Year of Races

Ok.  So, I’ve fallen behind in my blogging.  Let me try to quickly catch everyone up on what I’ve been running lately.

On 7/31, I was out in Kennesaw running the Run for Life 5k which is part of the Georgia State Games.  They offered a 10k and a 5k, but I chose to run the 5k due to time constraints.  Surprisingly, it was hot and humid {sarcasm}.  I felt like overall I ran pretty well in this race.  There were some hills that I tackled strongly, but I just couldn’t maintain that elusive pace that I seemed to find for the Woodstock Freedom Run.  I finished in 22:07 which was good enough for 2nd in my age group.  I got a nice medal, which, by the way, is my 2nd Georgia State Games medal.  The first one came back in the 90’s for racquetball in case you were wondering.

• Official Results
• Garmin Stats

Shirt

2nd 35-39

I took the weekend of 8/7 off.  This was my first weekend without a race since the Marietta Mardi Gras 5k got canceled due to ice & snow back on 2/13.  My neighborhood tennis team made it to the ALTA City Finals on 8/7, so I didn’t have time for a race.  It’s ok though.  I’m still on pace to put in 52+ races this year and accomplish my goal.

On 8/14, I was in Marietta for the Dog Days 5k.  I had been looking forward to this event for a while.  Last year, as I started to pay more attention to my health, I signed up for and ran my first ever 5k.  It happened to be the Dog Days 5k.  So, I was using this year’s race as a measuring stick to see how far I’d come in the past year.  Once again, I ran a solid race, but just couldn’t get the pace down to where I wanted it to be.  I finished in 21:52.  Really good time for me, but not in the running for an award.  I think I finished 5th in my age group.  The big thing is that from 2009 to 2010, I’ve improved my 5k time from 27:07 to 21:52 and I’m still getting stronger.  Also, this year’s event had technical shirts that are really nice.

• Garmin Stats
• Results

Shirt

Last week, 8/21, I was again in Kennesaw.  This time it was for the Music on the Mountain 5k.  The race was held partly on the cross country course around the Kennesaw Mountain High School campus.  The weather turned nasty right before the race and it poured rain about 10 minutes before the start.  It also opened up again during the race, so, combine the wet stuff with the dirt trails, and you’ve got the recipe for a FUN and muddy race.  I had worn my trail shoes in anticipation of the off-road part of the race and also because I knew the weather could get ugly.  I was glad I did.  They helped me keep my footing on the slippery slopes of the trails.  About 2 miles of the race was off road.  I really had fun with this race.  I ran hard and, other than one high school kid, I didn’t let anyone pass me during the last 2 miles of the race.  I finished in 22:45, which was good for 2nd in my age group.

• Official Results
• Garmin Stats

Finishing up strong

Shirt

Medal

Awards

Ok, so we’re caught up now on the races.  This weekend, Alysia will be joining me again as we head to the Marietta Square for the DI Dash 5k.  Wish us luck!

I’m also thick in the middle of my marathon training plan.  I just did my 13 mile long run last Sunday.  I decided to make it a 13.1 mile run so I could compare my time to my Berry Half Marathon time back in March.  I’m happy to report that I bettered the time by 6 minutes.  I’m feeling good about where I stand with the training and I’m hoping to run in the 1:40’s for the Atlanta 13.1 in October.

Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k

Saturday I was just 2 miles down the street from my house for the Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k.  It was shaping up to be a fun race with Nick, Christina and Nate also running.  The race got started at Holly Springs Elementary school.  It was a little windy during the race, but really the weather was pretty nice.  No rain with just a hint of chill in the air.

And they're off!

The course was a bunch of rolling hills.  Just one after another.  I started off pretty fast and, about a mile into the run, kept hearing this guy behind me yelling out pace times.  He was so loud I was wondering who this guy is with the mouth.  I’m moving at about a 6:45 pace and I hear “come on!  The guys ahead of us have nothing on us!  Especially not for my man, Tony.”  Yep.  I knew him.  It was my neighbor, Jason.  I hadn’t had a chance to run with him yet and apparently he’s a talker.  So, Jason and I ran together for about a quarter of a mile or so, but I couldn’t keep up with him and he slowly pulled away from me talking the whole way.

Me finishing

My pace really slowed over the second half of the race, but I picked it up on the downhill finish and came in with a solid 22:05.  Not a P.R., but a good 7:02 pace.  I finished about a minute or so behind Jason.  He won our age group and I claimed second.  I added another medal to my collection.

Holly Springs 5k Medal

Nate came in at 24-something.  Nick was at 27:04.  Christina at 29:33.  Good times on a tough course.  Here are a couple pics of Nick and Christina finishing up.  Thanks Trey for coming out early in the morning and getting some pictures for us.

Christina Finishing

Nick Finishing

After the race we hung around for the awards ceremony.  It turned out that Christina had won her age group!  That’s awesome.  I have 10 medals/trophies/plaques and I am still looking for that elusive 1st place award.  Congrats Christina!

After the run - Me, Christina, Nick

Christina and I with our hardware

• I’m not sure we’ll ever have official times posted.  I’ll keep my eyes open for them, but don’t hold your breath. UPDATED: results (page 37)
• The shirt is grey cotton with the Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k logo
• Here are my Garmin stats because you’re dying to study them.

Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k Shirt

One other thing.  Most races hand you a bag when you check in with various items inside.  Usually you’ll find inside the bag things like your race shirt, other race entry forms, a pen, a water bottle, coupons to local business.  Stuff like that.  Well, the Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k gets the award for most random bag item:

Rice?

In an effort to make up for the race that got canceled back in February, I doubled up this weekend.  Saturday I was in Alpharetta at the 14th Annual Mayor’s Challenge 10k and Sunday I was back at Boling Park in Canton for the Alvin Price 5k for Cancer Research.  Neither race went really great, but I ran solid times for me in both.

Mayor's Challenge shirt

14th Annual Mayor’s Challenge 10k

This was an early start time of 7:15 AM.  I had set my alarm for 5:15 Friday night and had gotten to bed pretty early.  Turns out I set the wrong alarm and so I woke up at 6:17 wondering why it was so light out.  After a brief second of panic, I jumped out of bed, gathered my gear, got some coffee and hit the road.  I made it over to Will’s Park in plenty of time, but my morning routine was shot.  I really hate being behind schedule.

There appeared to be a few hundred folks running the 5k & 10k, which both started at the same time.  The course was a double loop around Will’s Park and downtown Alpharetta.  The hills weren’t too bad, but the humidity was thick.  I ran the first 5 miles really well, but ended up getting passed by a ton of people at the end.  Here’s a photo of one of the people that flew by me in that last mile.

Eat my dust, sonny.

I ended up running a 47:23, which is about a minute off my PR.  I didn’t stick around for the awards.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t place.  I’ll keep an eye open though for the official results.

The shirt was advertised as a technical shirt.  It wasn’t.  100% cotton and actually pretty ugly.  I don’t really understand how you can say a race is giving away technical shirts and then not have them.  Oh well.  They did have a pancake breakfast though for all finishers.  That’s pretty cool.

My Garmin crapped out on me when trying to upload the run, so I’ve got no stats.

Alvin Price 5k Shirt

Alvin Price 5k for Cancer Research

An 8 AM start and a location 10 minutes from my house and I was loving life.  The race was held at Boling Park.  It was 2.5 flat loops around the park.  It was mostly crushed gravel path and some dirt/grass trail, so you couldn’t quite go as fast as on road, but it was a prime 5k course for a new P.R.  Unfortunately, the course was measured short at 2.89 miles.  I ran a 20:52, which would be a P.R. on a regulation 5k course, but, with the distance at 2.89, it was actually only a 7:13/mile pace.  This is 12 seconds per mile slower than my Big Peach 5k run.  Here are my Garmin stats.

yay me

I did come in second in my age group though and got a nice trophy.  The winner of my age group was in at 17-something, so no hope in catching that guy.  Here’s a picture of him.

Fast

I feel like I’ve kind of hit a plateau.  I think in order to get my times down more I’m going to need to do some more focused training — hills, intervals, tempo, fartlek, whatever.  I’m still pretty new at this running thing so I need to figure out how to do some of these types of training runs.  It’s easy to read about them, but another thing entirely to get out there and do them right.

Next week is the Full House 5k.  Should be fun.  Who’s with me?

River Green Run 5k Shirt

On Saturday I ran the River Green Run 5k in Canton, GA.  It was a blustery morning with threatening storm clouds.  For a few anxious minutes before the race I really thought we would get poured on.  Luckily, though, we escaped any rain and got in a nice run.

Let’s cut right to the chase.  I ran a 21:28.  PR right?  Wrong.  My Garmin measured the run at 2.97 miles.  The course was hilly and I knew the whole time that I wasn’t running as fast as last week’s Big Peach 5k PR effort.  So, when I rounded the corner to the uphill finish and saw the clock in the low 21’s, I was surprised and a bit skeptical.  Turns out I was right.  I’m not sure what happened.  Maybe the lead runners turned around too soon or maybe the course wasn’t marked correctly.  The website has the course mapped out and I had verified beforehand at mapmyrun.com.  Based on my Garmin stats it looks like we turned around too soon.  Oh well.  I didn’t deserve the PR anyways based on how I was running.  A full 5k distance would have left me at 22:30 or so.

With all that being said, the race was still a lot of fun.  It was a challenging, hilly course with a steep uphill finish.  The headwinds were strong which made it even tougher.  I did finish 2nd in my age group though and got a really nice little medal to show for it.

2nd place

• Ran into some friends (Freddie & Courtney).  Freddie was running his first 5k and he finished 2nd in his age group.  Very impressive.  That P90X must be working.  Courtney won her age group!   So, it was pretty cool standing around during the awards ceremonies with all three of us having medals around our necks.
• Shirt is white, cotton short-sleeve.
• Some pics of me:  Here, here, here, here, here.  The last three are at the start of the uphill finish.  I passed the dude in front of me.  Just an fyi because I know you were wondering.
• Official Results will be here
• Garmin Stats

Saturday morning we were in Marietta, GA at the Operation Yellow Ribbon 5k.  The race was being put on by the Georgia chapter of the Operation Homefront organization.  They were raising money to help out the families of our brave troops stationed overseas.  It was a beautiful morning:  sunny, mid-40s.  Perfect race weather!

I had been looking forward to this race all week because I had quite a bit of company.  My wife, son, mom and sister(Missy) were all running!  It was my mom and Missy’s first 5k.  My son, Davis, was participating in the 1-mile fun run for his first race.  My dad and sister, Christina, were there to support the runners, watch the kids for us, and take some awesome pictures.  So, lots to talk about.  Let’s do it.

Pre-Race:

Alysia, Davis and I woke up early and ready to go.  The temperature was a bit on the chilly side, so Davis bundled up in mostly Under Armour gear.  I think the kid was trying to get sponsored or something.  He had on UA shoes, UA socks, 2 UA shirts and a UA beanie.  Looking sharp!  But can he run?

Davis - Under Armour - ya si me?

We met up with the family at the race.  My mom was a bit nervous.  At 59 years young, it’s never too late to run your first 5k!  We all got registered and got hold of our race numbers and shirts.  The shirt is a white, long-sleeve, cotton deal.  Nice shirt.  I especially like the long sleeves.  Not enough races give out long sleeve shirts, IMO.

Operation Yellow Ribbon 5k Shirt

1-mile fun run:

At 8:30, the 1-mile fun run was starting.  Alysia and I were going to run it with Davis since this was his first one.  Turned out there were about 10-15 kids & parents running.  Davis was probably one of the older kids at 8, so it was a light crowd.   The event director counted down.. 3, 2, 1… and we were off.  Davis shot out as if Usain Bolt was chasing him in the 100m.  I’m following right beside him thinking how tired he’s going to be in about 25 seconds.  He did pretty well though.  The first .5 mile was all downhill and he kept a pretty decent little pace and was well out in front of everyone.  At the bottom of the hill, you turn around and head UPHILL for .5 mile.  He was huffing and puffing, and ended up having to stop and walk a couple of times.  I’m right beside him yelling “Come on!  They’re catching up!  Pick it up!  You can’t let Mom catch you!”  He probably turned around 20 times to take a look.  He made it to the top of the hill and sprinted down to the finish for what I think was a blazing fast 9:20 mile.    I was really proud of him.  He won the race and declared himself to be the fastest person in our family.  Very humble child.

Alysia, Davis and I after the fun run

5k:

With the fun run behind us, Alysia, mom, Missy and I all anxiously awaited the start of the main event.  Alysia and I were sufficiently warmed up after running the mile with Davis.  We stood around chatting and took our places at the start/finish line.  I lined up in front.  It was a small crowd (around 150 runners) so I figured I’d probably be top 20.  Might as well get up front.

We took off.  I was immediately top 5 and moving pretty good.  As with the fun run the first .5 mile was all down hill.  I ended up getting passed by a guy and his dog.  This was the eventual winner.  He finished in 19 minutes WITH A DOG.  He’s a great runner and I’ve seen him at a bunch of other races.  It wasn’t a surprise when he flew by me.  At about a mile in, I settled into 3rd place.  I kept up a 7+ minute mile for most of the race and stayed in third until somewhere past halfway, where I got passed by a woman.  It’s ok though.  I’m used to it.  Besides, she was in her 20s.  I could never catch back up to her and I powered (trudged) my way up the .5 mile hill at the end to finish in …  wait for it…  22:23!  A new PR by 36 seconds.

(Christina took this picture of me crossing the finish line.  I have to be honest here.  I hate how I look in this picture.  What am I doing?  Power walking?  What’s up with my big ol’ butt?  What in the world?  Maybe if I stopped race-walking and actually ran I could break 20 minutes????…  ugghh.)

I don't like this picture.

I patted myself on the back and went to stand with my dad to wait for Alysia, mom and Missy.  Alysia came around the corner next.  She saw the clock and started sprinting to the finish.  She already had her PR (30:39) in the bag, but she wanted to finish strong.  Her pictures look great.  She’s really moving!!!

Alysia coming down to the finish line

New PR for Alysia

My mom and Missy came in a little later at 41:34 and 41:37 respectively.  I can’t express how proud I am of these two.  Their first 5k ever!  Good stuff.  I hope they come out and run some others with me in the future.

Post-race:

We all sat around cooling off.  The post-race food was good with bagels, bananas, apples, gatorade and water.  We took a group shot of all the runners:

Great day

Missy had to leave, but the rest of us stuck around for the awards.  They were doing 1st, 2nd, 3rd place awards in 10-yr increments, therefore I was in the 30-39 age group.  I finished 4th overall in the race, with one of those ahead of me being female, so I knew I had won something.  As it turns out both of the guys ahead of me were in my age group.  The overall winner got a trophy though, so I got the 2nd place medal for 30-39.  Not too shabby.  Nice reward for one of my better performances.

2nd place - front

2nd place - back

Unfortunately, none of the others won any awards.  Alysia did finish an impressive 7th in her age group.  Very nice!

Items of interest:

• Official results
• Garmin stats
• I’m so thankful for my dad and Christina being there to watch the kids for us.  It meant a lot to me.  Although, I must say, I could tell Christina was wishing she was running instead…
• There was a photographer out taking photos of everyone, so I’m sure I’ll have more pictures to post when they get them uploaded.  Possibly some cool shots of Davis in the fun run…
• They had clowns there to entertain the kids.  I found them to be extremely creepy.
• I’m really stocking up on those environment-friendly grocery bags.  We got 3 more at this race.  Sweet!
• Some 10 year old kid ran the race in like 23 minutes.  That’s pretty awesome in my book.  Maybe Davis can get to that level.  I mean he is number one in the nation and all. {sarcasm}
• The kids all made signs to support us.  It was really cute!

Wow, that sun is bright!

Next race is the Choate Construction Run the River 10k.  I think Alysia may go for her first 10k!  Stay tuned…