Race Report: 6th Annual Peach Run 10K (Clanton, AL)

The Fuzzy Butt 10K

 Okay, it wasn't really called that, but as you exit the interstate in Clanton, you see a water tower fashioned and painted to resemble a giant peach.  But as you can see from the photo above, it resembles a fuzzy orange butt.

If you recall, this Clanton race was the focus of my training this spring, as I hope to build some speed and set some kind of new personal record—and it was to be my first 10K, before I ran the Gadsden race on a whim.

Since Clanton is at least 1.5 hours from my home, I decided to spend the night before the race at my mom’s house and then make the shorter drive in race day.  All week, I had in my mind that the race started at 7:30 and that I would try to get there around 6:30 to meet the guys and warm up.  I did arrive around that time, but quickly found out that the race started at 7. 

I met the guys and we drove the course to see what lay ahead.  Not a bad course, first three miles and out and back on the main road through the area, then the 5K would finish back at our start area while the 10K would hang a right and run some country/neighborhood roads. 

I decided this week to wear my fuel belt, since at 7 the temp had climbed to 80 degrees with equally high humidity.  At the gun, we were off, and I watched my new friends take off in their speedy way.  Before the race I thought we had agreed that we would run together for the first 50 yards then break off into our race paces.  No sooner had the gun sounded did I look around and all that was left was little puffs of smoke, much like Road Runner leaves when he takes off away from Wile E. Coyote!  That’s okay.  I had told them to “save themselves” and not wait for me.

The forst three miles of this race felt good, I was running a 9:30/9:45 pace and felt strong, but determined not to look at my Garmin continuously, as I am wont to do.  By the 5K/10K split, I was running at a 5K PR pace and might have broken 30 minutes in 5K had I stayed on that route.  In retrospect, I probably should have, because soon after the split, my body, which had performed wonderfully to that point, announced to me that we would no longer be running that fast in that heat. 

So the next 2.5 miles were a struggle, to say the least.  My Heed could only do so much, I couldn’t get enough water, and the heat took its toll.  It affected everyone—even the fast dudes.

So I struggled to a 1:15 in the 10K.  Respectable, yes, but 7 minutes slower than my 10K of the week before.  We live and run and learn.  Race day brings all sorts of variables that we just cannot train for.  As runners, we leanr to adapt to the conditions.  If they are favorable, like in Gadsden, we can push forward to new highs.  If they are undesirable, like Clanton, then we adapt and survive the run in order to run again.  Each training run, like each race, is an opportunity for us to learn from our selves and about ourselves.  If we are paying attention, then those lessons will take us to areas, times, and heights that we can only imagine.

       

Episode 24: A Tale of Two 10Ks

Episode 24: A Tale of Two 10Ks

This episode Gorodn reports on 2 10K races he runs on successive weekends.  One is great, the other is not.  In Gadsden on June 13, he ran his forst ever 10K and had probably the best race he’s run in 2 years.  The other, in Clanton Alabama, was a hot, humid affair that he was glad to survive.  But while in Clanton he meets two fellow bloggers and twitter friends, Mark (bamarunner on Twitter, bamarunner.blogspot.com) and James (alroadrunn3r on Twitter; earlymorningcruzin.blogspot.com/).

After the race they stand around talking about all things running, Dirtdawg, compression socks, and anything else that pops in their minds.

New logo

If you are reading this, no doubt you have noticed the new blog logo. this comes courtesy of Ron Wireman, an artist with whom I've become friends with on twitter and through the podcast. He held a twitter contest a few weeks ago for folks to guess his one-mile time in a n upcoming race. I guessed correctly, or closest, to be precise and won a free caricature. We started talking and both came up with the idea for the caricature to take the form of a new logo for the blog and podcast. I am blown way. This is MUCH., MUCH more than i could ever have imagined that he would do. I am floored. The feedback from family and friends and readers has been great.

You can find out more about Ron by going to the following links:

www.wiremanarts.com (view samples of his work: he does murals, caricatures, and portraits)

www.yourbrideidea.com (This is Ron's wife April's site, she has started a business designing custom wedding invitations. She also does graphic design--logos, newsletters, postcards, and business cards)

Interested in them or their services? Email them at: ron@wiremanarts.com or april@yourbrideidea.com.

Rockin' on The River 10K: Race report

Swag from the race

On June 13, I ran the Rockin’ on the River 10K in Gadsden, Alabama.  Gadsden once had a vibrant and active running club but it eventually fell into disrepair and the club faltered.  For years they hosted a 10K called the Spring Run.  This race was run on the old Spring Run course.

Since I have planned to run a 10K in Clanton, Alabama on June 20, I decided to treat this as a training run.  Plus, I didn’t hear about this particular race until Thursday of race-week.  So, on a whim, and looking for a t-shirt to add to my 365 race shirt goal, I registered at the last minute.  To make sure I didn’t get lost on Saturday morning, I drove to Gadsden (about 25 miles away) during my Friday lunch hour and pre-registered for the event.  I figured that I was going to run on Saturday morning, so why not test myself, support a local race, and get a shirt.

Race morning saw me rise about 3 hours before the 8:30 start time and a eat peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread, which I have found to be light and filling enough to be a great pre-race meal for several races now.  The PBJ doesn’t upset my G.I. balance, and it is easily and quickly digested.  I also prepared about 40 ounces of Hammer Nutrition’s Heed, half of which I sipped during the drive to the race, the other half I planned to consume during the race.

As I approached Gadsden, I saw dark clouds on the horizon and concluded we’d get a little rain.  By the time I parked the car, the bottom had fallen out and the rain was falling pretty heavy. We still had at least 45 minutes until gun so I expected it to maybe clear up. 

Since this was the renewal of a race that had not been run in years, there were a few growing pains.  Having a strong rain shower at race time killed any walk-up registration, so there was a small, but devoted band of runners, some 40-50 strong, who braved the elements for a 10K jaunt through Gadsden and some of its nicest scenery.  But the flyers for the race announced an 8 a.m. start, but the newspaper announced that the start was 8:30.  So we all waited around a bit longer for the later start, which allowed some of the heavier rain to pass.  There wasn't a great deal of course security, and we often found ourselves dealing with traffic.  But the organizers were enthusiastic and several drove along the course to protect our path.  I was impressed with the small band of race organizers.  This is a race I plan to support in coming years.  There were even a few folks talking about renewing the Gadsden Running Club.  I told them I'd join and do what I could to help.

Like I wrote, I went into this run seeing it as a last training long/hill run for June 20^th 10K.  But the temps were lower, at about 68 with tolerable humidity, and the rain was light with very cloudy conditions.  So I decided to see what I could do.  This is a hilly course but the first mile is down hill mostly, so I went out faster than usual and moderated my pace in mile 2.  I was cruising along averaging about 10:50 or 11:00 per mile pace and after I was good and warm at mile 3, I really felt like I had some mojo.  Armed with my new Brooks ID shirt and my Beasts,  I decided to see if I could finish below 1:10:00. 

After the Country Music Half-marathon fiasco, I learned some hard lessons.  I learned that hill work should never be neglected.  I learned, too, that speed work is more important than we think.  I tried to be loyal to both during this training.  I did longer speed intervals of at least 800 to 1200 meters, and my Saturday long runs had hill repeats in the middle to replicate race conditions of hills late in races. 

I recalled lessons from Chris Russell of the Run Run Live Podcast (runrunlive.com) about how to climb hills without sacrificing form.  I recalled the way my legs felt when I had entered into a nice steady, but hard pace on speed intervals.  Everything seemed to fall into place.  All of my training clicked.

Here are my splits

 At three miles I was just over 33 minutes, and concluded that I could probably pull this off.  At 4 miles I was just over 44 minutes.  My pace had not fallen off as it has in past races.  I was feeling strong, if not stronger, as the race went on.  I could feel some strength in my legs as I climbed.  I did take four brief walk breaks, three at water stops, and a fourth after a particular nasty hill.  No longer than 30 seconds were these breaks, just enough to catch my breath and regroup.  At mile 5 I was just over 55 minutes and knew that my goal was in sight.  I told myself to push it in the last mile, that I had all day to rest and take a nap.  I was close to achieving a goal.  I was pretty excited.  Not sure why, but the last mile of any race seems to last longer than the others.  And such was the case this time, too.  But I still had strength and you can see from my splits that my last mile was faster than my first. 

I crossed the finish line in 1:08:43 (gun time).  Since this was my first 10K, I now have a new personal best.  I run a 10K on June 20 in Clanton Alabama with some new friends and I’ll try to better my time.  Now that I’ve run the distance, had some success, and know what to expect, I hope I can improve my performance.

 Here is the elevation chart. Pretty hilly course, no?

My new Brooks ID shirt.  I am a member of the Brooks ID team, "Inspire Daily" and I tamed my Brooks Beasts to set a 10K PR!

Want to check out Brooks Shoes for yourself?  Go to www.brooksrunning.com

Episode 23: Team All Ears

Gordon interviews Michelle Scribner-MacClean and Mike Scopa, the co-captains of Team All Ears, a group of Disney fans and runners who will run during Marathon Weekend 2010 while also raising money for Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  Please support their efforts.

Useful links:

Team All Ears info page

http://allears.net/pluto/teamallears.htm

Team All Ears Running Blog

http://land.allears.net/blogs/teamallears/

All Ears Net (perhaps the most widely distributed Disney fan newsletter; 1000,000+ subscribers) 

www.allears.net

Direct donations for AllEars.net on the Avonwalk site:

avonwalk.org/goto/debwills2010

Please support these runners and their cause.