Inland Trail Half Marathon - Race Report

A couple weeks ago I ran the Inland Trail Half Marathon. I did this on basically 1-2 easy days / week of running training, and my overall fitness (P90X in the summer and Yoga Booty Ballet in the fall).

Two years ago when I was running a little more, including 20 miles / week for 3-4 weeks leading up to the race, I ran 1:44. My goal was to match that time.

My nephew Keith came up and ran with me. He wore his fancy Garmin Forerunner that automatically dings off his mile splits. I had declared a plan to run "just under 8:00 / mile" and Keith agreed to run with me.

After a not-so-straight bus-ride to the start, we clicked off our first mile in 7:13. Fast but easy effort. We then settled into the 7:40's through 5 miles, before I slowed slightly more to the 7:50's for miles 6, 7, & 8.

• 7:13
• 7:43
• 7:46
• 7:46
• 7:40
• 7:55
• 7:55
• 7:59

Our pace at the 8 mile mark was 7:45, which put us on pace for a 1:41:30 finishing time. Unfortunately, I was starting to drag. We were passed, Keith kept pace with our new competitor while I fell back even more. Keith then left me in a blur.

I averaged 8:35 for my last 5.1 miles, I'm sure the 13th mile was my slowest. I did pick it up slightly again around 10 miles, but I don't know my splits as I don't have the fancy Forerunner.

I crossed the finish in 1:46:45, 50th overall and 4th in my age group.

Meanwhile, Keith averaged 6:35 for his last 5 miles. What a sandbagger! Just kidding, great job Keith!

Complete results courtesy of Runners High!

Skeleton Run - Missed The Start Of The Race!

Today was the Skeleton Run which has been a family tradition for years. George ran the Silly Bone 1/4 mile at 8:45, earning a ribbon.

Next, Luke, Brooke, and Rachel ran the 1 mile Funny Bone Run at 9:15. Luke ran very well, winning the race in about 6:09. Brooke also ran well, 2nd in her age group. Rachel took several walking breaks but made it to the finish.

After their race, I went to the car to drop off my sweatshirt and try (for the first time ever) to hook my disposable timing chip onto my shoe. I eventually got it in place and headed for the starting line when I heard the bell ring and the runners took off!

My first thought was to run straight ahead and just mix in with the runners as they passed me, not 50 yards from the start. But then I realized I needed to cross the starting line to activate my chip! So I made a beeline for the back of the pack, crossed the mats, and started weaving my way through walkers, baby strollers, and costumed runners such as a sumo wrestler, a whoopee cushion, and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

If you don't know much about disposable running chips, check out this article!

Well I continued passing people for the first 2 miles before I ran out of gas (and caught people running my pace). I didn't finish especially well, crossing the line in 21:10.

My mile times were 6:50 and 13:35. My first mile of course included the extra time. My second mile was 6:45. So my last 1.1 was 7:35.

The official results are posted already, and the extra time cost me 27 seconds, so my actual race time was 20:42. My true first mile was 6:23. I was 48th of 415 runners, 6th of 18 in my 40-44 age group (including 3 other LCSL soccer coaches).

Grafton Trails

I ran a nice easy run with Luke on Friday morning (school was off). We went down to Grafton and parked by the bowling alley and ran on the trails back there. We ran to the gravel trail loop and ran once around, the 2nd time around we explored a leafy side-trail that was quite long with a few up-and-down hills. We then repeated (both the loop and the side trail) and ran back.

Target was 38 minutes to hit 4 1/2 miles, but we ended up running 46 1/2 minutes. Definitely over 5 miles, which makes it Luke's longest single run so far.

Barefoot Running and Vibram 5 Fingers

Here is an interesting article on barefoot running and the Vibram Five Fingers shoes. I am hoping to get myself a pair of these in the next few months!

Labor Day Weekend Races

I ran 2 races over the Labor Day Weekend.

On Saturday I ran the Firelands 5k in New London, Ohio. We had spent the night at my sister's house to get an earlier start. The morning started with the fun run. Rachel ran, and I ran half of it with George. (The race is 2 times around a half-mile loop). Many other nieces and nephews ran also.

Now for the 5k it was Luke, Brooke, and I. I started near the back with my daughter Brooke, and ran with her about 1/8 mile, to the first turn. Then I started moving up, getting to the mile mark in 6:39. The second mile was about as strong and I passed the 2-mile mark in 13:23 (a 6:44 split).

Coming up towards the last turn before the finish, I knew there was someone nearby and I hoped it wasn't Shawn T, who is in my age group and has beat me frequently in this race. As I made the turn, I peeked, and that's exactly who I saw. I picked up the pace and held him off though.

My final time was 21:11, 27th overall out of 161 and 1st in my age group. Results are posted here.

I didn't win a doorprize, although Luke won $10 at Marathon Gas (which I claimed) and Brooke won a gift basket from a local hospital which included a shirt (my size), some lotions (for her) and some things for the car (also for me).

Sunday morning Luke and I ran an easy 4 miles.

Monday Luke and I went to Milan for a workout. The plan was to enter the Melon Festival 5k, run the 1st mile at a conversational pace, run the 2nd mile faster, and then race hard the final mile. We saw 2 boys from Luke's soccer team, as well as my nephews Thomas & Brian.

Well the 1st mile time was 8:15 (closer to 8:00 once you subtract the time it took us to get to the starting line). We were just passing one of Luke's teammates at that time, as well as many ohters.

Our 2nd mile time was 15:35, meaning we ran a 7:20 2nd mile. Good, maybe even too good. Luke didn't really have much pick-up left at that point. Still I pulled him along and we continued to pass, including his other teammate. Luke's final time was 23:37 (mine was 23:41) so he ran 8:02 for the final 1.1 mile. Neither of us placed in our age, and although Thomas was 4th overall, none of our family won a doorprize!

Final results for the milan 5k are posted here.

Firelands 5k Results

I'm hoping to post a more thorough write-up of my weekend running soon, but for now, here is a link to the 2009 Firelands 5k Results, in New London, Ohio on September 5th.

I won my age group in 21:11.

Not So Primal Breakfast

I entered a photo of my breakfast in the Primal Breakfast contest over at Mark's Daily Apple. Unfortunately I didn't win the random drawing, but I'm pretty sure my breakfast (a protein bar and a glass of milk) is among the least primal of those pictured. Oh well.