Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Recap - Cool Statistics

That's right, day 2 after my race - and I am STILL posting about it!  How much mileage do I think I can get out of 10 miles?

After seeing this, I wanted to post it up here for all to see!



I know that it shows me as being slow, with more people in my brackets ahead of me than behind.. But still! HOW COOL IS THIS?

Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race Recap

So, to set the stage.

I signed up for the Cherry Blossom Festival Lottery, with great hope of getting in.  I thought this would be an AWESOME start to running races in DC.  So, with true jubilation - I found out that I was one of the lucky chosen to run through the streets of our nation's capital, having trained hard and enjoying the fruits of that labor.

So that was the plan.  In fact, I even joyously posted on January 28th that I had started my training.

I was totally going to rock this..

And I'm sure I would have.. if I had actually done some training.

[caption id="attachment_2492" align="aligncenter" width="490"] I'm going to do WHAT?[/caption]

Race Report: Charm City Run - New Years Resolution Run

So this morning, I thought that the best way to start Janathon - was with a 5k I found on the internet.  The Charm City Run - New Years resolution Run (Charm City Run is a chain of stores).  I headed up to Baltimore to the St. Elizabeth of Hungary church hall to get registered.  It seems that I wasn't the only one with this idea!  It was nice that they had two helpers right at the foot of the stairs directing you where to go and gt your registration form.  Unfortunately, after that - you were left to guess.  There was one helpful person working the registration table that was sending everyone to the end of the table to pay... Unfortunately, it was only where you paid for Credit Cards!

[caption id="attachment_2041" align="aligncenter" width="490"] The church hall 1 hour 20 minutes before starting time![/caption]

Signage would have helped.

There seemed to be plenty of room for everyone in the Hall - but maybe there were lots of warmly-dressed people outside.  I was glad I had thought to use the bathroom right after getting there - because the lines started forming after that.. The men's didn't get to bad - until the women took it over at 10-15 minutes of race time!  And I'm not complaining - they needed to if they were going to get to use the facilities before it started!

Race Report - Healthy Steps for Kids 5k

Unfortunately with my foot, I was unable to run the race I had planned on saturday.  So I headed out to cheer on Derek, as well as a former co-worker.   Derek was nice enough to write-up a guest post so we would still have a race report!

[caption id="attachment_1494" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Derek (in white) 50 feet from the starting line - ahead of our former co-worker Tim (in the Orange)"][/caption]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

[caption id="attachment_1495" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Derek and Tim coming up the hill after the 1 mile mark. The 10 year old in the gren shirt came in third over-all."][/caption]So it was my first race of the year and I did not know how I would do, so I was thought I would try to pace myself with somebody during the race.  It turned out that only a few people in the race were faster than I was, so there was no one I could really pace myself with.  I ended up trying to pace it by myself.

The race started and I took off - I was running with the  leader for just  a little bit, but he started pulling away. For probably three fifths of the race I was in 5th place, behind what seemed  to be two adult runners and two young kids. The kids where 10, but man could they run. Finally Tim (former co-worker) passed me again -

Race Report - Chenango Forks XV 2012

[caption id="attachment_1372" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Chris (runner) and Rebecca (photographer) before the race"][/caption]

Last year, I had planned on doing the Forks 15k, but it was during one of my many pulled muscle incidents... (Oh, and I wasn't anywhere near capable of running 15k at the time - but I'm not going to mention that part.. Totally going to blame the pulled muscle and pretend I could have done it otherwise.)  The big difference between this year and last year - is I have been very careful to NOT pull a muscle. (I also feel its worth mentioning that I have been training this year as well...)  Now I hadn't done 9 miles this year, but I had done a couple of 7 and 8 mile runs, so I knew I had this. 

For Reference, the only other 15k I have done is the Utica Boilermaker last year in 1:30:20.

Yesterday was looking to be a bit chilly - 40's to low 50s, beautiful running weather!  I headed up to Chenango Forks Highschool to register and was faced with my first quandary of the day.

[caption id="attachment_1371" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="See the orange? No thank you."][/caption]

Do I need to start with the "early" starters - that get to go 15 minutes early?  I know I am not the speediest runner - but how slow am I?  Well, after seeing the Orange things the early starters had to wear, I decided not too, as orange clashes with my complexion.

All joking aside - I figured I was probably going to be ok with not doing the early start.  There were around 225 people at the starting line when they yelled "Go" (followed by the beeping of countless GPS watches/phones starting.) 

St. Patricks 4 mile race in Binghamton NY!

Yesterday, I did my first "St. Pat's 4 miler!"  This a staple for runners in this area - with it being the 11th running of the race.  Let me start by saying that it was COLD.  We were running in 60 degree temperatures last week, and yesterday it was 24 degrees.  Despite (or maybe because of?) the odd distance, it gets a great showing, with 697 runners showing up this year.  I find this REALLY impressive, as it was pre-registrations ONLY.

For those that know the Binghamton Area, I have included a map of the course above.

There were a variety of outfits from the mundane, to green-haired kilt wearing runners.  The gymnasium was PACKED! (probably because people were avoiding the cold.)  I wasn't terribly impressed with the packet pickup.  First you stood in line and got your number (mine was 660.)  You were supposed to remember the number while you stood in a really

[caption id="attachment_1297" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Your standard cotton race shirt. Luckily, I like the standard cotton race shirt. Especially long-sleeve ones!"][/caption]

long line, for packet pickup.  Then toward the end of the line - you went to one of three - that was based on your number.. (Only one of which was actually long - but it was the reason the number pickup was long.)  Then, just in case you hadn't

Chris Thater Race Report... JUST KIDDING!!!

So, this last weekend was the Chris Thater Memorial Races.  Now practically speaking this is mostly a bunch of bicycle races (with a motorcycle as the "pace-car."  I love watching the motorcycle "lead the pack.") but on sunday at 10 am - is the Chris Thater Memorial 5k.  I like this race a lot - as it is about 1/2 a mile from my house, and the course actually goes within 500 feet of my house.  I have been VERY nervous about running it - considering my recurring calf pain.  Sunday morning rolled around and I took stock of the situation.  My calf was still sore in one spot (about the size of the tip of my finger).  After weighing the pro's and cons - I decided to pass on it.  Then on the Face Book page - "everything is cancelled for today."  This was further followed up with:
As an endnote to this morning's 2011 Chris Thater Memorial Race cancellation, the decision to cancel Sunday's race and music events was made early Sunday morning by a group of city, county, emergency services, and race officials based on the latest National Weather Service predictions for Hurricane Irene's impact on the area. Safety was the determining factor. The events will not be rescheduled, but we hope to see you all again next year.

I would have liked to have run it - I really like the course, the race is always fast, and the crowd is incredible.  But I do feel vindicated in my choice to NOT run it.  Though, I have to admit - I do now wonder if I will be getting a refund :)

Wild Weekend - Warrior Dash Race Report!

So this weekend, my wife and I did the Warrior Dash.  What can I say about that?

It was a BLAST!!!  But lets give you more than that.  Some background for you - I have run 5ks off and on for a few years - and was a runner back in highschool.  My wife was a sprinter in highschool, and hasn't really run since.  I ask her if she wants to join me - on just about every 5k I THINK about doing, not even just the ones I do run.  She always says no.  Well, For the Warrior Dash - she said yes.  Seriously.  I was suprised too!

[caption id="attachment_689" align="alignright" width="179" caption="Smurfs!!!"][/caption]

So, on the day of the dash - my lovely wife and I got up at 6 o'clock, headed out to the car to drive up to Wyndham Mountain NY for the event.  The drive was peaceful, and since we arrived around 8:30 - the parking was nice and close as well (although another $10.)  We headed up to packet pickup, got our stuff (very smoothly organized I might add) - and headed back to the car (since it was so close, why not leave our valuables there?) 

Some of the costumes were GREAT.  We saw some Smurfs in tutus, folks in grass skirts and countless matching t-shirts.  And we were only in the parking lot! (It got better when we got up to the race!)

We dropped off the sweat pants and excess clothes, pinned our numbers on and headed up to the gear-check.  My car keys went into the check under my bib number (this becomes important later - as my wife explains), and off to Races! 

Race Report - Utica Boilermaker 15K - 2011

[caption id="attachment_478" align="alignright" width="150" caption="You can see the port-a-pottie lines in the background!"][/caption]

What a fantastic day for a race!  It was a gorgeous 58 degrees as the cannon went off! (I think it was still 58 degrees, 11 minutes later when I actually reached the start line as well!)  Can I say that 11,000 runners make for a very large crowd (and VERY large lines at the port-a-potties?) 

We showed up VERY early (I was not going to drive 2 hours just to get to "packet pickup" and drive home the day before - when I could show up 2 hours before the race and get it!), with one of my friends that was running riding along, and my wonderful wife there to root us on.  As we arrived (getting a parking spot less than 1000 feet to the starting line,) I realized that I had forgotten my license, a requirement to pick up the race packet.  As we got to the table,I was quite  lucky - the packet pickup lady was not a stickler for the rules - so after much begging, pleading and groveling (or I MIGHT have just explained the situation and she was quite reasonable.)  So luckily, I didn't get up at 3AM just to watch other people run - That was a good start.  Then I got to use a port-a-pottie that no one had used yet - they smell surprisingly "Fresh" when that is true.  Definitely another new experience!

2011 YMCA Corporate Challenge Race Report

So, most "race reports" I have seen on people's blogs are marathons or triathlons.  unfortunately, I am not up to those esteemed races as this point in life!  BUT I did do a 5k, followed by a 1 mile leg of a relay.  Lets see how those went.

[caption id="attachment_429" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="I can not possibly say enough good things about KT Tape!"][/caption]

It really started out at lunch time - when I stopped by home to grab my KT Tape.  Since my lovely wife was there, and she pre-taped my formerly injured calf for me.  Now fast forward to after work, I picked up my kids and headed over to the college that it was being held at.  I was a bit nervous about it as I haven't been running for the last 4 weeks due to injury, but Bryce and Elspeth (my son and daughter) did a fantastic job of keeping me from getting nervous!