For the last 3 weeks I’ve been averaging 30 miles a week and would like to run in the Garden Spot Village Marathon on April 10th with Nate.   My certainty level about the race isn’t too high due to the impending California move and lack of clarity about my work/travel schedule.  If I can’t make that race for some reason, I’ll try to keep my mileage consistent and then look for a marathon more local to San Jose.

I’m definitely not in prime shape yet, but at this point, I am thrilled to be running again on a regular basis.

Appalachian Trail

I’ve been hitting the Appalachian Trail for runs very frequently over the last month (including 3x in the last 8 days), and I’ve noticed it is getting mentally and physically easier. When I first started running there I was spending a lot of time focusing on the terrain right in front of me and felt like I was spending 90% of my brain cycles just making sure I didn’t trip over a root, rock, or uneven ground.

I realized today during my run that I was still looking at the ground a few steps ahead of me, but I felt like I was mentally handling it all in the background except for a few places where it was particularly tricky. It was nice being able to just get lost in my thoughts during the run.   I can also feel my ankles are much more stable when I am landing on uneven terrain.

The section I like to run on is fairly tame, but I think as my skills grow I’ll start to experiment with running on tougher trails.

Long version: I had signed up for this race with high hopes in the fall of 2008.  Unfortunately, my overall training load has been extremely low and as of  Saturday morning, I wasn’t planning on running the race.  I did still want to go up to the race in Allentown, but was figuring on just cheering people and taking photos (I packed my mountain bike and 2 cameras).

My friend Jon and I drove up to the race expo in Allentown on Saturday afternoon so he could pick up his race packet and we also had to pick up race packets for our friends Lindsay and James who wouldn’t be able to make it up until right before the race on Sunday morning.

Even though I wasn’t going to run, I had been considering still picking up my race packet since I had already paid, and the packet usually includes a bunch of goodies.  One thing I didn’t want to do was  have to bother with was returning the timing chip that large races normally use.  If your timing chip doesn’t get returned (typically taken off your shoe at the end of the race just past the finish line), you get fined $25 – $35.  When Jon and I walked into the packet pickup area, it turned out that attached to the race bibs were a new type of disposable timing chip.  This meant there was no need to worry about returning the chip.  I figured that since my chip dilemma was solved, I might as well pick up my packet.

Jon and I then browsed the expo for a bit and got our free race windbreakers with the race logo.   After picking up the windbreaker, I realized that I would feel pretty lame if I wore the windbreaker but didn’t run in the race.  That got the wheels spinning in my head about whether I might actually be able to finish the race.

After waffling a bit I decided I’d run the race unless my legs were really bothering me in the morning (I’ve been having annoying leg and foot twitches/cramping for a while, likely caused by BFS).     I wasn’t expecting much since my longest run in 2009 was 9.3 miles, and I have been averaging about 16 miles a week lately.  I felt like I would be okay aerobically, but I was nervous that I’d end up hurting a muscle or tendon due to fatigue late in the race.

After a fairly restless night of sleep, my legs were feeling decent in the morning so decided I would do the race.  We had an uneventful trip to the parking area at the Allentown fairgrounds, met James to hand off he and Lindsay’s bibs and then walked over to the high school where the race would start.

The race area was crowded as usual, with people everywhere doing their pre-race rituals. There were just over 3000 runners in the half-marathon and another 600 or so in a 5k race that starts 10 minutes earlier.

Start area for the race

Jon had been nursing a back injury and thought he would start off slow,  so we planned on running together in the beginning.  He was carrying my small camera (he took all the photos in my gallery except for the ones of him).  A lot of the photos are a little blurry, but that is what you get when taking photos while running.  Jon had also bought a pair of headphones for his iPod touch that included a voice recorder and made an audio recording of most of the race.

The first mile was pretty uneventful as the crowd of runners slowly started stretching out.  We passed the “big drum” group which has a really cool sound.

Big drum group

We ran about an even 9 minute pace for the first mile.  I could feel a little bit of a twinge in my left quad but it wasn’t strong, so I hoped it would loosen up.

Miles two and three we hit around 8:50s each and at the end of the 3rd mile I felt the twinge in my left quad go away so I started to get a little bit more confident on finishing.

Around mile 3.5 we  saw Lindsay and James going past us in the opposite direction, they looked strong. (Sorry James, we couldn’t get the camera to fire again soon enough to catch you.)

Lindsay Zemba

Around mile 5 we ended up talking to a woman named Marla who was running at our  pace.   The three of us were chatting and clicking off miles at a fairly even pace of about 8:55.    We saw a guy with a unique “hand” haircut around mile 5.5.

Hand haircut guy

Around mile 6 we saw a neat looking medical vehicle that I was hoping I wouldn’t need a ride in.

Medical vehicle

Here are Marla and Jon when we are at about mile 7.5

Marla

Jon

Around mile 8.5 Jon said he was feeling pretty strong so he bid farwell and started pushing the pace (he would average about 7:30 pace for the remainder of the race).

Marla and I kept on running a steady pace but started to pass more people as a lot of people were slowing down later in the race.  I think we were running very even splits.

After we hit the 10 mile mark, the race was mentally easier as there was only a 5k to go.  I was feeling a little bit of pain in my left hip, but it seemed minor and my confidence that I’d be able to finish without some horrible biomechanical meltdown was starting to grow.

The crowd support was growing during the last two miles and that definitely helped.  It was really nice having run the course twice before and knowing exactly what was coming up as we closed in towards the finishing area.

I really like how the course ends:  you finish inside a stadium on an all-weather track.  The track just feels bouncy and fast and there is a ton of excitement in the air as you can hear an announcer call out names of finishers and the crowd is cheering for everyone.

We picked up the pace and probably passed around 10 people in the 250 meters or so that are ran on the track.  The clock time was 1:57:02 and my chip time ended up being 1:56:11  (8:53 average pace).

A big dorky smile after the race

I was completely thrilled to have finished.    This was the slowest half-marathon I’ve ran, but given the reality of where I am fitness-wise now this felt like a real accomplishment.   I felt really sore after I finished (and the hilly walk back to the car didn’t help), but after a few hours and a nap at home I am feeling pretty good.

LVHM finisher's medal

Links:

Metals4Mettle: Cool charity that collects marathon, half-marathon, and triathlon medals to give to struggling kids.  I’m donating my medals to this.

Official race results

]]> http://www.williamhathaway.com/wordpress/2009/05/03/2009-lehigh-valley-half-marathon-race-report-long/feed/ 1 http://www.williamhathaway.com/wordpress/2009/04/19/2009-cumberland-valley-rail-trail-15k-race-report/ http://www.williamhathaway.com/wordpress/2009/04/19/2009-cumberland-valley-rail-trail-15k-race-report/#comments Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:35:51 +0000 William Hathaway http://www.williamhathaway.com/wordpress/?p=352

I ran in the CRVT 15k race this afternoon with Nate.  I didn’t have a goal time since my weekly mileage has been pretty low (probably a little under 20 miles/week for last month) and I still need to shed a few extra pounds that I gained around the beginning of the year. Shelly, Nate’s girlfriend, graciously offered to come along and help with logistics.  The race was a point-to-point course, so having someone to help shuttle the car from the start to the finish helped us avoid having to use the rented bus and gave us more flexibility, and it was nice having someone to cheer for us at the halfway point.

We had a 1PM start which was unusual (the CVRT folks had a full day of events and the 15k was the last one to start).  I prefer having a morning start time for races since I don’t need to mess with my meal schedule and don’t suffer from the pre-race nervousness for long, but I like running on rail-trails so was happy to enter the race and support CVRT.

Nate and I ran the first 3 miles together hitting 8:40s.  I started picking it up on the 4th mile and hit a 7:47.  At about this time the sun was coming out frequently from the cloud cover and it was definitely getting warmer than I’d like.  The temperature (70s?) would have been fine for me in June, but I could tell I wasn’t sweating effectively since almost all my training so far this year has been in the colder temperatures.  I could see my heart rate/pace ratio was climbing higher than usual so I decided to back off the pace to make sure I didn’t overdo it.

Mile 5 was an 8:13 (including a water stop).  Mile 6 was 8:00 and I was starting to feel my legs develop some fatigue.   I noticed  more people taking walk breaks.

Miles 7, 8, and 9 were fairly consistent with 8:21,8:16, and 8:22 splits but my heart rate at this point was in the mid to high 170s.  I was a bit discouraged to be working hard compared to the pace, but it is what it is.  I was able to pick it up to a 7:54 pace for the final .3 miles for an overall time of 1:17:12.  I felt exhausted at the end, but recovered quickly with  water and a snack.  The CVRT folks were offering freshly grilled barbecue chicken as a post-race meal, but Nate is a vegetarian so we headed out to a restaurant to get food we could all enjoy.

Overall thoughts: While I’ll always wish I went faster, I’m happy I entered the race.  This was the longest run I’ve done since the beginning of January and I felt like I gave a pretty good effort given my fitness level and the weather.

Tue: ran 5 miles with Nate along Front Street/PennDOT trail

Wed: ran 4 miles on the Conewago

Thur: ran 5 miles on the Conewago

Fri: off

Sat: 4 miles from City Island and along the river front in Harrisburg

Sun: 8.3 or so miles with Nate along the Appalachian Trail

Total: 26 miles. I think this is my 2nd highest weekly total since last summer.

I’m planning on running a 15k (9.3 miles for the non-metrically inclined) race next Sunday with Nate which will be held in Shippensburg.  They are also offering a 18 mile bike ride, 15k hike, and a 5k race on the same day.  Details are available at the CVRTC site.

http://connect.garmin.com/explore#activityType=all&eventType=all&username=wdhathaway&currentPage=1&sortField=relevance

This afternoon I ran 7.3 miles on the Appalachian Trail with Mark Rebuck.  The section that we did started at Rt 641 (Trindle Road) and went out to the bridge that crosses over the Carlisle Pike.  The weather was fantastic, we saw a lot of people out on the trail hiking or running.  I really liked this section of the trail as it had a variety of terrain including both open fields and woods, some very flat sections and a few hills, and no part that had crazy rocks.  I’ve been on the AT a few times, but often there were sections that had a crazy amount of rocks and I would be nervous while running that I’d turn an ankle.  This afternoon’s run was a total delight, I’m definitely going to run this section again.

Motionbased

Tue: 4 miles with Nate, Jon, Cali, Mark and Josh  along the riverfront and then ate at Passage to India

Wed: off

Thu: 5 miles with Jon around the Conodoguinet Creek

Fri: off

Sat: 8 miles at Conewago by myself (averaged about 7:50/mile pace, my Garmin lost .13 miles)

Sun: 6 miles with Nate at the Newville rail trail

Total for the week: 28 miles

Tues – 4 miles with Nate along the PennDOT/Greenbelt trail

Wed – 7 miles with Jon, Tex, and Cali

Thu – off

Fri – 2 miles along the PennDOT/Greenbelt trail (and had a good night bowling, got my first 200 game in about 2 years!)

Sat – 7 miles at the Geisinger Humdinger trail race with Jon.

As expected, I wasn’t as quick as last year (I’m a little heavier and have averaged about 1/2 the miles/week), but I had a good time at the race.  The weather was a close-to-perfect 50s when we started and unlike last year’s snow-covered romp, the trail was all dirt, rocks, mud, and the occasional downed tree.  It was a fun experience and felt really nice to run a race again.

Sun – 18 minutes on the elliptical at home

Total for the week: 20 miles running, 1 light elliptical workout.