Running …

… because I can … because it's fun … because it's healthy … just BECAUSE.

Tag Archives: Lynchburg

Racing to figure it out

For the second time in three years, I ran the Virginia 10 Miler on legs that weren’t really ready for racing. The major lesson learned today: how to really push myself.

That’s left me booming with confidence with 6 weeks to go to the Richmond Marathon.

Today I could have run another 16-or-so-mile long run for training — since I don’t “have to” do anything, I don’t know how many miles I missed with a “schedule.” I opted instead for a high quality long run in the 10 miler, an absolutely brutal hilly course.

My ultimate goal was to beat my previous best time of 1:22:49, which was 6 years ago. Two years ago, I ran this as part of my Richmond Marathon training and fell short of beating that time.

Today I ran the first 8 miles of this course right on target to hit or just break 1:20 — I was pleasantly surprised with each mile considering I haven’t hit big hills in a while.

When I got to the final 2 miles though, with a majority of that uphill, my legs reminded me that I ran 20 miles a week ago today.

While I didn’t really have a final kick and couldn’t finish as strong as I’d like, I crossed the finish line in 1:21:22, a nearly 90-second PR. More importantly than the PR, though, is how good I felt. I wanted to be faster today than marathon pace, but also leave the race feeling good about it.

Mission accomplished.

Now it’s on to the important final 6 weeks of Richmond Marathon training.

The Lost Files, Vol. IV

Virginia 10 Miler, LynchburgThis weekend I’ll be running the Virginia 10 Miler in Lynchburg for the 3rd time. I’m not sure yet of my goals — my legs are recovering nicely from my weekend 20-miler, but much work remains to be fully ready for a harder effort at that distance.

I learned two years ago that a really long run the weekend before this hilly race and better fitness alone won’t generate what I think should be PR.

Before I settle on those goals I wanted to complete my initial look back at my lost myspace files that led to my first Virginia 10 Miler in 2006 — the first time truly racing a double-digit distance.

Vol. III left off with some confidence after a nagging knee injury in the final weeks of training. I headed into race day with a time of 1:30 in mind. Here’s what happened — a short and sweet race recap.

* * *

No "gun shows" back then, but the camera posing obviously started early in my races.

Sunday, September 17, 2006
You gotta work the hill… don’t let it work you.
Current mood: sore

After nearly three months of intense training, it all came down to one day. I don’t really have too much to say about the race right now. It’s tough to put into words.

I easily beat my 1:30 goal and finished the 10 miler in 1:23 finishing 150th out of 500-plus runners. To put it simply, I left it all on the course. There will be no marathon for me this year, but I don’t really care about that right now.

My goal at the beginning of this year was to do the 10 miler and I did it.

Depending on the condition of my knee, a marathon may never happen. I’m not giving up hope, but I’m not going to be stupid and hurt myself for the rest of my life either.

For now, I’m enjoying some off time from running, eating whatever I want for a couple of days and being thrilled at the accomplishment of running 10 miles in the time that I did.

I also wanted to thank all of you who have given me support, whether it be in an email, a note on myspace or verbally. It means a lot to me.

There’s something about running that brings out a side of me I didn’t know I had until two years ago and I hope to never lose touch of that. So expect to read future blogs about that …

Circles, all for a good cause

Storms at 2012 Relay for Life

The generosity of others and the passion from people working together for a cause are just amazing things to be around.

Friday night and Saturday morning’s Relay for Life was yet another great night in the fight against cancer — I surpassed my $1,000 goal, my team hit its goal, and the Lynchburg Relay will likely pass $250,000 once all the money is counted. Early evening storms didn’t deter the people who cared the most from sticking around.

As promised with my fundraising, I ran 13.1 miles around the track — I can’t say it wasn’t a struggle this year though. After one segment of 4.1 miles, I helped our team raise more money by “pimping out” and showing off Miss Tina Ta-ta (aka my chiropractor, Dr. Wimmer, who dressed up like a woman). Pictures that I have yet to obtain will explain that better.

That time on my feet in dress shoes kind of wore me out to get the final 9 miles done. I took my time, took a few water breaks, and a couple of bathroom stops, but I ran 50-some laps — mostly after midnight — to complete 13.1 miles to fight cancer. Dr. Wimmer ran along side me for about 5 miles, much more than he had promised when the team hit its goal.

I do owe those who donated at the end a backward mile. After halfway, I was honestly so tired and already sore from the different surface that running backward was not safe. I will do a backward mile, or some sort of combination, soon. I promise.

Relay for Life is always hard to put into words — it’s such an emotional night early on with the survivors lap and the luminaria and bagpipe service. This year’s festivities were literally a bit dampened with the severe storms early on — two different times during set up we were ordered off the field; many tents suffered damage in the second storm.

Several teams didn’t show up or stay as long this year, but those who remained through the 5 a.m. finish were definitely a passionate group of people.

Similar to Relay last year, I’m left with struggling with the right words. I think my post from a year ago sums it up best with how I feel today, nearly two days later:

While I figure out what’s next, I highly encourage everyone to get involved in running to fight something. While I’m passionate about fighting cancer, there are so many other things you can do.

It’s easy as a runner to get caught up in a self campaign – I’m doing this, or I’m doing that, or I have this problem. Question yourself whether or not that’s the type of runner you want to be.

If you’re running for a cause, you’re running for thousands. And those people could care less about how fast or slow you are. They’ll be happy that you’re fighting for them and, very possibly, saving their lives in the process.

 

5k frenzy

As a follow up to my sort of “what’s next” post the other day, I put the wheels into motion this week to finish up 2011 strong. For the first time ever, I’ll be running three races three weeks in a row.

While they’re “only” 5ks, my goals for each are different, but all will have the same underlying similarity of figuring out what a realistic goal for the Shamrock Half Marathon will be in March.

Turkey Trot
For $20 and a long-sleeve moisture wicking shirt, plus running for a good cause, why not run this? It’s a new course this year in downtown Lynchburg, so no matter what happens, it’s a course record. And coming off two 5k PRs earlier this year, I want to see where I stand with that distance and speed.

I’m expecting a large crowd, so most of all I just want to have fun and an excuse to have seconds on Thanksgiving. This race is more about setting me up for the next race a little more than a week later.

Christmas ClassicChristmas Classic
This will be the first race I have ran five times — three of those from my pre-blogging days — with one of those being a 10k that no longer exists. My main goal will be to beat my course record of 24:34 from two years ago on a cold, rainy, almost snowy day.

This is my home course — the loop route includes streets I have ran on dozens of times since I moved back to Bedford two years ago. I feel like there’s no better time than now to make it the best Christmas Classic yet.

Jingle Bell Run, RoanokeJingle Bell Run for Arthritis
The final leg of the 5k trio takes me to Roanoke, where I fully expect to run a race purely for the fun of it. It’s free through a workout program at work and I’ll be running with co-workers that I’d really like to see push themselves in this distance.

That said, this is going to be a very crowded race and it’s all about bringing awareness to a great cause, ending the year with a fun run, and giving a push to co-workers. I won’t be setting any goals for this other than to have fun.