Posts Tagged ‘Mountain Junkies’

Warning, there will be blood below.

Today was one of those days that made me feel like a new runner all over again — I ran a race for the first time ever in January, and it was on a trail in the mountains near Roanoke.

Since I knew I wasn’t running with a specific time goal in mind for the Mountain Junkies Frozen Toe 10k, I left my watch at home so I could fully enjoy this experience.

Oh, and it was about 50 degrees at the start. The previous two times this race has been held it has been cold with snow and ice.

There’s really no reason to do a traditional “race report” — this was a learning experience that I wanted to utilize for future trail races. Plus I did not know the course at all.

I went out with a very conservative approach and hung back quite a bit at the beginning. In hindsight, I could have pushed it more in the first half mile before entering the trail. That said, I was very comfortable with things in the first couple of miles. Since I’ve only run on trails a few times in the past couple of months, there was no need to push it hard.

The aftermath.

Somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd miles, I took a tumble. A hard tumble.

I hit a stretch of very leaf-covered ground and I guess my right foot hit a rock — I’m not really sure what happened after that other than I rolled on the ground. Oddly enough, nobody saw this happen.

I got up and realized that I was pretty banged up — there was a cut on my right knee and elbow. But I could walk fine, so I just ran. I could feel some discomfort in my right thigh, but nothing too major.

Around mile 3, I stopped at the water stop and took a closer look at things — while there was blood, the cuts weren’t bad, so along I went.

The course consisted of some of the best trails I’ve ever been on. I think some of that is because it was so cold earlier this week that anything that could have been mud had dried up. Passing people and getting passed was pretty smooth.

While there definitely were some tight areas, there was no getting backed up behind people for too long. The continuous up and down hills kept everyone spread out fairly well.

I crossed the finish line in a time of 56:14. The first thing I did was go to my car to get my phone to take pictures of my battle scars. Pretty disturbing, right?

I’m pretty sore tonight, especially my elbow. I have a bruise on my thigh pretty high up — I’m pretty sure that I hit a nice-sized rock under the leaves with my upper thigh with the multiple marks I have. All in all, though, I feel good.

Knowing what I know now about this course, I probably could run it a few minutes faster than that. I’m definitely happy with today though. It’s a great way to kick off the year and official training for the Shamrock Half Marathon.

In the past couple of weeks, I spent a lot of time reflecting on a great year. Now that the calendar has flipped to a new month and a new year, there’s a feeling of starting something new. The great thing about this year is I don’t have to start over like I did last year.

The Runner’s World Holiday Run Streak — running at least a mile every day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day — gave me some solid miles and solid runs that makes for an easy transition into training mode. I actually hit day 40 today of consecutive running days, but today was different — the first “official” day of training for the Shamrock Half Marathon.

So with this run, my focus shifts to the year ahead, and here are 12 thoughts for the next 12 months that are on my mind.

1. My “A” goal for the first quarter is a PR in the Shamrock Half Marathon on March 18 in Virginia Beach. Two winters ago I trained in one of the roughest winters around here in years and still managed to set a PR. This year is looking much better weather-wise (although I would love some snow at some point), and my mind will once again be set on beating my best time, which is 1:42.52.

2. I’m still undecided on whether or not I’ll run a marathon in the spring.

3. I want to get my weight to under 180. I don’t know what it is right now, but my letter to myself the other day is something I’m staying focused on. Weight is just a number, I know, but if I could stop eating stupid, I know that my race times would drop even more.

4. Barring injury, I will pass 5,000 running miles since the beginning of 2007 (I didn’t log miles from 2004-06). I have about 750 to go, so that should happen in late summer/early fall.

5. Speaking of mileage, I will not set an overall mileage goal again this year. It was definitely a great thing to focus on in 2010, but I liked how last year went with my “finish it stronger than I begin it” goal — a little more than 400 in the first half of the year and a little more than 600 in the second half. Right now I just want to run; mileage goals will be secondary whenever I realize I’m close to something.

6. I will buy a new GPS watch sometime this year.

7. It’s weird in January to think of things that will happen 11 months from now. It’s that feeling of that time will never get here. I know it will, so assuming everything goes like I hope, I want to return to the Christmas Classic 5k in Bedford and break 22 minutes.

9. I’m going to start riding my bike at least once a week when the weather warms up and I have a little more daylight in the evenings. I fully intend to continue to increase my cross training this year and I want the bike to be a part of it.

10. My sister is running the Monument Avenue 10k at the end of March. I’m not sure how much I had to do with talking her into doing it, but it will be just her second race. I’m really looking forward to her completing it.

11. When May rolls around, I will hit the campaign trail hard for Relay for Life where I will once again run lots of laps for a great cause. My donation page is active now.

12. I have failed to mention it on here, but I am doing the Mountain Junkies’ Frozen Toe 10k this weekend in Roanoke. It will be the first race I’ve ever done in January, but it certainly won’t be a race for time. It’s a trail race around Roanoke Mountain with some generous elevation change. Similar to the Trail Nut 10k last year, I’m looking at this event to gain trail running experience. I think it will be a great way to kick off the year.

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This may sound confusing, but to me it makes sense — some of my top racing moments of 2011 may not show up in a later post with top running moments of the year, or some of these moments may rank differently. The Baltimore Marathon, for example, was definitely one of the biggest highlights for me — ever — but from a racing perspective, it’s not my No. 1 moment of the year. Read on …

5. Trail race + age group award + running with my son
In May I was very humbled by running the Mountain Junkies Trail Nut 10k trail race in Bedford. That experience was one that reminded me how challenging running on multiple surfaces really is.

This race was made special in that I was 2nd in my age group and my son wanted to run with me after – a perfect way to cool down. Winning a free pair of Injinji socks added to that great day.

4. Sub 7-minute final mile, Percival’s Island 5-Miler
The fact that I set a PR in this race is not the reason this is here – the final mile of that race is. As I think back to that day, I’m still not sure why I couldn’t pick up the pace in the first four miles, nor do I know where I found the motivation to have one of the best miles ever in a race. I do know, though, that it’s worth this list.

3. PR in the Baltimore Marathon
Here’s where this list gets tricky. Coming back this year after an injury and running in the marathon may very well be my best running highlight this year (that’s for another list before the end of the year), but when it comes to racing, it’s not what stands out as the best moment.

Here’s why: as I near the finish of 8 years of running, I have to think about where I started and where I am now. When it comes to racing, the marathon is not where my roots stand. Yes, it is very important to me that I ran 26.2 miles and was not injured afterward, but as I allow hindsight to tell the story, the Baltimore Marathon was not the best racing highlight of my year. Considering that I ran 13 races this year (also a PR), No. 3 isn’t so bad.

2. Destroying my 5k PR
In July I set out for a PR in the 5k at a race in Ohio. It was the first time in a while that I’ve approached a 5k with a “PR or go home” mentality. While I did set a PR that day, the next month I once again set my PR in a 5k (the Fab 5k, another Mountain Junkies race) with a time of 21:52. I have shaved 49 second off my 5k PR this year — more than 16 seconds per mile.

1. Getting back to the start line
Nearly 5 months after being injured after the Richmond Marathon, I went back to the River City for my first race of the year – the Monument Avenue 10k. Not only was getting to the start line a huge deal, I also managed to get a PR by 3 seconds with a well-executed negative split. There’s no doubt in my mind that day was my greatest race moment this year.

The finishing field.

Perfect August weather (about 70 with low humidity) + a flat course = a recipe for a great 5k.

Yesterday morning, I saw a post on the Mountain Junkies Facebook page with a map of the Fab 5k race course — very flat with only about 40 feet of elevation gain.

Start of the Fab 5k

While I knew much of this course was off-road — some gravel, dirt and grass — I had the brief thought that I should be able to set a PR.

In the time since my 5k PR in Ohio in July, I’ve continued to push myself and my forced hill training has proven to work in my other flat race — the Percival’s Island 5 Miler. While I wanted to run hard, I tried to push off PR thoughts until I started running.

With more than 400 people running, and a narrow bridge about a half mile into the race, I took off. I glanced at my watch about two-tenths of a mile in to check my pace and a co-worker pushed my wrist down and told me to stop looking at it. I managed to pass quite a few people before the potential bridge jam and then just pushed the pedal harder — 6:45 in the first mile. I didn’t feel like it was too fast, but I knew it would be tough to maintain.

Much of the second mile was on the road — I was feeling good and was able to hit 7:01. In my head I knew that as long as I didn’t fall in a hole I could set a PR, but could I break 22 minutes?

With most of the third mile on grass, and very mentally challenging as I could continuously see the finish line, I kept telling myself to hold it together. Don’t look at the watch. Keep my head up. Go. Just go.

I can see that I'm taking a quick glance at the clock. (The time on the other side was a few seconds off for some reason.)

As I hit mile 3, a younger woman passed me and said something — I think “good job” or “almost there” or something like that.

It was what I needed for a final surge and pass her just before the finish mat and get under 22 minutes for a 5k for the first time ever.

I looked at my Garmin — 21:54. I almost threw up. My official time was 21:52, nearly 20 seconds faster than my PR from July 4. I’ve shaved off nearly 50 seconds off my 5k race time this summer.

I was 83rd out of 402 finishers; 8th in my age group out of 23.

My co-workers also did a great job with one of them running under an 8-minute mile pace for the first time ever.

It was a great day all around that course as more than 30 people had less than a 6-minute mile pace. It’s the type of day that gives me thoughts of getting my 5k time even lower and one day breaking a 7-minute mile pace.

It's great to have some co-workers at a race!

As I look ahead to the next couple of months, this will very likely be the last race until the Baltimore Marathon. As great as I feel about yesterday’s race, today’s long run is a different story. But that’s for another post some other time. This 5k PR is worth celebrating.

Thanks to Sam Rice for all the photos!