it's not that i don't want to post, i am just behind. so i owe the blog write-ups of Marine Corp Marathon and the JFK 50. Well, I owe the second to Anna as well. They are coming.
Today I got a monthly pass to the town fitness center. I like getting my daily run first thing in the morning, but I don't like training runs in the freezing cold dark. Race runs in the freezing cold dark, ok; training runs in the dark, ok; training runs in the freezing cold daylight, ok; but I've drawn the line at freezing cold + dark.
So for the next couple of months I will do my weekly workouts on the treadmill, the eliptical, and weights. This worked really well for me a couple years ago - gave me the ability to work out when I would have otherwise stayed in bed.
I'll be caught up here soon.
Next weekend, the Virginia Happy Trails Race Club Fat-ass 50 mile run down at Bull Run (Hemlock Overlook). I probably won't run the full 50, but I'll get in at least 30 or so.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
JFK 50 mile run 2008
Ok, I ran it, I finished late, not as late as last time, I had a great time along the way.
That's all there is to say.
Friday, October 24, 2008
getting ready for the Marine Corp
I picked up my bib tonight, luck number 1249!
the shirt this year is colored olive drab. not my favorite, but not a repeat either.
the MCM is using the new paper chip instead of Champion Chip. Wow, Champion Chip must be just dieing.
Brooks has these "Brooks toilets" which have water and TP and everything, and people can get in them by wearing Brooks clothes or shoes. It didn't say if this was just at the starting line or throughout the race - i'll have to look more closely. I have Brooks shoes anyway, so I'll be good to go (as it were).
need to get to sleep - I have a bit of a sore throat and i'm tired.
the shirt this year is colored olive drab. not my favorite, but not a repeat either.
the MCM is using the new paper chip instead of Champion Chip. Wow, Champion Chip must be just dieing.
Brooks has these "Brooks toilets" which have water and TP and everything, and people can get in them by wearing Brooks clothes or shoes. It didn't say if this was just at the starting line or throughout the race - i'll have to look more closely. I have Brooks shoes anyway, so I'll be good to go (as it were).
need to get to sleep - I have a bit of a sore throat and i'm tired.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Baltimore Marathon
The day was beautiful.
This place is crazy - a full marathon, a relay on the marathon route, a half marathon that ends at the same finish line, and a 10k nearby - all take place on the same day.
We ran well:
* Dave finished his 6 mile segment in under 50 minutes.
* I finished my 6.8 mi relay segment in 59 minutes at an 8:68 pace.
* Bob finished his 6.1 mile relay segment in about an hour.
* Michael finished his 7.3 mile relay segment in 59 minutes.
The Accenture Express set a new personal speed record!
(need to verify the results when they become available).
The food was pretty good. Apples, bananas, oranges, pretzels, chips, granola, bagels, peanut butter, juice, and other things. Lots of free samples.
For race timing Baltimore used the D-Tag Timing Responder. This is like a Champion Chip on a crash diet. It is a strip of paper with a disposable transponder in it. Completely disposable. Apparently a lot less expensive than Champion Chip.
This place is crazy - a full marathon, a relay on the marathon route, a half marathon that ends at the same finish line, and a 10k nearby - all take place on the same day.
We ran well:
* Dave finished his 6 mile segment in under 50 minutes.
* I finished my 6.8 mi relay segment in 59 minutes at an 8:68 pace.
* Bob finished his 6.1 mile relay segment in about an hour.
* Michael finished his 7.3 mile relay segment in 59 minutes.
The Accenture Express set a new personal speed record!
(need to verify the results when they become available).
The food was pretty good. Apples, bananas, oranges, pretzels, chips, granola, bagels, peanut butter, juice, and other things. Lots of free samples.
For race timing Baltimore used the D-Tag Timing Responder. This is like a Champion Chip on a crash diet. It is a strip of paper with a disposable transponder in it. Completely disposable. Apparently a lot less expensive than Champion Chip.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Baltimore Maryland Relay
The Baltimore Running Festival is tomorrow Saturday October 11. I'm running the Baltimore Maryland Relay, which is the marathon course but as a 4-person relay team. It sounded like fun, still does.
Michael and I drove up to get race packets today. We had permission notes for Dave and Bob and picked theirs up, too. Packet pickup was on the 5th (?) floor of Ravens Stadium, the club level. It was nicely done, well organized, and felt a lot better than the average parking garage that many packet pickups are held in. I'm glad we went early - I can see it being uncomfortable when crowded and there were many more people when we left.
The underarmor shirts the relay runners get are red - each race is a different color - so the normal marathon, half marathon, and 10K are all different colors. They are nice shirts!
I saw the medal too - the Maryland crab, boiled red and ready to eat, along with the Maryland flag design.
The plan is to meet at about 7am at our picked-out spot, take a couple group photos, talk nervously about nothing in particular, and then head out. I have leg 2, which starts at mile 6 and ends at mile 12.8. This leg is out to Fort McHenry (Star Spangled Banner) and back.
I've put all my clothes and gear in a pile in the bathroom so I don't lose anything in the dark - golden yellow shirt, "R" sticker for the back of my shirt (tells people I am a relay runner),black shorts, briefs, running hat, blue socks, bandaids, race bib with safety pins attached, regular watch, GPS watch with fresh batteries, tracking chip paper already attached to my shoes, spors creme for my calves, and sunscreen. I'm taking my friend Pepto Bismol in the car with me, just in case. I have already laid out my toothpaste other things I need for my morning get-going routine. And I have a post-race bag with the official race shirt and a change of shoes and socks.
Dave is starting, and he thought he would be arriving at the first relay exchange point around 8:50. So I figure I am arriving at the next relay exchange point around 10:35 to 10:45, depending upon traffic. I hand it over to Bob, Bob exchanges with Michael, and Michael gets to cross the finish line. Woo-hoo!
The 8:00 am temperature is supposed to be a pleasant 55F with 66% humidity. By 9 it should be around 59 or so - perfect weather for a fast race - and when I exchange it should be just under 70, which is a little warm but still manageable. My leg doesn't get much shade so the sun will help to heat the runners up.
The post-race for the relay runners is a little confused in my head - not sure how they will keep everyone together or separated, as the case may be.
I have estimated a 8:30 to 9:00 minute mile, given that the distance is short and the weather cool. Let's see if I can push it a lot harder after the first couple of miles.
The plan is: up at 4:30, leave at 5:30, arrive at 6:45, park, hang with the guys, 7:30 get on the relay exchange bus, and get ready to fly at 8:50. Since I'm up 4 hours before the race I'm going to eat a normal breakfast - the food shouldn't cause any problems with water absorption.
Wish me luck!
Michael and I drove up to get race packets today. We had permission notes for Dave and Bob and picked theirs up, too. Packet pickup was on the 5th (?) floor of Ravens Stadium, the club level. It was nicely done, well organized, and felt a lot better than the average parking garage that many packet pickups are held in. I'm glad we went early - I can see it being uncomfortable when crowded and there were many more people when we left.
The underarmor shirts the relay runners get are red - each race is a different color - so the normal marathon, half marathon, and 10K are all different colors. They are nice shirts!
I saw the medal too - the Maryland crab, boiled red and ready to eat, along with the Maryland flag design.
The plan is to meet at about 7am at our picked-out spot, take a couple group photos, talk nervously about nothing in particular, and then head out. I have leg 2, which starts at mile 6 and ends at mile 12.8. This leg is out to Fort McHenry (Star Spangled Banner) and back.
I've put all my clothes and gear in a pile in the bathroom so I don't lose anything in the dark - golden yellow shirt, "R" sticker for the back of my shirt (tells people I am a relay runner),black shorts, briefs, running hat, blue socks, bandaids, race bib with safety pins attached, regular watch, GPS watch with fresh batteries, tracking chip paper already attached to my shoes, spors creme for my calves, and sunscreen. I'm taking my friend Pepto Bismol in the car with me, just in case. I have already laid out my toothpaste other things I need for my morning get-going routine. And I have a post-race bag with the official race shirt and a change of shoes and socks.
Dave is starting, and he thought he would be arriving at the first relay exchange point around 8:50. So I figure I am arriving at the next relay exchange point around 10:35 to 10:45, depending upon traffic. I hand it over to Bob, Bob exchanges with Michael, and Michael gets to cross the finish line. Woo-hoo!
The 8:00 am temperature is supposed to be a pleasant 55F with 66% humidity. By 9 it should be around 59 or so - perfect weather for a fast race - and when I exchange it should be just under 70, which is a little warm but still manageable. My leg doesn't get much shade so the sun will help to heat the runners up.
The post-race for the relay runners is a little confused in my head - not sure how they will keep everyone together or separated, as the case may be.
I have estimated a 8:30 to 9:00 minute mile, given that the distance is short and the weather cool. Let's see if I can push it a lot harder after the first couple of miles.
The plan is: up at 4:30, leave at 5:30, arrive at 6:45, park, hang with the guys, 7:30 get on the relay exchange bus, and get ready to fly at 8:50. Since I'm up 4 hours before the race I'm going to eat a normal breakfast - the food shouldn't cause any problems with water absorption.
Wish me luck!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
5 miles in Riverbend Country Park
What a beautiful morning it was! 50F, sun shining, low humidity - just a classic fall day in DC all around. The Reston Runners met at Riverbend Contry Park for a 5 mile run (or a 3 mile walk for those so inclined):
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=39.01759,-77.255774&daddr=Potomac+Hills+St&hl=en&geocode=FXZcUwIdoitl-w%3BFWpfUwId0lFl-w&mra=ls&sll=39.015249,-77.245946&sspn=0.012804,0.032573&ie=UTF8&ll=39.01825,-77.247856&spn=0.006402,0.016286&z=16
I would estimate maybe 20 people opted to do the run. The course had been marked with flour ahead of time. There were some good hills, there was some running along the Potomac river, there were some flat segments, there was grassland running - a little bit of everything. I finished about 5 miles in about 42 minutes, so that's an 8 minute pace.
Viewing Baltimore in light of today's run, the obvious question is "Peter, why do you think you can hit 7:30 over 6.8 miles in Baltimore when today, with this ideal weather, you were at 8 minutes over 5 miles?" Well the answer is that Baltimore doesn't have any hills, silly, and if I am just running flat and flat-out for 6.8 miles I should be able to move right along pretty quickly. Besides, today was a fun run, not nearly the same adrenaline rush as a race.
So tune in next time for another installment of "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can": The Adventures of the Little Blue Engine in Running Land", or, "The Train that Went off its Tracks and Never Came Back".
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=39.01759,-77.255774&daddr=Potomac+Hills+St&hl=en&geocode=FXZcUwIdoitl-w%3BFWpfUwId0lFl-w&mra=ls&sll=39.015249,-77.245946&sspn=0.012804,0.032573&ie=UTF8&ll=39.01825,-77.247856&spn=0.006402,0.016286&z=16
I would estimate maybe 20 people opted to do the run. The course had been marked with flour ahead of time. There were some good hills, there was some running along the Potomac river, there were some flat segments, there was grassland running - a little bit of everything. I finished about 5 miles in about 42 minutes, so that's an 8 minute pace.
Viewing Baltimore in light of today's run, the obvious question is "Peter, why do you think you can hit 7:30 over 6.8 miles in Baltimore when today, with this ideal weather, you were at 8 minutes over 5 miles?" Well the answer is that Baltimore doesn't have any hills, silly, and if I am just running flat and flat-out for 6.8 miles I should be able to move right along pretty quickly. Besides, today was a fun run, not nearly the same adrenaline rush as a race.
So tune in next time for another installment of "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can": The Adventures of the Little Blue Engine in Running Land", or, "The Train that Went off its Tracks and Never Came Back".
Baltimore cometh....
Three weeks until the Baltimore marathon on October 11 at 8am:
http://www.thebaltimoremarathon.com/Race_Info/relay22d8.htm
I'm running in a relay event with three other guys from work. We are the Accenture Express. I've got the second leg, 6.8 miles, going along the harbor out to Ft. McHenry (of Star Spangled Banner fame) and back. I get three water stops and a press-gang tour of the Fort.
What I didn't realize is that Leg 2 is the flattest of the four. From mile 6 to mile 12.8, after the initial 100 foot decline, the course stays within the 50-foot elevation band. How sweet is that?!
I'm hoping for good weather. With low humidity and a cool day, I could go for a 7-minute mile pace on this. Wouldn't that be nice. More than likely it will be around a 7:30 pace.
http://www.thebaltimoremarathon.com/Race_Info/relay22d8.htm
I'm running in a relay event with three other guys from work. We are the Accenture Express. I've got the second leg, 6.8 miles, going along the harbor out to Ft. McHenry (of Star Spangled Banner fame) and back. I get three water stops and a press-gang tour of the Fort.
What I didn't realize is that Leg 2 is the flattest of the four. From mile 6 to mile 12.8, after the initial 100 foot decline, the course stays within the 50-foot elevation band. How sweet is that?!
I'm hoping for good weather. With low humidity and a cool day, I could go for a 7-minute mile pace on this. Wouldn't that be nice. More than likely it will be around a 7:30 pace.
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