posted Apr-21-2007 07:31 PM            

Anyway, my wife decided to run so that meant I needed to push the double. I was kind of looking forward to pushing my light weight daughter in the single but anytime I get to run with the kids is great. I started right up front despite the comments from several NC State students who said(“That guy shouldn’t be there with the stroller! He is going to get run over and slow us all down.”).

I started strong for the first mile and I only slowed down a bit on the first small hill. I had a 6:20 first mile and I was pretty consistent with a 6:33 second mile. By the time we started to turn off onto the trail I was 3rd overall. However, a girl and a guy were right on my tail. I decided to let them pass me because I didn’t think it was fair to take up the whole trail with the double. The truth is I probably should have just stayed ahead of them and just pushed really hard. Anyway, I let them pass and both of them had no idea where to go. I had to keep directing them which trail to take.

When we exited the trail I was still pretty close to them but I knew the last little hill was going to ruin me. It did! I dropped pretty far back from the two that passed me. In the end I had a pretty good sprint but I faded on my last mile. I ended up with a 20:46. It definitely wasn’t a PR but I honestly don’t think it is possible for me to ever run that fast in 5k with the double again. It just weighs too much now.

I will try for a good run at the race for Grace but it is not very likely considering the course finishes up a pretty steep hill. See you at the races!

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posted Apr-23-2007 11:16 AM            

Since I had to help the wife out with a horse show Sunday, I did my hard workout on Saturday. Started with a 2.2 mile jog, stretching, strength training for thirty minutes with stretching and then a double brick. For the brick I rode my bike 4.1 miles at tempo speed and impedingly ran one mile at tempo. Without rest I repeated that. I made the second brick closer to race conditions. My hamstring started to give out towards the end of the last run. It is still complaining, but I expect to be rested and ready Saturday for the sprint Tri.

Bob

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posted Apr-23-2007 09:40 PM            

I started out running my normal course but I tried to keep my pace even this time. I wanted to hit as close to 7:00 minute miles as possible. I started out a little faster than that but I was holding the pace pretty nicely. By the time I reached the 5K mark I realized that I was as fast as I had ever been and I was still feeling strong. When I hit the 5 mile mark I was still right on the 7:00 pace and I still had some energy. Then I started to realize that I needed to find a restroom and quick. I stopped at a MacDonald’s at the 8 mile mark but it was only for a few minutes.

I got back on the road and I was still feeling pretty good. When I finished the 10 miles I looked at my watch and I had done it in 1:12:15. Not too shabby considering my longest run this year was a 10K! I think that the runs I am doing on Thursday night are really helping me. I have to push myself very hard to keep up with the guys that I run with. Maybe I will be ready for the marathon in the fall after all.

Come out on Thursday night if you want to get a good run in and meet some other runners from the area!

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posted Apr-24-2007 11:07 AM            

My race for the past weekend was the Habitat for Humanity 5K on NCSU's Centennial Campus. I posted a report on my LAF training blog (www.lafrider.com). Lots of hills and really challenging, for me anyway.

Next up is the Riverwood Triathlon Saturday (my first) but Im still not sure if I'll make it out there. My swimming is still horrible and I hate to do anything without being able to put up at least a decent showing. I'm still not able to do the 300yds continuously without catching my breath after about halfway. Upside is my friend knows someone whose done it before and said the pool was so slow some people ended up walking their laps.

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posted Apr-24-2007 12:41 PM            

I would definitely say go for the triathlon. Even if swimming isn’t your strong suite just getting out there and trying is half the battle. Stay with it and you will be amazed at how fast you progress. I run with a guy who has dropped his 5K time from around 21 minutes to the upper 17’s in just 3 years and all of that without running more than 8 miles at a time. At age 42 that is pretty fantastic. Now if only I could keep up with him!

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posted Apr-24-2007 09:15 PM            

Bob

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posted Apr-24-2007 09:44 PM            

[This message has been edited by IEatHills4Meals (edited Apr-24-2007).]

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posted Apr-25-2007 12:03 AM            

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posted Apr-25-2007 09:55 AM            

Brad

Isaiah 40:31

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posted Apr-25-2007 10:33 AM            

I can really relate to your comments about the hills in North Raleigh. I seem to live at the one of the highest points in my neighborhood, so every run starts downhill - then has to return ... well, you catch my drift.

Good luck at Vermont City. My only marathon was in Miami (nice and flat!), but I wind up in Burlington about twice a year on business. I think they try to keep the course as flat as possible, but I don't see how they can avoid hills up there - so you'll probably appreciate the ones here by the time you're done.

I generally do the Millbrook - Creedmore - Strickland - Six Forks (or Falls of Neuse) loops for my long runs since I'm on the course once I step out my front door. However, both Lake Lynn and Shelley Lake have nice running trails around them. The latter is a little nicer, I think, because the trails continue out beyond just the lake area so you can get more distance in without having to "do laps". If you know where you're going, in fact, you can start out north of the lake and get at least as far as Crabtee Mall (that's all the farther I've gone, but the trail may go farther). With the summer coming on, it's probably a lot cooler doing the trails, too.

Welcome to Raleigh, and enjoy yourself.

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posted Apr-25-2007 03:56 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by misterfun:
Bones, does your injury still have you out of the Country Music Marathon this weekend? I don't know if they would let me pick up your shirt, packet and goodie bag for you -- they mention photo IDs very strongly in the newsletter -- but I can ask....

Brad

Isaiah 40:31

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posted Apr-25-2007 04:23 PM            

Here is the website and elevations for the course.

http://www.raceofgrace.org/course.html

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=894547

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posted Apr-26-2007 10:22 AM            

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posted Apr-29-2007 11:25 PM            

The morning I ran the half-marathon at the Inaugural Eugene (OR) marathon, and had a wonderful time. I'm originally from the area and my folks still live here, so it was a good opportunity to get a good race in while visiting the family. Had a great time at the Boomer's get-together (details on the Eugene Marathon thread in the Boomers forum), and the race turned out to be very well organized and very well run.

I stuck to the half, and went in with a couple of goals - ideally a 2:10 finish, and failing that, beating the marathon winner's time. I failed to accomplish the first (2:16:12) but accomplished the second (he ran 2:21:01), and I PR'd by over seven minutes, so overall I'm very happy. I was on my target pace for about the first eight miles, but started falling apart after that. On the other hand, I'm not really all that stiff or sore now, 14 hours after finishing.

I know part of this is hometown pride, but if anyone's looking for a pleasant race in an ideal running environment in a town that knows (and loves) running, give this race careful consideration. They had pretty good crowd support, and the climate is so much more pleasant to run in here this time of year. (The only thing to watch out for is rain: this time of year it's about 50/50 whether you'll have rain or not.

Now that this is over I'll probably try to work on speed. I don't think I'll be doing anything before the Komen 5K in June, and after that probably nothing until the fall racing series.

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posted Apr-30-2007 09:47 AM            

The event was quite large and there were some good runners out there. I started out close to the front and I had a decent first mile(6:25). The second mile was much tougher though. It was uphill and the wind really picked up. With the double stroller it slowed me down a lot(7:08). It helped having everyone cheering on the way back though. I picked it up on the last downhill and gave everything I had up the last hill. Right before I finished I looked up and saw one of the stronger local runners go down with what appeared to be heat exhaustion. It was brutal. He was staggering everywhere! The ambulance took him away but I think he is going to be ok. I finished with a 6:58 last 1.1 miles and that included a pretty steep last hill. I ended up with a 20:31 which I was pretty happy with but I am still hoping to get back below that 20:00 mark again. I did manage to hang on to 3rd in my age group though. I got some absolutely delicious blue berry muffins as the award. All of the awards are fresh baked goods at this event.

Check this out! The third women overall all was an 11 year old girl with a 21:12! This little girl is one to watch. With a little training she is going to be smoking everyone.

32 Jackeitna Baker Knightdale NC 604 11 ***** F 1-12 21:12 6:50/M

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posted Apr-30-2007 10:39 AM               

Travis, nice to see you. You were running well out there. You should've heard the 'oh my Gods' coming from the folks at the back of the pack as you were flying down hill on the return trip pushing the stroller

Yeah, that little girl was great. There was an eight year old boy, too, who ran a sub-23. Some natural ability there, too!

It was a good race! The course was nice - they even had bands along the course (for a 5K!). It was very sunny, though, and I was out on the course for 38 minutes with my son and got a minor sunburn.

It was my 6 year old son's first race. In fact, this is the first time I've seen him run more than a mile. He'd been begging me to take him to a race for a few weeks, so I finally relented.

He did great! He chugged the whole way at about a 12/minute pace, only stopping at the drink stations to hydrate. More importantly, he had a great time and wants to do another one as soon as possible.

I figure the Race For The Cure would be another good race for a little guy. I just need to check with his pediatrician to see if it's safe for a six year old to be running 5Ks - any doctors out there?

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posted Apr-30-2007 11:36 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by JasonsDrivingForce:
I saw Brad who had just got off the plane after his marathon. You are the man for doing a 5K the day after the marathon! That is nuts!

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Thanks, Travis! I had a great Saturday at the Country Music Marathon. The day started overcast and cool, but about three hours into the race the clouds broke up and it got steadily hotter. More than 29,000 people had registered between the half-marathon and the full.

The first out-and-back leg of the race was through Vanderbilt, Music Row, and a nice residential section. The crowds were excellent through this stretch, and a lot of folks contributed their own aid stations, music or other entertainment. One woman was apparently belly-dancing for the runners' enjoyment, and one houseful of guys put together an impromptu band on their front porch. But just as nice were the five senior citizens who were sitting on the sidewalk playing their dulcimers.

After a pass through downtown, the next leg was out through "Germantown" to an office park along the Cumberland River, where we put in two miles along the river greenway. It was a nice section, but because of the way the roads were closed it was hard for spectators to reach this area. There were some nuns from an abbey in the area that came out to bless us. The half-marathoners had already split off, so the running crowd was smaller, too. There was a great country band and a great blues/swing band on this leg. Very little shade in this section. Would it have been hard for the Titans cheerleaders to come out when we ran by the training facility? :-)

After passing through downtown again, we crossed one of the bridges over the river and passed by the half-marathon finish area at the stadium. At my pace, a lot of the half-marathoners had finished and were walking out; I imagine it was really hoppin' when the majority of the half-ers were finishing. BTW, the Accelerade sports drink tied in with Elite Racing for this year's musical races tastes lousy. Please open the wallet and get us real Gatorade or Powerade!

After the 20-mile mark, where the 5-hour pace group finally caught and passed me, we went out to Shelby Park, a nice flat green area where we did a small loop. There were a lot of shady spots where the continuous breeze felt even better, but there were still some places with no break from the sun. Again, low crowd support because we were running on the main road in/out of the area. There was an absolutely kickin' rockabilly band in the park that was the best of the course. (We passed several stages where bands were still in the process of setting up or converting from one act to another.)

The last two miles were through a mostly industrial area with scrap metal yards and a car-crushing facility, but at least it was flat. Brutal hot. Finally the Titans stadium came into view, and after one turn you could see the 26-mile mark ahead and the crowds finally returned. The last quarter-mile was loud, and it was great to cross the finish line and get that heavy medal. Good post-race support, and my aunt had some real Gatorade for me.

I cruised through the first fifteen miles well ahead of my goal pace, but as it got hotter I got weaker, and by Shelby Park all I could manage was the death shuffle. Although I didn't break through the 5:30 wall I had been shooting for, I did set a new PR (by a minute) with 5:39. There were 4,778 finishers in the marathon and 19,416 half-marathon finishers. bonesheal, we missed ya.

Yeah, I was surprised I felt good enough for the Race of Grace on Sunday, but that race is one of my favorites in town, so when I got back from Tennessee in time, I figured why not go out and at least jog through it to loosen up. Fortunately I felt good enough to do a respectable (for me) 31:54 on tired legs. I will be taking today off, though. :-)

Brad

Isaiah 40:31

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posted Apr-30-2007 01:27 PM            

Hard, incidentally. I ran Umstead in March, and thought that wasn't such a difficult thing, but this one hurt. It took me almost 7 hours to walk it, and for those who attempt it, I suggest not wearing racing flats. I've got blisters all over the back of my feet. I was hurting a lot for the whole second half, but when you're on a 6-7 hour pace, you see a lot of people who are suffering even more. I was tempted to stop at a medical station for blister attention, but was worried that I might get pulled from the race if I did. When I finished, the blisters did not look nearly as bad as I thought they would--I was a little worried that I would find blood in my socks, but it was just ordinary, unpopped blisters.

I have way more empathy for people who take a long time to do a marathon. I now have a 3:31 and a 6:57, and the longer one was way harder.

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posted Apr-30-2007 02:55 PM            

Yes you are right. That is a sick time for an 8 year old. However, I still think Jackietha takes the cake(Literally). I ran against her when she was 9 and she ran a 22:50 on a very hilly course(She beat me that day by the way!). The difference between the 22:50 and the 21:12 is huge. The difference between being male and female is also pretty big. I am not sure if the 8 year old will be down to the low 21’s in 3 years and I am positive he will still be male.

I can’t believe I am arguing over which one of these amazingly talented youngsters is better. Oh well they are both great and we should definitely look out for them in the future.

53 Sawyer Keith Raleigh NC 603 8 1 M 1-12 22:47 7:21/M
32 Jackietha Baker Knightdale NC 604 11 ***** F 1-12 21:12 6:50/M

I almost forgot Lexy! Not too bad for a 13 year old. She was ahead of me after two miles! Oh yea she was wearing jean shorts, sneakers, and a regular tee shirt! I can’t imagine what she could do with some decent running gear.

28 Lexy Bader Cary 719 13 ***** F 13-19 20:52 6:44/M

quote:

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Originally posted by brook trout:
Yeah, that little girl was great. There was an eight year old boy, too, who ran a sub-23. Some natural ability there, too!

I figure the Race For The Cure would be another good race for a little guy. I just need to check with his pediatrician to see if it's safe for a six year old to be running 5Ks - any doctors out there?

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posted May-01-2007 11:48 PM            

This course starts with a 172 foot descent in less than 1 mile!!! That is pretty much a cliff! Then it has a short 110 foot climb and then the 172 foot climb back up to the finish line. This thing is crazy! Check out the elevations. If you want to run this race please note that there is no race day sign up.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=914642

http://66.77.216.76/exec/young/umstead.gif

http://www.runnc.com/Race_Schedule.htm#boney

Highcroft Hurricanes run

http://www.runnc.com/Race_Schedule.htm#highcroft

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posted May-06-2007 08:18 AM               

Here is a link to the info

http://www.ecrun.org/Zebulon/ZebulonEntry2007.pdf

Unfortunately I can't run but I hope some of you can go and spread the word. I'll be in California running Western States that day.

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posted May-06-2007 06:47 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by runjoey:
Hey guys. There is a new race just added to the local Calender you may want to check out. It is the Greater Zebulon 5k to be held on June 23rd at 8am. It is a certified course and the folks from East Carolina Racing are managing the race. Many years ago Zebulon had one of the best 5k's in the State and I ran my 5K PR there in 1983 so I'm happy that they are having another race. Zebulon is only about 20 minutes from Raleigh on Hwy64 East and with the new 64 bypass around Knightdale it's a breeze to get there.

Here is a link to the info

http://www.ecrun.org/Zebulon/ZebulonEntry2007.pdf

Unfortunately I can't run but I hope some of you can go and spread the word. I'll be in California running Western States that day.

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posted May-06-2007 07:12 PM            

The race started off well. I really started fast because the first .9 miles was all downhill. I really wanted to bank as much time as possible because I knew I still had to come back up that hill. I was running along side a Raleigh Road Runner guy. We were keeping a good pace on the pavement and when we hit the dirt it started to get steep. I was riding the brake on the stroller the whole way down the hill. When we reached the bottom of the hill at the lake I knew we were flying! I had actually pulled away from the guy I was running with by about 5 yards and I was in first place. I knew that wasn’t going to last but I had accomplished what I wanted to do. I wanted to see how fast I really could sustain a speed. Now I know it was all down hill but the stroller on dirt with the brake locked up provides some resistance. At the first mile marker which includes .1 miles of steep uphill my watch said 5:10. That is a PR for me by 22 seconds!

I struggled a bit up the first hill. It was really steep and I needed to save some energy for the long hill. I had a 4:57 for the next .55 miles. If you want to know how much the stroller affects you when there is a hill then just compare those times. 5:10 for the first mile and 4:57 for the .55 miles uphill. I was almost twice as fast down the hill!

I passed a few people on the way down from the turn around point which came at 10:07 and I hit the 2 mile mark in a respectable 13:01. Then I had to climb Everest! Put it this way there were plenty of good runners who were reduced to walking after the first hill. The second hill did quite a few people in. I lumbered up to the top and I was just about sapped. It took everything I had to get my son up there and my legs were on the verge of cramping despite drinking 3 water bottles along the way. As I passed the 3 mile mark I noticed a guy with a bib on who was walking. I couldn’t believe that someone had run such a good time only to throw it away a few hundred yards from the finish.

I yelled at him “you are almost there, let’s go” as I passed him. Several seconds later he found a second effort and passed me doing a pretty good clip. I had nothing left and the finish was still all uphill. I pushed hard but he beat me by 2 seconds and I finished with a 22:40.

Then came the fun part. I knew that the event was well sponsored so I was looking forward to the awards. I got third in my age group(second place was the guy who beat me by two seconds!) and got a $10 gift certificate to athlete’s foot. Then they started giving out door prizes that were crazy! They were $50 and $75 gift certificates to nice restaurants and some gift baskets worth $80 or more. It was a small race so almost everyone got something except for me. I was a little bummed that I didn’t get a door prize but luckily at the end they drew a special door prize for anyone who signed up at athlete’s foot yesterday. Since my wife had signed me up there on Saturday and no one else had signed up there I got the $50 gift certificate. That was the perfect ending to a wonderful event.
If you like running in Umstead then you must do this race next year! You really missed out if you skipped this one!

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posted May-07-2007 10:24 AM            

Here is my race eprt for my first triathlon:
http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum8/HTML/010079.shtml

Trying to recover from some over-training. Not going to race for a couple of weeks.

Bob

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posted May-07-2007 10:57 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by bonesheal:
I was there, too, Brad! You didn't fuss much, but the consensus was that that was a hot and hilly marathon.

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Hey, Bones! I'm glad you went on over to Nashville, and I'm very impressed that you took on walking that puppy. It takes a special, dedicated person to spend that amount of time on walking a marathon, especially after an injury. It was hot towards the end -- and those of us towards the end had more than our share of the heat :-) -- but it didn't strike me as overly hilly. (I'm from East Tennessee, where we have some hills. :-) I was impressed with their Blister Station in the second half of the marathon; they appeared to have plenty of business when I passed it. Overall, I was very pleased with the organization and execution of the race. I would definitely recommend it, especially the half-marathon, to others.

Brad

Isaiah 40:31

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