Posts Tagged ‘Ohio’

One of my favorite Dave Matthews Band songs is “Rhyme & Reason,” which has the lyrics “My head won’t leave my head alone.” That’s the way I have felt about choosing a race for next spring. I’ve hinted at a few things in a previous post, but that was only the beginning of some thoughts.

Here are things that have actually crossed my mind — in no real order — and why I have legitimately thought these things:

• Upgrading to the Shamrock Marathon
  At one time this was my most realistic next marathon. Then I went back and re-read a post from March when I missed the race due to my injury: “I’m going back to Virginia Beach next year for the Shamrock Half as a stronger runner, but perhaps more importantly a smarter runner. (Although is saying publicly that I want to break 1:40 being smart?)” The only thing that’s certain right now is that in 4 months I will toe the line of the Shamrock Half. That sub 1:40 goal? We’ll see.
• Charlottesville Marathon
  I’ve had this race in the back of my mind for a while. The timing of it actually would work well too. If I did this, the Shamrock Half would be the ceremonious ending to training as I tapered for this race, which is April 7. It definitely makes sense to choose this marathon, but the $90 price tag for a smaller marathon makes me hesitate a bit. However, it’s proximity to me offsets any travel costs.
• Marine Corps Marathon
  After I signed up for Baltimore and then had time to think about what I had done, I wished I had made the snap decision a month earlier and signed up for MCM. Hindsight is 20/20, though, so now I’m setting my sites on March 7 — the signup day for the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon. That, of course, is subject to change.
• Cleveland Marathon
  I had a realization on my recent Ohio trip — I use a lot of my vacation time visiting my in-laws. So why not turn a trip to Ohio into something more? How about a spring marathon (May 20) in Ohio? Right now this scenario has an edge over Charlottesville.
• Glass City Marathon
  It’s funny how things I’ve never heard of seem to make their appearance several times over a few days on my Twitter feed. Toledo is known as the Glass City? Never heard that. A marathon in Toledo? It turns out this is a pretty popular marathon in Ohio earlier in the spring (April 22). It also has a respectable price tag, but I’d have to say right now from a timing standpoint this is the least likely of the races I’d chose in the spring.
• Ragnar Relay
  I can’t even begin to explain my thoughts about this. I would love to participate in a Ragnar Relay. At this point, there are a lot of logistics I need to work out for any of them to become realistic. And if the stars aligned, most of these other things besides Shamrock won’t happen. Simply put, a Ragnar Relay would be THE highlight of 2012.
• Blue Ridge Marathon
  I’ve thought about this marathon, yes, but it’s nowhere near realistic thoughts. I’d really like to do the half again after missing it this year and seeing if I can beat my time from a couple of years ago when I didn’t really race it. This race is April 21, which would be a nice follow-up to the Shamrock Half, similar to what I did 2 years ago.
• Richmond Marathon
  As usual, Richmond has the temptation of a lower entry fee for next year through this Thursday. It’s my home away from home race course, and I would love to go back there for a third time and break 4 hours. My biggest hold up from taking advantage of the price is my desire to do the Marine Corps Marathon.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

No, I did not fall off the edge of a cliff. I’m alive and doing very well. I just happened to get caught up in the madness of life, got some extra sleep, and then traveled to Ohio to visit the in-laws and go to a wedding. The few days off the computer (besides my phone a few times) has been nice.

No hills in sight around this northeast Ohio greenway.

Fortunately I’ve had time to run twice on this trip too — on a nice, quiet paved trail that pretty much goes through the middle of nothing. While it can easily become boring, my two runs on this trip — 4 and 6 miles, respectively — have been great. It’s just been me and a few of my favorite tunes, as well as some cool weather in the mid-30s.

(Complete side note here — I thought this was northeast Ohio where everyone brags about how they can handle cold weather? I saw a lot of people bundled up on this morning’s run while my southern self was in shorts and a thin long-sleeve shirt with no issues.)

Anyway … I took advantage of the flatness to get in my first goal-oriented run since Baltimore — I did a progressive run on Friday with splits of 9:11, 8:54, 8:17, and 7:57. Today I started a bit slow, but finished my 6-miler under a 9-minute pace. These two runs are the first ones in three weeks in which I felt completely normal.

It’s left me with thoughts all over the place abut what I want to do this spring. I know I’ve mentioned going for a PR in the Shamrock Half Marathon in March, but I’m also thinking about upgrading to the full marathon. I’ve had other thoughts of still doing Shamrock Half and then maybe doing the Charlottesville Marathon in April.

Other races and other goals have been on my mind quite a bit too, but I’m still not ready to commit to anything yet. In a way, I want whatever is next beyond my upcoming 5k series to feel spontaneous, kind of like when I signed up for Baltimore. Maybe something even more random that I haven’t even thought of will pop up in the next few weeks.

For now, though, it’s all about those 5k races and the last 97 miles or so until I hit 1,000 miles for 2011.

Entering today’s flat race in Howland, Ohio — the Stars and Stripes 5k — I had one thing in mind: a PR. While I wouldn’t have beat myself up over not getting a PR, I knew that my faster training on hills in Virginia had to pay off on this race day. Plus coming off a good 5k a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had it in me to beat that 22:41 that I set last year.

What transpired was unbelievable. I hit the first mile in 7 minutes flat. While it was a bit faster than I would have liked to have started, I felt great. And I also felt the pressure to keep up with a guy running near me making it look far easier than I was. I passed him early on and then he passed me shortly after. We pretty much stayed together the whole time.

Keeping up with him led to a 7:18 second mile — very much on target for the PR as long as I could hold myself together in the final mile. As I hit mile 3 in 7:13, a guy pushing a stroller passed me, making life look easy. I pressed the gas pedal a little more as I hit the 3-mile mark and smoked that last tenth in 38 seconds, finishing just behind my new pal and the guy running with the stroller.

At the end of the race, my new friend and I thanked one other for pushing each other — I’m not sure if he was being competitive and wanted to beat me, or if I was pushing myself a little harder just to keep up. Whatever the reason, it led me to a 22:10 finish (maybe 22:09; official times haven’t been posted) — a 7:08 per mile pace — and puts thoughts in my head of greater things yet to come.

I won’t get into all that now though. I want to let this soak in for a while and enjoy the moment.

A cool, cloudy morning in Ohio on a flat, lonely trail.

The streak is finally over. Today’s 10.2-mile run brought an end to my 8-plus month streak of not having a double digit run. And after setting a goal the other day of beating a 9-minute pace for this run, I went out an destroyed it.

With cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, I went out with an 8:48 mile and never looked back. In fact, I got stronger in the second half. My mile splits after mile 1 were: 8:52, 8:44, 8:42, 8:49, 8:45, 8:32, 8:35, 8:26 and 8:10.

With having the advantage of no hills today in Ohio, I wanted to push myself a bit at the end to see what I had in me. I was actually shooting for a sub 8-minute mile in the final mile, but couldn’t quite hold it together in the final quarter mile.

I felt great out there today; it’s nice to be able to get this kind of flat run in this early in Baltimore Marathon training to set the tone for future long runs.

I’m realizing more and more how I need to set goals for not only my races, but my runs as well. This is the first time in a while that I’ve set a specific goal for a long run — it kept me intensely focused today.

I might not set a goal for every long run, but I certainly will continue to have a different frame of mind. If it worked so well this time, it can only get better.

Today is my 33rd birthday and I’ve had a variety of blog posts in my mind this week on marking this occasion. My birthday, though, is not something I tout too much. I’ve even taken my birth date off Facebook because I HATE to see Walls filled up with generic “Happy Birthday” posts.

So to mark today, which is just another day closer to a new age bracket in races, I thought I’d share 33 random thoughts about running – from lessons learned, to favorite moments, to pieces of advice, to some very random things, I feel like this is a good way to mark the beginning of a new year in my life.

1. If I ever stop calling running fun, I’m quitting. From sights and sounds, to pushing myself, to a new level, to running with my dog, there’s an element of fun in even bad runs.

2. I want to break 1:40 in the half marathon. Part of me doesn’t want to train for another marathon and instead focus on that distance.

3. With No. 2 being said, I want to run a marathon and not be injured afterward. Thus the reason for my drive and desire to run the Baltimore Marathon in October.

4. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I once ran 5:45 in the mile in high school, good enough for next to last place – the only track meet in which I wasn’t last in the mile.

5. For no real reason, Guns ‘n’ Roses “November Rain” is my favorite song to run to, on the rare occasion I listen to music.

6. When hydrating for a race, you shouldn’t really do anything different than you did while training.

7. When doing a long-distance race, see what type of gels they’ll hand out. Don’t be surprised. Try it out on a couple of long runs to see if it settles well with you; otherwise bring your own. And don’t complain if you don’t like them.

8. If you need to stop to walk in a race or slow down, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY. Or you may get a slight elbow from me.

9. A year and a half later, I still look at an adventure I took in the mountains as a game-changer.

10. Don’t wear the event shirt until you earn it.

11. Injinji socks are the best. And if anyone gives me birthday money, I’m buying more to wear every day.

12. Wear sunscreen if you’re going to be running in the sun for a while.

13. While I’ve been blogging for four years about running, there’s about 3½ years worth of stories before the blog that I’ve only mentioned a few times. I’ve thought about doing retroactive race reports, but I don’t know how much I remember about those early races.

14. This photo from last summer is my most favorite picture that I’ve taken on a run:

15. And this photo is my most favorite from after a run:

16. And, quite sadly, I don’t have a favorite race photo.

17. Fitz at Strength Running has a great post this week about seven things that changed his running forever. I suggest checking it out HERE.

18. My 5k next weekend in Ohio is just my third out-of-Virginia race. The other two were also in Ohio and were two-mile Turkey Trots.

19. I’ll have a separate blog post on this, but I did buy the Brooks Ghost 3 that I wrote about a month ago. I’ve had four good runs in them so far.

20. I think there are a lot people out there who get caught up in thinking/saying “my favorite weather is now,” but I will forever say “bring on the cold.” Perfect conditions for me would be in the low 40s and cloudy. Still warm enough for shorts. I can certainly handle colder. BRING IT.

21. I’ve never publicly questioned the 10 percent rule – in fact I have embraced it many times – but this old article confirms what I’ve said many times: different things work for different people. Here’s an even newer article on the topic. It’s another subject for another blog post.

March 2003

22. Whenever someone asks me why I run, I talk about how I needed to lose weight. I do have a “before” photo of me on my About Me page, but the inset photo tells an even better story.

23. The next #runchat is this Sunday on Twitter. Head over to iRunnerBlog to read about this week’s great giveaway.

24. My post after my first marathon is still my favorite post ever. I am a marathoner and no one can ever take that title away from me.

25. My Stung in the eye post still picks up a lot of page views. People enjoy it when other people suffer.

26. I never knew how the Yasso 800s worked until recently. Now I just need easier access to a track to do them.

27. If someone tells you their product is “scientifically proven,” that doesn’t mean it will actually work for you.

28. If you’re looking for an alternative to ice, use a bag of frozen peas.

29. I really want to have a 40-mile week this summer. That’s a distance that still eludes me.

30. The best thing I’ve ever done to help my running: buying all non-cotton gear.

31. My son wore his race medal for nearly an hour after his race the other day. That makes me proud in many ways:

32. I want to run an ultramarathon one day. In particular, one of these.

33. Did I mention to make sure you have fun? No matter how far you go, or how fast your are … HAVE FUN!

For the first time in four years, I’ve done four races in the first half of the year. There’s something about the variety of races I’ve done this year that have me really wanting to do more as I train for the Baltimore Marathon. And more is what I’ll do.

• The check is in the mail for a 5k near my in-law’s house in Ohio on July 4 — the Stars and Stripes 5k in Howland, Ohio. This will be the flattest 5k I’ve ever done. Considering that I’m coming off a 23:03 5k on a very hilly course this past weekend, there’s no doubt that I’m going to aim for a PR. I pretty much have no time to prepare for that increased speed, so here’s to hoping the hills I run on make all the difference. If I don’t get it, I’ll be OK. I just want to put it out there that I want to break my 5k PR — this is my last shot until December.
• On July 16 I’ll run the Percival’s Island 5-Miler in Lynchburg for the fourth time. Last year I did what I called the smartest racing I’ve ever done. In hindsight, I don’t really remember much about that race, but I’ll be shooting for a faster time than last year (39:52). In 2007 I ran this race in 36:59, which is still my fastest-pace race ever. I don’t know if I have that in me right now, and I’m sure that weather will be a factor once again, so I won’t set any goals just yet.
• Nearly a month later, on Aug. 13, I’ll run the Lynchburg Half Marathon for the fourth time, but only the second time on the “new” course with a nasty hill in the middle. Last year, this was a bad race, but a good training run. Looking back, that hill defeated me. I’m not going to let that happen again. Whether or not I beat last year’s time of 1:55 is something I’m not thinking about right now. Ideally, yes, I want to be faster. How much faster is a goal that will wait after several long runs.
• After that there are some other things I’m considering before the marathon, but I’m not signing up for anything else right now. The 5 miler and the half marathon were very cheap right now and come with moisture-wicking shirts; with a price increase coming July 1, I went ahead and signed up for those this week. Signing up also gives me even more intense focus on training and putting thoughts in my head now of what I want to do in Baltimore in October.

I broke down and went to the doctor yesterday after I found myself still feeling completely run down. I was just tired of feeling so freakin’ BLAH.

So here is apparently what is wrong with me: I’m allergic to Ohio. Blame it on LeBron or the Browns or something … but every time I travel to the northeast part of the state I’m not healthy. The doctor said he could write me a note so I wouldn’t have to go to my in-laws’ house again, but I knew that wouldn’t be a good idea.

In all seriousness though, I’m allergic to something there. Dust, mold, a different allergy season, the lack of good sports teams. (Sorry … I thought it was funny.) SOMETHING gets me just about every time I’m there and it wipes me completely out for a few days afterward. While 8 hours in the car can be draining, there’s no reason for me to feel like crap two days later.

In an odd way, I knew already that I was allergic to something there, but hadn’t taken any action. I’m 31 and have had very few allergy problems in my life. It’s just the sniffles or a cold, I thought. But after 20 trips up there, I’ve had enough of feeling bad after the trip. So it was nice to hear from the doctor that it’s very likely allergies.

So I got two shots — some allergy shot and a shot of B12 and some Singulair to help open my lungs. The doctor said I felt so worn down because my airwaves were restricted and my body was working overtime to breathe harder. It makes perfect sense. I knew I was sleeping enough, and probably more than usual, but I was still drained. I could have slept all week if I didn’t go to the doctor.

So in a matter of hours I was feeling a ton better. And 30 hours later I’m even better. I can breathe again … there’s a sign of hope that my weekend race is not lost. And now that I have this figured out — assuming that the doctor was right and this prescription doesn’t bother me — my next trip to Ohio shouldn’t leave me feeling like I’m stuck in mud.

It seems that whenever I get sick, I am knocked completely out. This week I had a chest cold come out of nowhere Monday during my trip to Ohio. It started Monday morning when I didn’t feel that great and then got worse later in the afternoon. By Monday night I didn’t have much a voice at all.

After 8 hours in the car Tuesday, I felt awful last night once I had a chance to relax. Then this morning I felt like a train hit me. After an hour or so of being up, I actually didn’t feel all that bad … but then I laid down on the couch and slept for almost 3 hours. For the rest of today I have felt so-so. I’m actually considerably better than about 12 hours ago, but certainly not well enough to run.

I have the Trail Nut Half Marathon on Saturday and right now I’m still planning on doing it. I was already taking a laid-back approach to this event and will probably be even more laid back now. I want to do this for experience, not a certain time or any sort of bragging rights other than it being a unique event. That being said, I won’t do anything crazy to jeopardize my long-term health.

I guess the good news in all this is that it’s happening now. There’s 23 weeks until the Richmond Marathon and “official” training will get under way in a month. So it’s much better to be sick now and get it out of the way.

I’m visiting my in-laws in Ohio this weekend, so I’m much more disconnected than usual. I pretty much have about 20 minutes per day to get on the computer with the various things we have going on. It’s kind of a nice break actually.

This morning I got in a nice, flat 8-mile run. It’s nice to get in a run when I’m out of my usual routine. It makes me feel like I’m getting more done with running.

And that’s all for now … run along. Not much to see here.

The greatest feeling in the world with running is beating a goal. Today all I wanted to do was run a couple of 8-minute miles and finish around 16 minutes in the 2-mile Turkey Trot in Warren, Ohio. Since I haven’t really done much speed work lately and the fact that I haven’t done all that much running since the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, I didn’t know what my body would do beyond a mile if I pushed it. The other night my friend Travis and I ran a 7:33 mile as part of a 5-mile run, but I really wondered if I could sustain that for two miles.

Turns out, I can. Today I finished in 14:54.7, a 7:27 pace. In fact, I was actually about 20 seconds faster than that, but since this was not timed with a chip from the beginning, that little bit of extra effort wasn’t “official.” This race did use chips to record the finishers, but there was not a chip timing mat at the beginning. With 1,200 people, and many people starting at the front that shouldn’t have been, a chip mat at the beginning would have been nice to record the times more accurately. Not that I’m complaining — this was actually a very well organized race and all for a good cause. And the long-sleeved shirt is nice too.

Anyway, this short race felt great. It was a nice, cool, somewhat damp start to the day with temperatures in the low 40s. It was actually raining when I warmed up for a mile, making me want to just go into my car, drive back to my in-laws’ house and go to bed. And after yesterday’s awful car ride, I was just exhausted. But I did it, and I’m so happy with the results. In addition to being happy with my time, I was 127th out of more than 1,200 runners and walkers and finished 6th in my age group out of 34.

The real question I have now is can I sustain a pace like that for next week’s 5k? And can I sustain that pace and improve on it this winter to have good races next year? I certainly hope so.