Get the Lead Out 5K Results

As I drove the ninety minute trek toward Ambler, I noticed my in dash outside temperature gauge was reading 29 degrees.  In preparing for this race earlier in the week,  I had laid out a T-Shirt and shorts for race day. I now was wearing three T-shirts, a beanie,  and long compression pants. I forgot my gloves, which I have found I need to wear in sub 40 degreee temperature weather.

The Wissahickon high school was very easy to find with the aid of our  Garmin 750 nuvi  automotive GPS. The race registration headquarters was located within the building inside the stadium  used for vending refreshments. I ad arrived about an hour early so I retrieved my race goodie bag and retreated to the warmth of my vehicle.

The racing bibs for this race were unique as they did not have the customary tear-off tab at the base of the bib. The bibs contained a second layer.  This layer contained a sheet of yellow paper with thin wire around the perimeter, all enveloped in clear plastic. I later learned you were to run through a rectangular shaped archway made from metal piping at the finish to automatically record your finishing time.

I decided to begin warming up at 8:35 am..  I ran several laps around the track.  Generally I felt good and ready to run.  I then made my way to the race starting line which was only about fifty yards outside the stadium.  I was able to start the race within the first couple of rows of runners.  The race was held up for a couple of minutes for one runner who could not get his race bib on and needed assistance.   The starter counted down from five to begin the race and had a starter's gun which malfunctioned at the command to begin the race.  Some of the starter's guns are deafening if you are too near.

 There were two races being run simultaneously, a five kilometer and a ten kilometer race. The 5K runners were instructed to take the first left hand turn while the 10K runners were to use the second left hand turn.

I typically do not remember much of a course after I run them but this course was relatively flat and fair.  It is going to be tough to find a  race that has no hills in this area. There were stretches of loose gravel, but on the whole I liked the course.

I finished 15th out of 213 runners for this race, good enough to garnish a first place in the men's 40-49 age group..  My time was 22:58, barely eclipsing the twenty three minute mark I had set as a goal for this race.

Frigid Race Temperature Forecasted

The temperature is forecasted to dip well below freezing tonight, as low as 24 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas.  The race is scheduled to commence at 9:00am and the temperature forecasted for then is only 30 degrees.  Fortunately there is no mention of high winds .

I had envisioned wearing shorts and a T-shirt for this race.  If this temperature forcast is accurate then this race will be colder than the 36 degree temps we had for the Run for the Cookies 10K in Berwick last month.  I will most likely be wearing a beanie, a long sleeve shirt, and my long compression pants. (My wife refers to the pants as leotards.)

I plan on leaving my mp3 player at home for this race.  I want to see if I am more focused on running if I do not listen to music as I run a race.
 
I may be facing an uphill battle in my attempt to break my personal record for five kilometers.

Time Compression

In the course of training for the five kilometer race on Sunday, I noticed a five kilometer run does not last as long as it used to last year.  I am running five kilometers in a couple minutes shorter time, but I am experiencing much less mental anguish attempting to get through the run.

 Running five kilometers, roughly three miles, was very taxing on my body last year. I often had to contend with running with an abnormal gait due to a variety of muscle pulls and strains. Every step was laborious.


Fast forward to this year and a three mile run is now a walk in the park, a brief run, a quickie.  I remember being at several 5K races last year where some runners would go for a jog after the race.  That was unfathomable for me last year.  This year I believe I could run a mile after a race to cool down .

Get the Lead Out 5K - Ready to Race

I have had excellent training runs for the last several weeks. I generally feel much better now than I have ever before. Running over 700 miles in a year will tend to get most anyone in shape.

My current personal record for five kilometers is 23 minutes and 11 seconds. This translates to an average pace per mile of seven minutes and twenty-eight seconds. I would like to eclipse the 23 minute mark this weekend. I should be close. The major determinant is achieving this goal will be the course itself. If the course is relatively flat, I feel confident I can set a new personal record. I could set a personal record with a hilly terrain, but it will be much more difficult.

The course is guaranteed to have a flat finish as the last quarter mile is run on the local high school track. The track surface is uniquely colored blue. The forecast for race day is sunny, although the morning start will potentially yield a chilly run.

The are two races to be run simultaneously, a five kilometer and a ten kilometer. My understanding is the 5K race turns off at the first left handed turn available while the ten kilometer races turns off later. I would like to start within the first couple of rows of runners for this race.

Best Training Run Ever

We had the nicest weather this year this past weekend with the temperatures approaching 70 degrees, clear skies all around, and no humidity. I decided to go for a long run around town on Saturday while my youngest son was in the midst of his afternoon nap. Mom and my eldest son were outside working in the yard.

My muscles felt very loose and fluid for this run as the weather was warm and I was not bundled in layers to keep warm. Saturday March 21st was the first day I ran with shorts and a T-shirt this year. I decided to relax and just run at a comfortable pace - without any regard for my quarter-mile splits my Garmin Forerunner GPS watch was registering.

I was able to run seven and a half miles this Saturday at a pace faster than my last 10K (6.2 miles) race in February. I ran 7.5 miles at an 8:14 per mile clip, while I ran ran the 6.2 mile race at an 8:17 pace.

Personal Fitness Zones

As I read more articles relating to training regimens for a variety of race lengths, it has become increasingly evident some scale relating to a runner''s current fitness level needs to be incorporated into the discussion.

It was not uncommon to read an article last year where week one of a training regimen contained a four mile run. The problem I had was that I was not able to run four miles in the condition I was in last year within the first week of a training program.

The fitness zone scale should be as simple as possible. I would recommend a three-tiered personal fitness zone scheme. If you were to incorporate a red, white and blue color scheme it would facilitate remembering the zones. Red would be the beginner level, white would be the intermediate level, and blue would represent the advanced fitness level.

Establishing the lines between the groups could be subject to a fair amount of debate. The Red level could consist of anyone who has not run regularly in the last year - regardless of whether you have been an avid runner in the past or a newbie. The White level is where most active runners would fall - runners who have been engaged with running for a length of time, but would not regard themselves as elite runners aspiring to win races. The Blue level would be the elite level of running, the top ten percent of all runners by age.

Within each zone would be divided into three levels or stages; beginner, intermediate and advanced. I would regard my entire last year as progressing from the beginner to the intermediate levels within the red zone.


Here is another website I found to be very useful for extrapolating upon your historical performances to gain some insight how well you could perform at other distances if you were properly trained.
http://www.runningforfitness.org/

Adding structure to training regimen

To a large degree my training regimen has consisted of runs on local streets at a comfortable pace with a closing sprint of a city block or two to finish the run. For the majority of last year, it was a credit to my health just to be able to finish a three, four or five mile training run. I had two running speeds last year - slow and slower.

All of my races this year will be six miles of less. I will be running at the local high school track more this spring and summer in an effort to build up my fast twitch muscles by running laps around the track as fast as I can. i.e. , speed work.

I would like to develop a training regimen which will facilitate keeping my training fresh and ensuring my motivation level remain high throughout the year.

TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K - I'm In

After a half hour of attempting to get to the registration web page on Saturday, I was finally able to view the magic Beach to Beacon 10K 'Click to Register' button. With an estimated 6,000 runners, this will be the largest race I have run by far. The largest race I had run previously was the 2009 New Haven CT 20K road race, with slightly over 2000 runners. As the race is in Maine, it will also represent the farthest I have traveled to race.

I like the distance of 10K (6.2 miles) coupled with the timing of the race in August. If I train hard this year I should be able to run six miles at a reasonably fast clip. I would like to finish in the top 25% of each race I run this year. Using last year's results as a basis when there were 5600 runners who finished the Beach to Beacon 10K, the 25th percentile (1400th place) came in at 49 minutes and 43 seconds, equivalent to an 8:01 minute per mile pace. I can achieve this goal.

TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Lottery

My wife and I recently fell in love with the state of Maine and like to travel there if opportunities and/or funds present themselves. The premier road running race in Maine is called the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K. The race was created largely through the efforts of Joan Benoit-Samuelson, a 1984 Olympic marathon Gold Medalist.

The race is a point to point race, not surprisingly from a beach to the famous Portland Headlight Lighthouse. The race is on Saturday August 7th and will feature world class runners. Over 10,000 spectators are expected to line the race.

On Saturday March 13th, there will be an online lottery to award the first 4000 runners entry into the race. I did not fare well with my first lottery, the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washignton D.C., maybe my fortunes will turn for the better for this race.

By the end of the summer I would like to run ten kilometers in 48 minutes and change. My current personal record is 51:44.

Speed Work Out at High School

With the weather in the 50's for the first time in a long time, I decided to go to the local high school track and put my new Mizuno track spikes to the test.

I warmed up by running two miles around the track at a brisk pace. I then proceeded to lace up my new track spikes. Fortunately I was the only person on the track. These shoes have a picture of an eagle's wings on each foot. You better be able to run fast if you are going to wear these shoes.

The spikes on these sprinter shoes felt slightly longer than my other Mizuno middle distance spikes. The longer spikes yielded a better grip on the rubber track surface. It was amazing how fast I was running with these shoes for the first 50 yards. After running 50 yards I had to slow down to have any chance of running 800 meters (two laps) in a decent time.

If I recall correctly, there were indoor track meets this past December in the Washington D.C. area for old hacks such as myself. The race lengths were on the shorter side, from 55 meters to 3200 meters (about two miles). I would love to run in one of these meets this upcoming December.

Knock on wood - I have been remarkably injury free this year. I am nearing completing my 700th mile of running since I began running last March. This is a solid base for me to build upon this year.

Run for the Cookies 10K online results

The Berwick Pa Run for Cookies 10K results are now posted at http://neparunner.com/. I finished 84th out of 185 runners. I had set a goal of trying to finish in the top 25% of the field for my races this year. This finish only marks the top 45% of the field.

In order to finish in the top 25% for this race I would have had to finish 46th with a time of 46:16. Ironically this pace translates to a 7:26 per mile, roughly the same as my current 5K personal record.

I have improved very much since last year. My previous best 10K time would have placed me 131st in this race. 131st out of 185 equates to the 71 st percentile.

March 2010: Get the Lead Out 5K Race

My next race will be run at the end of March in Ambler Pa. The web site URL is http://www.2young2go.org/ and benefits mesothelioma research. There are two races on the event schedule, a five kilometer and a ten kilometer race. The real men will be running the 10K race, while I will be running the 5K race.

I will have a decent chance to medal at this race. Nearly two-thirds of the runners last year raced in the 10K race. There are a fair amount of novice runners within a 5K benefit race. Funny thing is a medal is probably worth about $2.50, but earning one will give me one more story to tell when I am sitting around at a nursing home when I am older. (Or to my grandchildren if I live that long.)

I purchased the shoes above for about $15 at a web site called FirstTotheFinish.com. They are sprinter's shoes and are to be used at indoor and outdoor tracks. As soon as the weather warms up, I will be going to the local high school track and completing some speed work, i.e. wind-sprints.

February 2010 - Month in Review

In spite of the record setting snowfall accumulations in February I was able to emerge with a solid month of training. I ran sixty-four miles spanning a total of nine hours and twenty-five minutes. I was able to complete ten training sessions and one race.

My February training totals translate to an average pace of 8:51 per mile. While this pace marks a great improvement over last year, I still have some work to do with regard to accelerating my pace to a competitive level at the ten kilometer distance. In fairness, my runs in February averaged nearly six miles a pop.

In contrast, I anticipate my runs for March to be much shorter as I prepare for my next race. This race is called Get the Lead Out and is a five kilometer race in Ambler Pa.

Run for the Cookies 10K Day

Late Friday afternoon, on February 26th, it became evident the snowfall accumulation forecasted for our area was not going to materialize. I wanted to run this race because I had trained a significant amount for this race. Another reason I wanted to run this race was to achieve a much better personal record for ten kilometers. My old PR of 59 minutes and 35 seconds was abysmal.

Yet another reason I wanted to run is there were a few 10K races I was contemplating entering which employed starting corrals based upon your historical 10K performances. My current 10K PR time was only good enough for the caboose corral.

Berwick PA is an easy drive - follow Route 81 north and this blue collar town is about thirty minutes west of the Hazleton exit. I arrived about ninety minutes early and easily found the race headquarters within the local Elks lodge. The day was off to a good start as I had no pre-race drama relating to finding the town or race site.

The race had a good turnout for a cold day in late February, probably in excess of two hundred runners. A ten kilometer race does not contain any substantial amount of running newbies. The majority of runners present were veteran runners looking for a workout.

While standing at the starting line waiting for the run to begin I had the misfortune of standing next to a woman who bounced up and down in place, as if she were on an imaginary pogo stick for about five minutes leading up to the race. I believe she was attempting to stay warm. A quick scan across the crowd of runners revealed she was the only person employing this method to keep warm.

Once the starting gun went off I rocketed out the first quarter mile in one minute forty-six seconds, a full twenty seconds faster than the 2:06 pace I aspired to average for the race. Fortunately I saw my first split on my Garmin GPS watch and slowed my pace accordingly.

The course was unique because we had to scale a hill the size of Mt. Killimanjaro at the half-way turnaround point. I have never run a hill so steep and long. Running up a large hill followed by running down the same hill should result in an equitable result. My splits were slowed by the uphill trek more so than the speed gained by running downhill. You have to hold back slightly on the hill's descent to avoid sprinting at a 100 meter dash rate.

Aside of the Mt. Killimanjaro turnaround point I had a great race, breaking the 52 minute mark. I had set a goal of 52 minutes and 30 seconds prior to the race. I finished after the seasoned runners but before the less seasoned runners, probably in the vicinity of the 50% mark.