hotel (.3 mile from the start and right at the finish line) and stay warm before the gun. It was 29 degrees with a light rain both at 5:30 and at the 7 AM start.

Being such a small race (just under 1,000 for the marathon and about 1,300 for the half), the course wasn't too congested as the race started. No matter, because the race band that I ordered from Races2Remember had me at a 10:02 pace for the first mile, which I easily achieved (I actually ran 9:59). As a matter of fact, I was hitting all of my goal paces on the band, and running quite comfortably as we entered Cape Henlopen State Park at about the 13.1 mile mat. At this point, I was at 2:04:00 on the dot, and my goal for halfway was 2:04:14 - so I was only 14 seconds faster over 13 miles than planned. No problem, right?

Wrong.

There was a timing mat just before mile 15 that the race director announced, before the race, was at the top of a hill, and you had to hit it to avoid being DQ'd. As it was, it was at an overlook of the Atlantic Ocean where you could see Cape May, NJ in the distance. It was also an annoying circle around a small parking lot just to hit the mat. It was at this point, after climbing the hill, that my race went "downhill", so to speak.

Coming back down Route 9 at about mile 16.5, I pretty much hit the wall. My left quad started cramping, and my feet were really bothering me. This was the same left quad problem I had at Marine Corps Marathon in 2012, and almost at the same mile marker (18 in MCM). I attributed my cramp at MCM due to poor fueling, but in this race, I was fueling properly, so I was baffled. As for my feet, I'll get to that later.

I slowed considerably by now, and made it to mile marker 20 before I decided that the rest of the race would have to be run-walk. My Garmin was .1 mile ahead of the mile markers, so when my Garmin beeped on the mile (by my watch), I walked until reaching the actual mile marker, then jogged until the next beep. My splits from here to the end roughly put me at a 12:00 pace per mile. In short, it was an epic struggle.

As I got to mile 26, and could see the finish line, I started searching for my wife and son, who had accompanied me this weekend. After 41 races, this was the first time they had been at the finish line for me. As I rounded the curve to the finish, I saw my son pointing and jumping up and down, cheering. I am going to readily admit: I was so happy to see him that I teared up as I crossed the finish line and got my medal. After the struggles I had over the last 10 or so miles, it put it all in perspective - he didn't care that my performance wasn't what I expected - his Daddy just finished a marathon!!

I finished in 4:30:42, and the silver lining in this is that is was a 5-second improvement over my MCM time, so, yeah, a new PR.

My struggles can be traced back to my training. I only completed one 20-miler in this training cycle, and only one other long run of 18 miles. Everything else, long-run wise, was 16 miles or less. And 16 was where I crashed. Coincidence? I don't know.

As for my feet - about 2 weeks ago, I put a pair of sneakers (Brooks Adrenaline 13) in a box and marked them "Marathon Shoes". They only had 200 miles on them, so they would be the ones. Nice and broken in. Well, apparently TOO broken in. I should have inspected them before this, because when I took them off after the race, the entire big toe area on my right foot was worn away, and a hole was forming in the toe box. In short, these shoes were dead a few weeks ago, and I should have used fresher ones. Not saying this would have allowed me to run my 4:10, but it could have contributed some to my leg fatigue (which was really a result of my poor training).

I had already decided weeks before this race that this would be my last marathon, and my struggles only solidified that decision. I really don't care to train in the manner necessary to run the race I want to run. For those of you who run marathons, and run them well, I applaud you. Marathoning is quite an achievement, and I wish I enjoyed it more. The whole spectacle of a marathon is an awesome experience. But I find that I much more enjoy running 10-Milers and Half-marathons (and the training for both) than I do the marathon.

As for the Rehoboth Beach race, if you're looking for a nice, small marathon, with good crowd support and a nice, flat route, I whole-heartily endorse it. I will very much consider coming back again for the half-marathon. But this was my 26.2 swan song.

Marathon Week

It's Tuesday, so that means it's only 4 days until my next (and final) marathon, the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon in Delaware. I'm currently in taper mode, trying to ignore all of the phantom aches and pains that are mysteriously showing up this week.

This past Thursday, I ran the Inside Out Sports Turkey Trot 8K in Cary, NC. It was sunny and 21 degrees at the start, and for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of running in the Raleigh-Durham area, it's hilly. My goal going into this race was to A) stay injury-free, and B) try to hit a 42:30 time. Everything went swimmingly, and I escaped injury-free with a new PR of 42:08 (an 8:28 pace).

Now the focus is on Rehoboth, and constantly thinking about my race pace. In an earlier post, I determined that from past performances I could run about a 4:08 marathon. I ordered pace bands from Races to Remember, and since they only do paces on the zeros, 5's & 10's, I settled on the 4:10 band. But further study is showing that this may be conservative, or at least confusing to me.

Looking at the Jack Daniels Calculator, and entering recent race times, I found something rather startling. When I entered my Army Ten Miler time of 1:28:15, I came up with a projected marathon equivalent pace of 4:03:11, below my 4:10 goal. And while it doesn't show a projected 8K time, I can average the 5K and 10K equivalents and come up with roughly 8:24 for an 8K, which is very close to my 8K pace last week. So that seems surprisingly accurate.

OK, so I went back to the calculator and entered my 8K time of 42:08 - and got 4:04:14 as a marathon equivalent. So 2 races in the past month, and the difference in marathon equivalents for both is 63 seconds. Average the 2 together, and Mr. Daniels formula spits out a 4:03:42 equivalent marathon time.

Considering my training hasn't exactly been stalwart for this race, I'm really not sure if I have it in me to break off a 4:03 in the marathon. Heck, I'm still wary about trying for a 4:10. But I'm going to stick with the 4:10, with the caveat that if I feel good at 20 (and if I'm still on track for a 4:10), I may just ditch the pace band and go for that 4:03, or something close to it.

Time to focus now.

2013 Army Ten Miler

I don't blog much anymore, but after yesterday's race, II felt I had to get some things off of my chest. The 29th running of the Army Ten Miler was yesterday, in Arlington, VA and Washington, DC. This year's field was expanded to 35,000 runners, and when I first heard this news, I was convinced that it wasn't a good thing. I ran the ATM back in 2010 when the field was 25,000 runners, and it was crowded then. What was going to happen when another 10,000 runners were added to the already-tight course? Against my better intentions, I signed up, mainly because some of my running acquaintances were running it, and a meetup was planned for afterwards. No problem, I'll grin and bear the inconveniences for the sake of having a fun day. But other than the post-race festivities, there wasn't much fun to be had.

Let's start with Friday and packet pick-up, which was at the DC Armory in Southeast Washington, DC. I live in Reston, VA, which is 28 miles and 45 minutes (on a good day) from the Armory. So I prefer taking Metro, which is takes about 15 minutes longer, but is less stressful. So we're talking 2 hours just to get my bib and go back, without even going into the expo. I wandered about the expo for about an hour, just to make it worth the trip, so including time waiting for trains, the whole packet pickup process took about 3 1/2 hours, start to finish.

Now for race day. Again, taking Metro, the main reason being there is very little parking available near the Pentagon, and there is a Metro stop at the Pentagon, so this was a no-brainer. Upon arrival at the race site, the bag drop was well-organized and orderly. No issues there. The corral system, though, was another story. I completely understand the security issues involved with a large race. That said, having 2 lines for 35,000 runners to be screened to allow them to pass into the runners area was kind of ridiculous. The main issue was checking bib numbers, but there was also a line for runners to have their bags inspected (although I was under the assumption that bags were not permitted on the course). That was not clear to anyone - only after arriving at the chokepoint...I mean, checkpoint.

The corral system was just that - corrals, with gates and the whole 9 yards. Runners were supposed to "corral up" in their areas by bib color (approx. 5,000 runners per corral), but the soldiers manning the Blue (aka, 3rd) corral must not have been instructed on that, because I saw various colors of bibs (including numerous Purples, the 6th corral). From the corrals, it was quite a walk to the start line, but on a chilly morning, it wasn't all that bad to get a bit warmed up.

Cue the race start, and the mass of humanity. The corrals were spaced out at 5-minute intervals from each other, but you wouldn't have known that. The first 2 miles in my corral were a sea of humanity, with people moving at various paces, from fast to walkers (why walkers would insist on being in the 3rd wave is beyond me). I wanted to get my first mile in at about a 9:10 pace, but swerving and weaving around the walkers was making that impossible. My first mile was 9:24, and that was only after picking it up on the downhill before the on-ramp to the Memorial Bridge. Navigating the bridge itself was difficult, but I logged a 9 minute second-mile to make up a little time. Mile 3, most of which was on the uphill Virginia Avenue in DC, was where it started to thin out a bit (and I thank myself for hill training).

After this point is when I started to really log some decent splits. From there on out it was a bit less congested, but still much more crowded than I am used to. I was able to run my paces fairly consistently, but more often than not I would have to slow a bit to pass someone walking or struggling. As a mid-pack, 8-9 minute/mile runner, I'm not used to having to execute passing maneuvers in the latter stages of a race, especially in a 10-Miler.

As for my times, I clocked a 44:30 at mile 5, and set a new PR with a 1:28:15 finish. That also meant that I ran negative splits in this race, with the final 5 miles in 43:45, an 8:43 pace. Very pleased with that - I worked hard on Sunday to get that PR.

I love running races in Washington, DC. It's a beautiful city in which to run, and the thrill of running past and through history in our Nation's Capitol is something to behold. But the simple logistics of it for me, combined with the ever-increasing fields are going to make it difficult for me to want to do another mega-race in the city.

This will be an unpopular opinion, but if the Army Ten Miler could institute a qualifying system and place runners in corrals based on qualifying times (keeping runners of similar abilities grouped together at the start), it might make the race less congested. Also adhering to assigned corrals would help. There's no perfect system, but I believe this would be a good first step.

Cherry Blossom Ten Miler Race Report

I know I haven't written  much since the beginning of the year, but that's beacuse I haven't done much since the beginning of the year. So here goes...

The Cherry Blossom Ten Miler was my first event of 2013. I haven't run since doing a local 10K on New year's Eve, and really haven't trained to the level I became accustomed to last year. But I always have wanted to run Cherry Blossom, and this year my schedule was clear, and I got in.

I was really hoping to break the PR I set in March 2012 at the Reston Ten Miler (1:29:03), but after a few weeks training in 2013, it became apparent to me that that might not be the case. I struggled with motivation in January and February, I came down with a calf issue in March, and honestly didn't put enough miles in to adequately run an effective race. I was still gunning for the PR, but realistically figured I'd run about a 9:00 pace (1:30:00 race time).

The weather conditions seemed as if they'd be in my favor - the temperatures were supposed to be in the low 40's by race time, but 10-12 mph winds made it seem much colder as I waited in my corral in the 7 AM hour. I had on my Mizuno BreatheThermal shirt, but it only becomes "thermal" after you work up a sweat. Standing in the chilly morning air was tough.

The gun went off at 7:30, and by 7:40, our wave made its way on to the course. Lining up as I do towards the rear of the corral, I found it difficult to get into a groove, as I was dodging slower traffic and doing so while not crashing into other like-minded (and faster) runners doing the same. It never really cleared up the entire 10 miles on the course, but I did get a few stretches where I was able to run free for a bit. But the course was crazy crowded.

I passed the 5-Mile mat in 45:04 by my Garmin (45:07 officially), which was just under a 9:00/mile pace. I was pretty much on track with where I wanted to be, so I figured in order to PR the course, I'd have to run at an 8:45 pace the rest of the way. In Mile 6 I did, clocking in at around 8:40, but then we headed into the dreaded winds of East Potomac Park. The combination of fighting the winds and residual effect of dodging and weaving the first 3 miles I think did me in at this point. I did manage to run 9:00 or 9:01 for Miles 7 through 9 as well as for the majority of Mile 10, but that little uphill with 400 meters to go was the final blow for me. I did, though, manage to run a consistent race, as I ran the second 5 miles of this race in 45:05, just slightly quicker than the first 5, but not enough.

My official time was 1:30:12, a 9:01 pace, almost exactly what I had figured I'd do, going into the race. But all hope is not lost - I'm running the Alexandria Running Festival Half Marathon on May 26, and by my estimation, I could have continued that 9-ish pace for another 3 miles, so if I do that in May, I'll be able to both go under 2 hours again for a marathon (first time was in March 2011 at Virginia Beach), and set a new PR (currently 1:59:09). I'm going to train much smarter for the next 7 weeks to prepare, and to build off of yesterday's performance.

What yesterday also did was rekindle my training fires - as I Tweeted this morning: "Nothing like finishing one race with a longer one coming up to get me back in a good training state of mind."

What a Weekend

There are times when things just all fall into place, running-wise. This past Thanksgiving wekeend was one of them for me.

It started off on Thursday with the Giving Thanks 5K, in Vienna, VA. I entered this race late, since I wasn't sure how I was going to respond to the rigors of the Marine Corps Marathon. I recovered nicely, and decided to keep my streak of Turkey Day races going at 5 years. This race (I believe) is in it's 3rd year, and participation has increased exponentially each year. Their inaugural race in 2010 drew 186 runners; 2011 doubled to 374 runners, and this year, they drew 520 participants. Nice steady growth for a nice little community 5K.

My goal for this race was to attempt to run the 5K in under 25 minutes (8:04 pace), which would be a milestone for me. But the race had an ominous beginning - 3 hills of increasing height within the first half-mile. The first one was short and steep, the second was longer and higher, and the third was short, but even further up than the second. The benefit to this was that there was a huge downhill at the top of the third hill, getting us back to flat ground and the W&OD Trail, where the remainder of the race would be contested. I ran the first mile in 8:05, right on track, and once we got on the slight downhill of the W&OD, I ran a 7:53 in mile 2. But as flat as the course looked from here, there was a slight upslope for the final 1.6 miles of the race. I was hanging around 8:20 as I was getting towards the end, and I kicked it up a notch at the 2.7 mile mark, but it wasn't enough. I crossed the line in 25:04, just missing my goal. But I wasn't dissatisfied, as this represented a 27-second improvement over my previous 5K PR from July 4th.

I finished 91st overall out of the 520 runners, my best placing to date, and 11th out of 44 in my age group.

But that was only the beginning. The next day, Friday, I signed up my 6 year-old son to run the Gingerbread Man Mile children's fun run in Reston, VA. He had never run a real race before, just a 2 block Dash this Halloween weekend. I ran outside with him the previous 2 Saturdays, and he hadn't run the entire mile without walking, his best being about a 10:55 pace. It didn't  really matter, as the goal was just to have him participate. but I didn't want it to be miserable for him.

It was cold on Friday, but he insisted on wearing his orange dri-Fit shirt with his race number. That's a good sign. We lined up (I was going to run with him and act as his "pacer"), and when the horn went off, he took off like a cannon. I had to reign him in, since I knew there was a hill right around the corner. He made the first loop (about 3/10 mile) just fine, but the longer 7/10 mile loop was coming up, with the hill again around the corner. But he did great - never walked once, and as we approached the finish line, I peeled off and allowed him to cross the finish line by himself, in an impressive 10:02 - not bad for a first race!! After he crossed I went over, picked him up, and told him how proud I was at what he accomplished.

                  This is my boy crossing the finish line!!

So, in a weekend where I set a great PR and ran a race with my son, I'll take the Father-Son moment every time!!

Marine Corps Marathon Race Report

It's still hard to believe that after 4 months and almost 600 miles of training, it's over. I completed my first-ever marathon yesterday, running with 23,000 of my closest friends through Arlington, Virginia and the streets of our Nation's Capital.

All week, it was the threat of Hurricane Sandy and how it was going to affect the race - was it going to be pouring down rain? Was it going to be windy as all get-out? How would we handle it? As it turns out, we got no rain at all. The temperature at race time was about 58 degrees, and it was overcast. Negligible winds at the start, so it was all good.

The race started off ominously for me - my Garmin had powered off during the wait to cross the start line, and I didn't hear the beep with all of the commotion around me. So when I went to hit the "Start" button as I crossed the line, nothing happened. I had to power on again, wait for it to capture the satellite, and then start. As a result, my first 2 miles was run just by feel. Which was OK, since I wanted to start it off very easy.

They said there was a nice big hill in mile 2, but because I train in this area, it wasn't that daunting. I took it easy going up, and was rewarded with a nice downhill until the next little hill in mile 5. We crossed the Key Bridge into Georgetown and went up Canal Road. I passed the 10K mark in 10:02, just about according to plan. Once we passed mile 7, we were rewarded again with another nice downhill back into the heart of Georgetown. I was settling into a nice groove - not breathing hard, conserving energy, and going with the flow.

We entered Haines Point around mile 11, and that's when the winds picked up. Haines Point is flat, but the winds coming out of the north as we were exiting the peninsula made it tougher than I thought. Still, through 20K, I had speeded up to a 9:51 average pace, and was still running rather easily. But I was starting to feel the effects of relying on aid stations for my hydration.

[I had brought a water bottle with me filled with Nuun. That bottle lasted me through mile 6, which was about what I expected. My fueling plan was to drink once a mile until my bottle ran out, then to rely on aid stations afterwards. I took a GU at mile 4, and then another one every 3.5 miles or so afterwards, or at the closest water stop to 3.5 miles. In between, I was taking Gatorade. I avoided the crowds at the first tables and waited until I got to the last table to grab my Gatorade, but the cups weren't filled enough for me - I wasn't taking in enough electrolytes, but was doing OK...for now.]

We exited Haines Point and were greeted by litereally thousands of spectators as we ran along the National Mall. I was still doing fine, although I started to feel a little tightness in my quads at around mile 16. A high-five from Bart Yasso as I made the U-turn back down Independence Avenue was a welcome sight. As I approached the US Capitol, my left quad started getting tight. I passed through the 30K mark still at a 9:51 pace, and was still hoping for a 9:45 finish.

I passed the hydration stop just past mile 19, and the quick burst of electrolytes helped my quad. But after I made the turn to the 14th Street Bridge, it felt as if I had a softball in my thigh, and slowed considerably to about an 11:00 pace. As we came off of Route 27 and went into Crystal City at mile 22, I had had enough. I switched at that point to a 5:1 run/walk, just to relieve some of the pain. I kept that up until mile 25, at which point I decided I wanted to finish this thing running. I passed the 40K mark at 4:15, a 10:16 pace, and was just puttering along.

The run up the hill to the finish line was tough, especially since now my calves were now barking at me as well, but I picked it up the last 1/10 mile, and made it through the finish chute with my head held high. 4:30:47 was my finish time. My goal was simply to finish my first marathon, but in the back of my mind, I was gunning for a 4:15. Didn't quite get that, but I am not at all displeased with my performance.

The entire environment surrounding the Marine Corps Marathon was unbelievable - from the crowd support, to the course, to the professional way this race is run - I am thrilled that my first marathon was MCM.

So now it's some rest, and back to normal training runs for now. I may try for a 10K on New Year's Eve, but my next focus will be trying to get into the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler in April via lottery. Wow, a ten miler? That should be a piece of cake!!

Leesburg 20K Race Report

I'm midway through my 20-week distance training program with Potomac River Running, and it was about time to have a practice race in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28th. Luckily, the brilliant minds at =PR= have this all figured out - that's why they scheduled their Leesburg 20K/5K race for this weekend.

In previous years this was a 20K/10K race, but permitting problems necessitated changing the 10K to a 5K. I've run the 10K twice before, and both August races were stifling hot. Not so yesterday - the weather at the 7:30 start was overcast and 64 degrees, just about perfect conditions.

I created an elevation profile through Log Your Run, and what I saw shocked me (left) - it appeared as though I'd be climbing a mountain for the first 6-7 miles, before descending back down the "mountain" to the finish. Upon further research, I determined that it was more of a gradual incline, but still it looked rather daunting. I had run the middle part of this particular race in a 5K back in 2009, and remember there being quite a hike at one point, but at that 5K I set a PR, so I had hopes for this race.

For race prep, I used the carb loading/fueling strategy I referenced in my previous post. I'd be running 80% of what I ran last week, so I didn't carb load as heavy as I did last week. Also, my breakfast was a tad bit smaller. For in-race fueling, I used my Fuel Belt, drinking lemon-lime Gatorade, and planned on consuming 3 GUs during the race, at 3 mile (or so) intervals). My race plan was to do the first 10K at a 9:30 pace (my MCM goal pace), then on the downhill return, seeing how I felt and taking what it gave me. I hoped to finish in about 1:58.

At the start line, both the 20K and 5K runners started simultaneously, so there were over 1200 runners lining up on Harrison Street in Leesburg (about 60% were 20K runners). And as the gun went off, my pet peeve again came to fruition - slower runners/walkers lining up way too far forward in the queue. It was very congested until about a mile into the race, and really didn't thin out until just after the 2 mile mark, when the 20K and 5K runners split. At this point, the race continued on the Washington & Old Dominion (W & OD) Trail, a multi-purpose path for bicyclists, runners, walkers, etc. The next 4+ miles were not as difficult as it looked on the elevation chart. It was indeed a gradual incline, but much flatter than I expected or remembered. My pace was steady at about 9:22 as I passed the 10K mark in 57:57 (by my Garmin).

The only difficult stretch was at mile 5 of the race (mile 38 on the W&OD), where the trail goes over Route 7 at the Route 9 interchange (Clark's Gap). This stretch of trail turns almost 180 degrees, and then back again as it winds its way steeply up the overpass. This was the hardest part of the race, but on the positive side, coming back was going to give me a nice downhill to get some momentum for the final 5 miles.

The turnaround was at the 6.75 mile mark of the race, and almost immediately felt the ease of going downhill. Again, the incline was very shallow, but my hill training must be paying dividends, because I wasn't struggling. (Editorial comment - at this point of the race, we were doubling back, and there was two-way traffic on the trail. Why recreational bicyclists felt it necessary to ride their bikes between the two lanes of race traffic was baffling. And to get belligerent when you couldn't get through is the typical attitude of many of the bicyclists on the W&OD). I felt the speed picking up for the next 4 miles, and my paces showed it - I was down in the low 9's/high 8's with my paces as I approached the last aid station.

By mile 11, I was still feeling fresh, so I decided to up the pace a little. I was running by myself at this point, and did mile 11 in 8:38. The final .4 was a little tougher as it was uphill to the finish, and I was at an 8:40-ish pace for the final mile when I crossed the line. My official finish time was 1:54:12, almost 4 minutes under what I had hoped, and a 9:13 pace. Heart rate was 150, or about 80% of my max.

What I learned from this race: A proper carb-loading and in-race fueling strategy is of the utmost importance. I never used to pay attention to that, and as a result, bonked at mile 10 or 11 in 4 of my previous 5 half-marathons. Also, running smart at the start of the race, not expending any extra energy trying to get free of the misplaced runners is vital. I had plenty of energy left to do that climb at mile 5, and much more energy at the finish.

So. with 10 weeks left until MCM, this race left me with a very optimistic feeling about hitting my goals in October. As my old pal Jack told me yesterday, "The key now is to just stay healthy".

Ain't that the truth.

Rock & Roll USA Race Report

Well, half marathon #5 is in the books. I missed a PR by a little over 2 minutes, but with a tough course like this, I'm mostly satisfied with my performance.

The day started off shaky, with the crowded Metro situation getting to RFK Stadium. The trains were packed, and at one point, the operator threatened to take the train out of service if people didn't stop jamming the doors. Luckily, we made it there with time to spare.

Temperature at the start was mid-50's with a touch of humidity. Not bad, at least not as bad as I was expecting, going by what the weather forecasts were predicting. I was running with my Team McGraw teammate Megan, who was also aiming for A 1:59-ish finish as I was. So I had a running partner! Corral 8 crossed the starting mat about 8 minutes after the official start, and I have to hand it to Competitor Group - the corral situation was outstanding. Everyone left at a similar pace, and there wasn't the usual jostling for position and passing mis-seeded runners. Megan & I quickly got into our pace, and finished mile 1 at about a 9:10 pace, right on target.

Miles 2 & 3 were mostly flat to downhill, and we ran it easy, getting both miles in below 9 minute paces, but with minimal effort. Megan commented that we were banking some time for the hills to come (how right she was!). The 4.5 mile mark is where the course got tough. Up 18th Street NW towards Connecticut Avenue. The uphill seemed endless. We got through mile 5 at 9:05, which was race pace, and seemed to be going well. Then we got to mile 6.

Mile 6 was, for all intents & purposes, where the race was made. We struggled through that hilly mile (I'm not going to try and guess what my paces were after this point, probably mid-9), and got a bit of a respite in mile 7, with some downhills mixed with smaller hills. Mile 8 was a bit of the same, and we figured that after we passed the 8 Mile sign, we were gold for the trip in. Um, yeah. We kept up a good pace through miles 9 & 10, surprised by the hills there.

I had said in my pre-race blog post that if I hit 1:31 at mile 10, I was going to go for a 1:57:40 finish (sub-9 minute pace). So at mile 10, I was just over 1:31, but that wasn't happening. My new goal was to just hit a PR, which was still do-able. And then I hit mile 11.

Not so much Mile 11, but we made a turn at around mile 11.5 (I don't remember the street), and I'm thinking, just 1 1/2 more miles. But all I saw was this long up-grade. I let out a pretty loud expletive, and I was done. I told Megan to go on, I'd struggle the rest of the way home.

Mile 12 I picked up the pace as it was a nice downhill; I somehow ran about a 9:08, and I was thinking at least break 2 hours. Mile 13 comes, and it's pretty much all uphill to the finish, and I was really done this time. I just brought it in easy, with a finish time of 2:01:13, 2:04 off my PR set last year at Shamrock. Megan, by the way, just missed a PR by 5 seconds, and she was much fresher than I was when I saw her at the tent!

For the toughness of this course, I really can't complain. I was so ready going in, and the hills just did me in. I learned that I need to do a better job hydrating myself. It was a warm race, warmer than anything I've run in over that past 6 months. I brought a quick-release bottle with me, but that definitely wasn't enough water. I'm thinking that had I taken the time to stop at the water stops, I may have had a bit left in the tank. I had planned on downing a GU gel at mile 10, but I couldn't do it. I assume that was a factor as well. This is all good to learn, with the Marine Corps Marathon coming up in 7 months.

So now what? I've got my eye on a local 10K in late April, the Ashburn Village 10K. I really bonked on this one in 2010, but I wasn't nearly as fit back then as I am now, so I'm thinking I want to tame this beast. But I'm not sure yet if I want to do this. The main concern is to drop some weight before MCM training starts in July; those summer long runs are going to be hell with this extra poundage.

223 days until MCM!

Reston 10 Miler

2 weeks until my half-marathon, and I decided to try a “prep” race, the Reston 10 Miler, presented by Potomac River Running. My plan for this race was to start off at an easy pace, and increase the intensity at mile 4.

39 degrees at the start, but a brisk wind made it feel much colder. Over 800 runners came out for this race, which wound through the streets of the southern part of my hometown, Reston, VA. Reston is notorious for its’ rolling terrain, and word was that this course was a tough one.

Mile 1 started off on a downhill for about .6 mile, then it started rolling. The slight grade into mile 2 must have been tough, because I heard a lot of wheezing from the runners around me. I didn’t think it was too bad, but then, I’m training on those hills. Running at a comfortable pace, I hit the first mile in 9:17, about 8 seconds faster than I wanted, but I was feeling good.

My goal time through mile 4 was 37:40 (9:25 pace), and when I passed the Mile 4 sign, I was at 36:40, a full minute under what I had planned. Mu Garmin was all over the place with heart rate readings (probably from all the other runners around me), so I went by feel, and at this point, I was still very fresh. This is a good sign.

The next part of my plan was to run miles 5 through 8 at half-marathon pace (9:04). I was pushing it a bit harder here, and beginning in mile 6, there was a long uphill. I was running an 8:45 pace going into mile 6, faster than I wanted, but I still wasn’t struggling, so I kept it up. There was no mile marker at mile 7, so I was going by feel again. My goal, at mile 8, was to be at 1:13:56; But first I had to navigate the biggest hill on the course. When I passed the Mile 8 sign, I was at 1:12:03, a 9:00 pace, and almost 2 minutes faster than anticipated.

Now was the hard part. Climbing the hill to the 8 mile mark meant that there was a steep decline for about a quarter-mile or so. This was, to me, the hardest part of the course. I was cruising along, and I didn’t want to take this downhill too fast. People were passing me, but I wanted to stick to the plan. There were still 2 miles left, and still another up-slope coming.

At mile 9, I clocked in at 1:20:53, and at this point, I knew I was going to PR this course. I had almost a 12-minute cushion over my previous best 10-miler, and I was going to push it here. And happily, the beginning of the last mile was flat, so I took off. As I neared 9.5 miles, my only question now was could I bring it in in 88 minutes? The last quarter-mile was an up-slope by South Lakes High School, just before entering the track. I was still pushing it, and as I entered the track, I really turned it on, running the last 1/10 on the track at a 7:18 pace, crossing the finish in a personal best 1:29:03, a good 2:37 faster than I ran at the Army Ten Miler in October 2010.

So now I prepare for the Half Marathon on March 17th. I’m increasingly more confident that I’ll be able to run under a 1:59 in Washington. There even exists the possibility that I can run this at under a 9:00 pace, which is another goal of mine. An 8:59 pace in a half marathon translates to 1:57:40, which is not completely beyond the realm of possibility, I believe. But that’s looking too far ahead; for now, I just want to beat my PR of 1:59:09.

BOMF 20in24 Relay

This past Saturday night I participated in a unique running event, the 4th Annual Stroehmann's Back on My Feet 20in24 Relay Challenge. Back on My Feet describes their mission as

a nonprofit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of those experiencing homelessness by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem.

The Relay Challenge is teams of 5 runners completing laps around the Art Museum/Boathouse Row area of Philadelphia. Each lap is approximately 8.4 miles in distance, and the Challenge has differing levels of difficulty. Bronze teams, of which I was a part (the "Cherry Over-The-Hillers"), consisted of each team member completing one lap, for a team total of 42 miles. Bronze teams can complete either at 10 AM or 6 PM on race day. Silver teams do 2 laps per runner; Gold teams do 3 laps per runner, and the namesakes, Platinum teams, do 4 laps each, or 20 laps in 24 hours.

There is also an ultra-marathon held, the goal being to complete the most miles/laps in a 24-hour period, beginning at 10 AM on Saturday. This year's winner completed 145 miles, or 17.26 laps. There is also a Midnight Madness one-lap run, as well as a morning "Pajama Run" at 6 AM on Sunday.

I was invited to join the team this past January by a high-school friend, Marci DeCosmo, and the idea was to get 2 teams together, one male team and one female team, so that we could have running partners. The trail gets very dark at night, and this would provide an extra layer of security after dark. In actuality, 8 of the 10 committed runners became injured before race day (of whom, 6 could not run) so we were left with one team of 4 runners: myself, Marci, Marci's brother Al Raymond, and team captain Stan Thompson. Because teams are required to have 5 runners, this meant that one of us was going to have to run twice, and Stan volunteered for that duty.

So at 6 PM on Saturday, Stan started out on lap #1, completing his lap in 1:16, and handing off to Marci for lap #2. Marci (and her sore hamstring) ran a 1:12, and then it was my turn. I ran a 1:20, struggling with a sore calf that I injured back in June. Al took over on lap 4, blazing through in 1:08, and then Stan (after getting a massage during my lap) ran another 8.4 miles, coming home in 1:25. Our team time was 6 hours, 23 minutes, good for 6th place out of 11 Bronze teams running at 6 PM.

The highlight of my run was passing a Kenyan runner on the course. What's unsaid is that he was over 10 hours into the ultramarathon, running at a slow trot, and I was less than 20 minutes into my lap, but no one needs to know that (haha).

Our team raised close to $1,000 for Back on My Feet (which was the real reason for the day), and we enjoyed our time very much. This was the first real running festival in which I was a participant, and it's quite possible that I will return next year for the Midnight Madness Run.

Shamrock Half Marathon

So it's been a while since my last blog post, but it's also been a while since my last race (New Year's Eve, to be exact). So, 11+ weeks after my last race, I took to the streets of Virgnia Beach for the Yuengling Shamrock Half Marathon.

The morning started out ominously; 21 mph winds howling out of the northeast. When I checked the weather forecast on Friday night, it said that it would be 45 at the 7 AM race start. They nailed that exactly, but didn't mention that the wind chill would be around 33. I had only brought shorts, a long sleeved tech shirt, and a tee, so that's what I had to go with. I was shivering in the corral waiting for the race to start, but once we got underway, it was manageable.

My plan was to run about a 9:30 pace for the first 5 miles; speed up to a 9:20 pace for the next 5, then judge where I was and how I felt before I tackled the final 3.1 miles. I started out right, about a 9:30 pace in the first mile as I navigated slower runners. I sped up to about a 9:22 in mile 2, just running easy. Mile 3, still not breathing hard, and ran a 9:05. Mile 4, easy, 9 minutes. Mile 5 I ran an easy 8:58, so my pace for the first 5 miles was 9:06 - way faster than my plan, but I wasn't even breathing heavily; it was a very easy run to that point.

From miles 6 to 10, I was still running comfortably, and I hit the 10-mile mark in 1:31:03, still around a 9:07 pace, so I was running very steadily, and not breathing excessively hard. Hill training for 11 weeks was paying off on this flat course. Breaking 2 hours was becoming a distinct possibility.

By mile 11, though, I was starting to feel it, but I was also feeling the possibility of breaking 2 hours, an elusive goal of mine since I started running 2 1/2 years ago. I eased up slightly before mile 12 to conserve some energy. When I hit the 12 mile marker, I started pushing it, and that's also when I began to feel it in my legs. We made the turn on to the promenade/boardwalk, and there it was: the finish chute, within eyesight. I found myself right behind the 2:00 pace runners, but passed them anyway.

As I approached my hotel, I knew I was only 3 blocks from the finish line. It seemed like an eternity trying to reach the mat, but I did, crossing in 1:59:09, achieving my goal with 51 seconds to spare. I can't describe the feeling I had when I looked at my Garmin and saw those numbers.

I beat myself up for the good portion of 11 weeks getting ready for this race; my body is very sore, not from the race, but from the training. I'm going to shelve doing any more half marathons for the time being, to give myself time to recover. I'll stick with 10K's and 10-milers for now.

And for all the soreness and weather and traffic driving home and whatever else I put up with this weekend, in the end, it was all well worth it.

Shamrock On!!

Army Ten Miler Race Report

Whatever I did yesterday in the 26th Annual Army Ten Miler in Washington, DC, I should bottle it up, write it down, whatever, because everything worked.

I finished the race in a personal-best 1:31:40, a good minute and twenty-four seconds better than my previous 10 Miler, the Broad Street Run, in May of 2009.

The day started out clear, with temperatures in the mid-50's. I actually overdressed, thinking it was going to be in the 40's (like Saturday morning), and shed my compression shirt before I left my car at the Metro station. So now I was down to your basic tech shirt & shorts.

I got to the start (directly in front of The Pentagon) in plenty of time, Wave 1 (of 2) with 30,000 runners registered. And when the cannon fired, the congestion was not at all what I expected. I planned on running the first mile in 9:45 because of the mass of humanity, but I actually did it in 9:30 - not bad. I was planning on running miles 2 through 4 at a 9:00 pace to get my time back on track, but after mile 2, I was running a 9:15 pace, which was my goal pace, so I settled in nicely as we passed The Watergate Hotel.

The third mile was down Rock Creek Parkway, by the Kennedy Center, but it got a little congested close to the 4 mile mark due to road construction. Bad road and a lot of runners, but I got to mile 4 at 36:51, still keeping a 9:13 pace. We passed behind the Lincoln Memorial and Korean War Memorial at Mile 4 (see how great this course is turning out?), and headed down Independence Avenue, passing the Smithsonian buildings and the Air & Space Museum, for 2 miles.

I hit the 6 mile mark at about 55 minutes, still keeping about a 9:11 pace, as we went by the Reflecting Pool at the east end of the National Mall, and then in front of the U.S. Capitol building. Then it was back down Independence Avenue for another mile and a half. At the Holocaust Museum (mile 8) I was at 1:13:36, about 24 seconds ahead of my goal pace. We made a left and went down 14th Street.

14th Street becomes I-395, and crosses both the Washington Channel and Potomac River in mile 9. This was the most difficult part of the course - two bridges in less than a mile. But my hill work helped, as I navigated those bridges well. At the 9 mile mark, I was clocking in at under 1:22, which meant unless I "blew a tire", I was going to hit my goal time, and a new PR.

Getting close to the end, one of the soldiers stationed along the course mentioned "two more right turns, and you're home". After the second right, there it was - The Pentagon, and then the finish line, just ahead. I cruised over the mat in 1:31:40. Race results showed that I ran the last 3.5 miles at an 8:40 clip; not bad for going across 2 bridges.

This race was awesome! Picturesque, flat, and fast. I hope to run it again next year - I urge everyone who wants a great tour of historic DC to do the same.

Philly Half Marathon Race Report

Well, the ING Rock & Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon is finally in the books, after a summer of hard training. And it wasn’t as easy as I was making it out to be.

The morning started off well, about 58 degrees at my 6 AM wake-up, and it was still relatively nice by the time I got into my corral for the 8 AM start. I was running this race alongside my Team McGraw teammate Kathy Heffelfinger, who, when she found out we both had the same time goal in mind (2:05), asked if she could run with me. I wholeheartedly agreed, and it’s a good thing I did.

Usually, I start out too fast, and it gets me in the end. With Kathy running with me, maybe I could reign in my adrenaline and save it for later. We ran a very measured pace throughout the 4-plus miles in Center City Philadelphia, right on target for a 2:05 finish. But I knew something wasn’t quite right. It got hot rather quickly in the city, to the point where I was sweating heavily but only with a heart rate in the mid-70% range.

We kept our pace all the way up Kelly Drive to the Falls Bridge crossing, and then it started to get a little difficult going down MLK Drive. Kathy got a side stitch, so we dialed it back some. By Mile 10, she was starting to fade a little. I hit the wall around Mile 11 (much worse than Kathy did, by comparison). I caught up to her at the final water stop just before Mile 12, but couldn’t keep up.

Finally, the sign for Mile 13 was in sight, which meant the finish line was right around the corner. But turning the corner, I was greeted with a hill. I threw it into high gear (or at least the highest gear I could muster by that point) and crossed the finish line in 2:10:19. Not a PR, but much better than my performance at last year’s Philadelphia Distance Run. Kathy finished about a minute or so before I did.

But I need to thank Kathy for keeping a steady pace – otherwise, I would have gone out too fast and hit the wall much earlier. And her husband got some good pictures of us, too!

Now it’s 5 weeks until my next race, the Army Ten Miler in Washington, DC.

Leesburg 10K Race Report

It's not often that we get beautiful weather in August, but Sunday morning was an exception. And the weather was exceptional for a race.

The Leesburg 10K/20K (formerly the YMCA of Loudoun County 10K/20K) is run at 7:30 AM on a Sunday to escape the sweltering heat & humidity, but we had none of that. What we did have was about 1200 runners (slightly more than half of whom were running the 10K) crammed onto Harrison Street in Leesburg for the start.

And for me, negotiating that logjam seemed like the hardest part of the race. It's a pet peeve of mine - runners and/or walkers who line up close to the front of the pack, and mosey over the starting mat. It took me a while to navigate the walkers, easy joggers, and 3-abreast gabbers, but I got it done in about a half mile. It showed - my first mile was about a 9:20 pace (but that actually was a blessing in disguise).

I picked it up slightly in mile 2, running that in about 9 minutes, and then the course went into a mile-long upslope, with a big hill just before the turnaround. My daily neighborhood hill work helped me here, as I blew by those struggling up the hill. The benefit is that on a mostly out-and-back course, a big uphill at the turnaround means a big downhill just afterward. I took advantage, and went through the 4-mile mark at 35:57, slighly under a 9 minute-per-mile pace. I was looking good for a PR today.

I knew going in that there was going to be a hill midway through the 5th mile, and it was a doozy, but I saved a lot of energy with the downhills in the 3rd & 4th miles, so the hill wasn't that difficult. I was sucking air when I reached the peak, but still kept about a 9:02 pace. Now my job ws to get to the finish. I pretty much guaranteed myself a PR; the question was if I could break the 9 minute mile pace barrier.

I hit 6 miles at a little over 54 minutes, and all I had left was the last 2/10 mile, but all of that was uphill. I took off up the hill, put it into a higher gear, got to the crest just before the finish, and went over the mat in an official time of 55:53, a 9 minute/mile pace and a new personal record for the 10K.

I was extremely satisfied with this race. I went in looking simply for a tune-up for my half-marathon in 6 weeks. I didn't exert myself too much in the 10K (only where necessary), and am very confident that if I can run the first half of the half marathon (on a flatter course) as well as I did this 10K, I can not only set a PR, but could also possibly break 2 hours.

A Hot One

Saturday night I raced in the 5th annual Potomac River Running Twilight Festival Four Miler in Ashburn, VA. And boy, it was a hot race. Temperatures at race time was around 90 degrees, with humidity to match.

After my episode with humidity last weekend, I decided to begin my hydration process early, as in Friday night. Water only, except for my Saturday morning coffee, until race time. I did drink an electrolyte supplement (about an hour prior to the race) in tablet form I received in my race packet, something called Nuun. It acted like Alka-Seltzer, and didn't taste too badly. I topped off with a pack of SportBeans and a bottle of water about 15 minutes before the start.

The crowd at the start line was very dense, but once I crossed the mat, I was able to find open space rather quickly (side note: I'm always amazed at the number of walkers who line up towards the front of the pack. I know my limitations, and I line up mid-pack. If you're walking, go to the back, please). Also, a surprise to many: the course was different from last year - the new course came out 2 days before the race.

The first mile was relatively flat after a short uphill start, and it showed in my pace, about an 8:42. The course went past the start/finish line again at about the 1 1/2 mile mark, then proceeded down a new stretch of road. At mile 2, I was still around an 8:47 pace, and then the course got a little tricky. An upgrade just past the 2 mile marker (along with the heat) started claiming victims, as I saw runners in front of me beginning to walk. The turnaround was at about mile 2.67 (according to my Garmin), and made its way back upgrade past mile 3. At that point, I was at about an 8:58 pace. The course still went upgrade until the downgrade at about the 3.5 mile mark. I crossed the line in 36:29, a 9:07 pace. My new Garmin, however, told me that I ran 4.07 miles, probably due to my weaving in and out between the slower runners.

All in all, I was pleased with my effort. I had hoped for a 36:00 run, and was slightly off that, mostly due to the extreme heat and the tough final 1.5 miles. But I made it through without any hydration issues, which was my main concern.

Performance-wise, though, it was my best showing all year. I finished in the top third of all finishers (220th of 674), top half of all men (162nd of 346), and top 60% in my age bracket (26th of 44). All of those were my best placements since Thanksgiving 2009. Very gratifying, indeed.

My next race is probably going to be the YMCA of Loudoun County 10K in early August, although if I make my way to the Delaware beaches before then for a weekend, I'll probably take in one of their weekly 5K's.

Herndon Festival 10K Race Report

Well, that was disappointing.

Combine hot, humid weather with a course that was tougher than I thought, add in some silly mistakes, and you have a race that I wasn't happy with.

I knew going in that it was going to be humid. I hydrated well beforehand, and warmed up fine. The first mile was a complete downward slope, and I ran it in under 8:30 - so far, so good. There was an extreme hill right after the one-mile mark, and that slowed me down a lot in mile 2, but I was still under a 9:20 pace at mile 2. Mile 3 was flat for the first half, but then the silliness started. A car somehow turned onto the course in front of me and the group of about 8 that I was in. Our yelling to the driver to get off the course didn't help, so I played hero, and sprinted to the driver's window to voice my frustration. The elderly woman finally turned off the road, but that was only the beginning of my problem, as I was winded as the course made a 2-mile gradual up-slope.

The next 2 miles were just short of torturous. The shade of the neighborhood we ran through on miles 2 and 3 gave way to blazing sunshine on miles 4 and 5. This is where I struggled. But at mile 5, I was still sitting at around a 9:30 pace, and there was a downhill slope, which helped. But whoever designed the course was obviously masochistic, as mile 5.5 incorporated the slope that we ran up just after the one-mile mark, albeit on a parallel street. After making the turn at mile 6 for the homestretch, the finish line seemed so far away, but I crossed in 59:35, a 9:37 pace, and about 3:30 slower than I had hoped for.

What went wrong? I have come to the conclusion that the 10 extra pounds or so I put on while I was laid up with my calf imjury last Fall are coming back to bite me in the summer heat. So today begins Day 1 of trying to get my weight back to where it was last summer. I have a 4-mile early-evening race on June 27th and I'll probably run the Loudoun County 10K in early August again before the Rock & Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in September, 15 weeks away. Hopefully by then I'll be down to my old weight.

AV10K Recap

Well, it started out as a pretty good run, then deteriorated from there.

I woke up on Sunday to gloom and chilly rain. Not exactly the way I want my runs to go, but not bad enough that I couldn't handle it. The Broad Street Run last year was colder and "rainy-er", but I persevered. When I headed out the door at 7:15, though, it had cleared up and wasn't so bad.

A ten-minute drive later, I was at the race site, and began my warm-up. I found a track behind the elementary school and did a few laps, stretched it out, and felt good. By the time the race was ready to start, I was good to go. The 10K went off with the 5K, and there were about 400 or so runners cramped on one lane of Ashburn Village Boulevard at the race start. It was very congested, but I made my way through to a less-congested area. Luckily, after about a mile, the 5K runners broke off and it was finally clear.

Because of my trying to find a clear spot, I broke off an 8:53 first mile, and followed it up with an 8:56 second mile. So far, so good. I hit some hills in mile 3, which was surprising since the race website advertised the course as flat, with no inclines more than 1% grade. Incorrect. Mile 3 was timed at 9:08, which still put me at an 8:59 pace, right where I wanted to be.

Then the hard part of the course came.

Mile 4 started a very tough stretch. We were now running through the neighborhood, and the course was very up-and-down for the next 2 miles. I logged a 9:24 for mile 4 and follwed it with a 9:27 for mile 5. My pace was worsening. I picked it up slightly in mile 6, logging a 9:17, and finished on a slight downhill with a 56:56 time, a 9:10 pace.

My personal record for a 10K was 56:47, logged last May, so I wasn't far off. The good thing, though, was that my age-graded performance yesterday was slightly better than last year (51.43% this year compared to 51.16% last year). And checking my times on the McMillan Running Calculator, by using my half-marathon time from last month, I was predicted to run a 10K at a 9:18 pace, so I beat that. I'll take any positives I can.

I can attribute my struggle to possibly a slight weight gain over the past few weeks, and not concentrating on my speed work very much. My fastest training run in the past month was a 9:08 pace on a 3.8 mile tempo run 10 days ago.

So I'm not racing for the next 6 weeks, working on speed instead. I anticipate my next race to be the Herndon Festival 10K on June 6.

National Half Marathon Race Recap

My day started out with a 4:45 am alarm, and when I left the hotel to catch the Metro an hour later, the temperature was 49 degrees; not bad.

When I got to RFK Stadium it was still dark, so I did my warm-up jog while weaving in and out of people milling about. After my warm-up it was time to find my corral, but there were no corrals marked, just areas for predicted paces. I lined up behind the 9:43 sign, since that was my goal pace.

I was pleasantly surprised that I crossed the mat only about 10 minutes after the starting gun. In Philadelphia, it was close to 30 minutes before I crossed. There was the usual congestion for the first mile, and I made it through in 9:49. The highlight of mile 2 was coming up East Capitol Street SE and seeing the U.S. Capitol dome bathed in morning sunlight. Ironically, the song that played on my iPod as I witnessed this was "U.S. Blues" by the Grateful Dead.

Red and white, blue suede shoes, I'm Uncle Sam, how do you do?
Gimme five, I'm still alive, ain't no luck, I learned to duck.

Miles 3 & 4 spanned Constitution Avenue, passing by the National Archives, the Museum of American History, and the Washington Monument, among other sights. Mile 3 was mostly downhill-to-flat, and I sped through it in 8:59. And then the race got interesting.

I knew going in that at about the 4 1/4 mile mark, the course would go uphill. And did it ever. All the way until about mile 7. But I covered those miles better than I had anticipated, and at the 7 mile mark, I was at 1:07:44, on a 9:40 pace. So I was looking good.

And that's where the course started to deteriorate. The course was beautiful, running through neighborhoods in Northwest DC to which I had never been. But the road itself was horrendous. Uneven, pot-holes abounding, like running through a mine-field. I made it to mile 8 at just over 77 minutes, and then the road really got bad. Rolling hills in the 9th & 10th miles gave way to my "hitting the wall" at the 10 mile mark. I ran mile 10 at a quick 9:30 pace, and maybe that was my downfall. All of a sudden, it was extremely difficult for me to focus on just running. Just before the 12 mile marker, there was an unfair uphill climb that really taxed me. The road flattened out for the final mile, and as I saw the finish line, it felt like it would never come.

I crossed in 2:08:49, almost 2 minutes slower than I had planned, but that was before I saw the abysmal condition of North Capitol Street. The rolling hills really took their toll on my quads. But I still set a personal record; I did Philly in 2:21:04, and that was while walk-limping the final 8 miles.

A great day for a race, but the hills and road conditions will probably not bring me back to this one again.

Van Metre 5 Mile Run Race Report

The race day was a 180-degree difference than race day last year. In 2009, it was chilly and rainy; in a word miserable. This year, the sun was shining brightly, and even though the temperature at the start was about 35 degrees, the sun made it much more tolerable.

This year's race had close to 600 runners, and it was very congested at the start. A slight uphill climb in the first mile thinned out the crowd a bit, and I ran the first mile in 8:54, which was 25 seconds faster than I had planned. So far, so good. Most of mile 2 was slightly up grade as well, but the steep downhill in the latter stages of this leg allowed me to run it in 8:32.

I really picked it up on the flat roads in the 3rd mile, running for me was my fastest mile in my race history, an 8:19. So I was at 25:45 after 3 miles, and a PR was within my sights. I backed off a little in the 4th mile, running an 8:54, and ran an 8:45 in the final mile to cross the finish line in 43:23.

That time shattered my personal record for a 5-mile race by over a minute and a half! In fact, it was a better pace than my 5K best, which is an 8:48 pace (set in December in Florida). And the most surprising part was that I really wasn't breathing hard until the end of mile 4. Proof to me that my training regimen is really working for me.

So, according to the McMillan Running Calculator, I should be able to run a 2:01:00 in the National Half-Marathon in less than 2 weeks. We shall see if I can keep that pace up over 13.1 miles. But the more interesting data shows that my target 5K time should be 26:11, which is just slightly over the goal I set for this year, which is to run a sub-26 minute 5K.

Next stop, Washington DC on March 20.