Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon - September 19, 2010

I've done 2 Marine Corp Marathons and I typically would run the Army Ten Miler a couple weeks before the Marathon to prepare and train myself for running in a tight crowd and gaining discipline to not weave and just pace myself.  This year the ATM is the week prior to the Marine Corp Marathon, which means it would be a little tough to do both races this year.  The good news is that Pacers - in combination with Endurance Enterprises LLC, Premier Race Management Company, and National Harbor are planning to put on a great Half-Marathon a little over a month before the Marine Corps and New York City Marathons on September 19th.  I can't think of a better race to use as a prep race, and Woodrow Wilson will be capped at 4,000 runners so act now before it fills up.  More information after the jump!

2 Mile Run - April 24, 2010

My schedule has been a bit hectic lately and my knee was giving me a little bit of pain, so today I FINALLY made it back out for a run, albeit a very short one.  While Erin was feeding our little girl I took the 15-20 minute window to get 2 miles in, and it felt great.

I have been feeling a bit nervous because I have a half Marathon in 2 weeks and I have done no real training for it.  I decided I was going to do the light run today at an easy pace just to see how I feel.  I kept myself at an 8 minute pace and felt nearly no fatigue when I was done running.  My goal for the next 2 weeks is to get a decent amount of runs in, whether it be a quick 2 mile run or the real goal, a 10 mile run (if I get that much free time) and just go out for the half with the goal of having fun.  I figure I'll start out going an 8:30-9 minute miles and if after the first half is over if I feel like I'm going strong I'll pick up the pace.  Hopefully I break 2 hours!  Yes, I'm THAT out of shape.

Here's the like to the half, entries are still available.

Crystal Run 5K Fridays - April 16, 2010

I ran my first 5K in 2 years and it was one heck of an experience!  For the full recap I need to go through the lead up to the race.  I left work promptly at 5 because my older sister, Rachel, was coming in from Boston at 5:30 into Reagan-National.  She got off the plane already changed for the 5K race and we headed straight over to Crystal City with plenty of time for the 6:30 gun time.  We went for a short warm up jog and then headed to the start line and did some light stretching, then just waited for the gun to go off.

I started off VERY undisciplined, and went WAY to fast!  My original goal was to start at about a 7-7:30 mile and then evaluate how I felt and go from there, with a goal of finishing with the clock still on 21:XX.  Well I felt like I was surrounded by people going really slow so I started bobbing and weaving and going at what felt like a comfortable pace.  At which point I looked at my sister at one point and asked my sister what her Garmin said our pace was, her response, 6:16...at which point I realized I was definitely going at a pace I could not sustain.  I slowed up a bit and thought to myself, well I have gone about 1 mile...I can slow up a little and let miles 2 and 3 come to me, then about 2-3 minutes later it hit me that I was just seeing the 1 mile marker, I was a bit fatigued and was only 1 mile in!

Well I just gave myself a chance to catch my breath with somewhat of an easier pace but tried to keep a decent temp.  Mile 2 came a lot easier then I thought and I was noticing myself still passing people and as I got to mile 3 I just thought to myself, "just hold on" and see what happens.  When I reached the 3 mile mark I did my best to kick it in and passed a couple more people, when I passed the line I had a chip time of 22:16, 17 seconds off my goal, but I was still happy with that result!

All in all I finished in 22:16 which comes out to a 7:10 pace, 123rd overall, and about 99th or 100th of all male runners, not bad for my first 5K in about 2 years!  My only other 5K chip time was in the Crystal City Twilighter where I ran a 22:58.  So I got a new PR and had some fun running with my sister in the process.

My goal is to train, doing some hill and speed workouts over the coming months and enter a race later this year and try to break 20...here's to trying!

Crystal Run 5K Fridays - April 9, 2010

I took another opportunity to volunteer at a race this past weekend and it was yet another great experience.  I never would have guessed when I became a Pacers Ambassador that the volunteering I would do, would be more exciting then actually racing sometimes.  This week I got to work alongside the Pacers Race Director, Kathy Dalby, and help solve some problems that came up and then work the finish line area.

When I got to the race I was thrown right into a problem with some of the data coming up wrong in the computer, luckily I am pretty good with excel and was able to fix the problem in no time - saving all of us A LOT of time.  After working with some data and adding runners into the spreadsheet I was sent to the start/finish line to work the clocks. The hardest part of my job was working a keyboard type thing that had me put in the bib numbers and the time that people crossed the finish line.  The hardest part was that my vision isn't exactly 20/20 at all times so I was just praying that I read most of the bib numbers right that I typed in.  I don't think I messed anything up, but I'll know next time I go to volunteer based on where I'm sent!

Next week I will be running the race if everything with my sisters flight coming in goes according to plan.  If I get there early enough maybe I'll be able to volunteer again.

Here's a picture of me working at the line...unbeknown to me

April 11, 2010 - Sleepy Hollow Long Run

Time: 1:33:05

Distance: 9.58
Pace: 9:42
Weather:  Entire course was dry

Temp:66

Time: 9:30 AM
Terrain: VERY hilly route

Today I finally made it back out to get in a distance run and to say it a brutal route is a complete understatement.  At one point during the run I was thinking that whoever came up with this route had to have been sadistic.  In the 9+ miles I ran, it is safe to say that in reality only about half a mile - if that - was flat.  I ran from my apartment over to sleepy hollow road, mostly for the hills on sleepy hollow.  Little did I know that the route I chose to get there, was also very hilly as well, which really gave me no forgiveness.  The one highlight of my run was at the half way point I was going up a pretty steep hill and I managed to pass a bike rider!  At that moment, even though for most of the way I was going at a pretty slow tempo I felt great that after all those hills so far I still had a bit left in me.

Today I also brought out my new shoes, it felt a little strange breaking in a new pair of shoes but it was about time.  They're my last pair of Wave Rider 12's...they have now been discontinued and I'll be moving onto the 13...or just finding a completely new shoe next time.

 

 

Marine Corps Marathon Registration - NOW OPEN!

Registration for the Marine Corps Marathon just opened today, and you can sign up here.  I ran this race in 2008 and 2009 and it is very well run, and a great time is had by all.  If you did not get into the lottery for the New York City Marathon, I'd highly recommend registering for this race today.  It will likely fill up fast.

April 5 - Short Easy Run

Tonight a good running friend came over for dinner, to meet my precious little daughter, and then to go on a nice short run just to catch up a bit.  We decided to do a short 3 mile loop and took the time to discuss ways I can improve my training program to meet some of the new goals I'm setting for myself.  Like I've said before, my current training program consists of doing a twice-weekly 5.5 mile run and a weekend long run...no hill workouts, no track workouts, no tempo...nothing like that.

To be honest, half way through the run I broke down and finally asked one of the questions that's nagged me for a long time and said "what in the world is a tempo run???"  I can attribute this to never having a true "coach" and just going with the flow on my running hoping that everything would come together.  I think after my run this evening I have some good ideas on how to change my training regiment and make some serious strides towards my short term goals.  My current focus is on short distances, small races, and once I have a good hold of the speed I want to get to I will move back into the distance races and hope everything translates as planned.

Tonight it was about 83 when we ran, at about 8:15, we went at a nice casual/conversational pace.

A Speed Workout of Sorts

Today I made a somewhat decent attempt at doing a speed workout, I ran my parking lot loop and used speed bumps to determine when I should sprint and when I should do a light jog...nothing that was rocket science or really planned out...when I decided I should sprint, I did a sprint, none of the "15 second under your 5K time" or anything like that.  I measured that I did springs for ABOUT .2 of ever .5 mile loop, and I did 1 warm up loop, 4 loops of the sprint/light jog workout, then did 1 loop where I just walked to cool down.  I had all intentions of doing a light jog for the last half mile loop, but my legs had nothing left in them.

I think I'm going to add a weekly (or bi-weekly) track workout to really work on building some good short distance speed and do my best to work up from there.  I probably won't be running any marathons this year but I'm setting myself some goals when it comes to 5K times, when I have myself where I think I want to be I'm going to get myself into a few more races.

Depending on my sisters flight from Boston, on April 16th I may do the Crystal City run, my last 5K was in 2008 (I define the low budget runner) and my time was 22:48...I think I can definitely beat that time, but we shall see.

Crystal Run 5K Fridays

Last night was the start of the Pacers Crystal Run 5K Fridays.  I didn't race but I was there volunteering, and I had a great time.  The past 2 times I worked an event I was at the water stop, which is a pretty cool time but you're at the halfway point so you never get to see the finish or who wins.  This time I worked the finish line area, and made sure people turned the corner to get to the finish line area.  Seeing the finish I was able to see how truly dominant 2 of the Pacers runners are, they easily had close to a 2 minute advantage over the 3rd place runner.  Overall the course is pretty flat and I know a lot of people had a pretty good time, I'll be volunteering again next week and can't wait.  In two weeks when my sister comes to town, as long as her flight isn't late I'll be out there running my first 5K in about 2 years.  If you're free on a Friday night in April, sign up for a Crystal Run 5K today.

Sign up for the Army Ten Miler!

Today you can sign up for the Army Ten Miler in Washington, DC. The ATM is America's largest 10 mile race and it is quite a race. If you are thinking of running it, sign up now. The race filled up last year in 6 days, if you decide you don't want to run it you can sell your spot...and they always have a lot of people begging to get in that missed the cut.

If you want to run as a charity, here is an e-mail from a friend about the race.

…To Run for a CAUSE…

As most of you know, the Army Ten Miler (Sunday, October 24, 2010) is my most favorite race…EVER!! It’s a great 10-mile course through our Nation’s Capital, and to me, it’s Army homecoming!

Every year I put together a fundraising team to raise money for Fisher House Foundation, which is the military’s equivalent of the Ronald McDonald houses. These houses are built near major military medical facilities so that families can stay for free and help their loved ones as they recover from their war injuries. You can check our Fisher House’s web site (http://www.fisherhouse.org/), but also know that of the $1.4 million that President Obama earned for his Nobel Peace Prize, he gave the most ($250,000) to Fisher House Foundation! Not getting political here, but just sayin’ :)

If I haven’t lost you yet, many are probably thinking “I don’t want to fundraise…that seems like a lot of work…I’m not sure how I feel about supporting the military”, and I completely understand… I’m just casting a wide net to see who might be interested in joining Team Fisher House – for me, it’s not about speed (no recorded run times),but about helping others. We don’t care if you raise $10 or $100. Quite frankly, it makes the training easier because you know you are helping those who might never walk again. I like to think of it as running for those who can’t… and personally, I’m most inspired when I run military races and have men and women pass me on their prosthetics. For me, I think of this as an opportunity to do something bigger than yourself… Fisher House is a GREAT cause, and if you are interested in fundraising for them while running the Army Ten Miler, please let me know. Come join our team!!

If not… Army Ten Miler registration (http://www.armytenmiler.com/

If you want more information, send me a message and I will pass on your questions to Allie!