Old Reliable Run 10k Race Report

Sad to see a great race lost in the shuffle

Background:
I ran the Old Reliable Run last year as my first attempt at the 10K distance and have been looking forward to running it again this year.  At first, I didn't think that I would get the chance because of a wedding that Hioko I and are attending was scheduled for the same day.  However, the date of the wedding changed, and I was able to run the race.  Last year the Old Reliable Run was a stand alone race with separate 10 and 5k races.  However, this year it was rolled into the City of Oaks Marathon as its 10k component.  I had and continue to have mix feelings about this set up.  I enjoyed taking part in Raleigh's Marathon festivities, but the Old Reliable Run has an identity of its own, which seemed lost when it was combined with the City of Oaks.  Also, the finish of the race became little more than a side note and lacked the climax of a stand alone event.  It was a shame to see the Old Reliable Run, which drew 2500 runners last year and is in its the 28th year relegated to little more than an after thought.  I am not against their being a 10k component to the City of Oaks, but I think that The Triangle's running community could easily sustain both events.  I will have to admit that despite the course being far more hilly than last years, I did think that this years course offered more challenges, sights, and encompassed more of the city.  Last years course, was mainly run along a portion of Hillsborough street that is used by a lot of races and is rather uninteresting.  This years had a lot to offer -- I am a fan of any course that takes you past a a prison and a state capitol! {Insert political joke here}

Days Leading Up To the Race:
My week leading up to the the Old Reliable Run was spent dreading the race.  The long run I did on the previous Sunday ended with some weird tightness and a lot of pain at the top of my right calf just below the knee.  I went to the gym and hit my gluts and hip flexors pretty hard.  Even though most of the pain was located at the top of my calf, the pain there had been directly precessed by a tightening and soreness in my gluts and hip, so I think that problem stems from issues in this area.  I alternated workouts and short 3 mile runs in an attempt to strengthen my leg and ease my mind in the short period of time that I had before the race on Sunday.  My new dietary and exercise action plan has gone well, and other than concern for my leg I feel alright.   More than likely, I could use a bit of a rest and have planned to take the most part of the week following this race off due to some west coast travel plans.


Game Plan For the Race:
I had a shakeout run on Saturday afternoon and felt good afterward.  I was fairly hopeful that my hip and calf where going to be fine during the race.  So, I decided that my race goals were going to be needed to be simple:

1) don't go out too fast.
2) negative split the course.
3) beat my last bloated 10k time, which I ran in an overly cautious and uninspired 58:08

Due to the hilly nature of the course and the huge number of runners, I doubted that I could challenge my PR. Also considering the very real chance of a DNF if last week's pain returned, I didn't even give a PR a second thought.  Lastly, in the back of my mind, I knew that my last race of the year -- the 8k Ridgewood Turkey Trot is right around the corner, and I would like nothing more than to end my race season by knocking off my 8k PR, so The Old Reliable Run would not be a major goal race this year.

Pre-Race:
Sleep is not often an issue for me prior to a race, but I just could not get sleepy on Saturday night before this race.  Luckily, the time change was that night, so I would get an extra hour, which was kind of my saving grace.  In the morning, I wasn't all that excited for the race.  I had some vary strong feelings of dread concerning the course, which I knew to be hilly -- the finish line was actually on are significant hill -- and the possibility of injury and my first DNF seemed all too real.  All of my runs since last Sunday had gone well, but I was fairly sure that whatever had caused the tightness in my leg was still a lingering issue.  After eating a bagel and some Jelly Belly Sport Beans, I got ready, made sure that Old Bob was charged and decided for the last time that I would not run with my I-pod.  I had been waffling in regards to taking it, but in the end I decided that I didn't need it.  The starting line was only a mile and half from my apartment, so I just rode with Hiroko to the top of the hill and ran the last mile to the starting line as a warm up, which was a really great idea.  If it is an option for me to do this at other races, I will because I felt great at the start of this race and wasn't nearly as shaky in the first mile as I normally am.

The Race:
The starting line was at the NC State Bell Tower just like the Kirspy Kreme Challenge, but thankfully this race would not involve any doughnuts.  There were two starting gates, but I have no idea if there was any significance to the them.  No one around me seemed to know and I couldn't here any announcements.  However, my gun time and my chip time ended up being the same, which defies the laws of physics considering how long it took me to even reach the starting line.  So, either I went through the wrong starting gate or my chip didn't work.  Either way, this seemed to be a common issue when I looked at the results and didn't bother me that much since I had Old Bob to give me a more accurate time.  But, this shouldn't happen because either this was a wide spread system malfunction or a flaw in organization. (UPDATE: When I went back to the results several days later, my chip time was changed to 57:05 which matched up to Old Bob.)

Half Mile mark

Mile 1&2: 
I knew that these two miles would be mayhem like they are at most large events, and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest, people seriously astound me at time.  I'll never understand the people who know that they are going to walk, but line up near the front and give annoyed looks at all the people who brush past them as they walk two and three abreast chatting about god only knows.  And the people who are still talking on their cell phones at the quarter mile mark need to really rethink their lives.  I knew that I should have gotten closer to the front than I did, but I was still near several of the pace group sign that should have given anyone planning to walk that they needed to move to the back.  Luckily there was a nice size hill at the 3/4 mile mark that sort of righted the ship a bit and caused the pack to thin out.  I handled the first mile well with a minimum of weaving and dodging and managed to spot Hiro taking pictures at at around the half mile mark.  I did brush into one person fairly hard who stopped running right in front of me as we climbed the hill but other than that avoided any major collisions.  The second mile was on a much wider street and a lot easier to negotiate.  As we ran past Central Prison I resisted the urge to yell out to some phoney relative about staying strong and that I would see them on visitation day.  I skipped the water station at the end of this mile and was running strong.  One good thing about such a large field was that it aided in my effort to keep from going out too fast and help energize me through the first hills of the course.  I had no problem at all with the hill at the two mile mark, and went in to the downtown phase of the race feeling great.  

Miles 3&4:
This portion of the race only stands out for its relative ease.  Mile 3 was my slowest mile but only slightly, and it might not have been as slow had it not been for getting caught up in the traffic of the water station.  At the end of mile three I still felt awesome and knew that barring any unforeseen issues that I was going to both negative split the course and crush my time for my last 10k.    I picked up my pace for mile 4 and was going strong as the water station at the end of mile four appeared.  The fatigue that usually gets me around this time didn't set in and it was apparent that training for the Half Marathon was paying off in this 10k.  I couldn't help but remember how during my first 10k, I had gone out to fast and spent the rest of the race just hanging on.  

Miles 5&6:

Small lull in the hills and heading to the finish line

The water station was no problem at all.  I hadn't brought my hand held but drinking from the cup went fine.  I just took my time with it and managed to avoid choking myself.  I expected to begin feeling my energy level drop at this point, but I had done well with my pacing and my breathing was holding strong.  I felt like I could push even more, so I began to pick up my pace even more.  About midway through the 5th mile I my glut and hip began to tighten.  It wasn't nearly as bad as it had been on the weekend before, but I was still facing the hilliest portion of the course, so I was beginning to worry.  As I made the turn at the State Capitol my calf began to hurt, but it too was more mild.  It got worse going down the hill on Glenwood Ave. at the 5 mile mark.  But, much to my relief it eased up a bit as we climbed the next hill.  My calf was still tight as I ran past Hiro who was taking pictures on Peace street.  Despite most of the course from 5.5 mile on being up hill I was able to pick up my pace even more.  Even more surprising was that the tightness seemed to ease up as I picked up steam.  Whatever leg issue I have is diffidently worse on downhills.

Finish:
I finished really strong and tried to leg it out with some 20 year old, who weighed about as much as my gimpy right leg.  I lost.  However, I ran a really strong race.  The 10k finish line was pretty blasé with very few people seeming to give a crap, which is understandable considering it was tucked into the sixth mile of a Marathon.  Kind of hard to get excited for people legging out the end of a 10k as people, who going to run 18 more miles that day stream past.   Still, I enjoyed the race and hit all of my goals!  I negative split the race and even had mile six as my fastest mile, which was pretty cool considering it had the biggest uphill portion of the course.  I bested my last 10k time by more than a minute, and managed to keep myself from acting the fool in the first two miles and paying the price later in the race.  Overall, this may have been one of my best races in many ways.

6.2 in 57:05 for a 9:11 pace.

1 9:18
2 9:12
3 9:22
4 9:11
5 9:13
6 8:54

Carrboro 10k Race Report: 10/1

The Carrboro 10K was a race that I enjoyed a great deal, but may not have been the wisest choice to run from a scheduling stand point.  I was looking for a 10k to fit into my Half Marathon training schedule, but this race was kind of a square peg round hole deal.  If I wanted to run a 10k, it needed to happen two weeks ago, but I'm a rookie, and I made a rookie mistake that will leave me running a 10k the day before the longest run of my training schedule.  FAIL.  

The Race, in and of itself, was a nice little race that showed me a lot about the progress that I've made over the last 8 weeks of training.  This was my third 10k and was by far the least taxing of the three.  The course was actually more challenging that the others, but I ran the distance with very little effort.  Granted, I didn't attempt to challenge my PR, but I came fairly close to my goal pace for the Half Marathon, which is by far more important to me at the moment, and I didn't feel bad at all following the race.  Honestly, I knew that I could easily pick up the pace if I chose, but I made the wise decisions for once and opted not to attempt anything stupid.  Having the 12 miler tomorrow actually helped in that regard.  

I arrived at the race just in time to make the start.  I miss timed my wake up and how long it would take to drive to the race.  I've never in my life been to Carrboro, so the course was also I total mystery.  Yeah . . .  I know . . . You don't need to say anything . . . I can feel your look.  Not smart, huh?  That's ME!  I am not going to bother with attempting to break down the race mile by mile because I ran the whole thing in the same, "just don't hurt yourself" manner.  We had nice weather and aside from the lack of a starting line of a sort, the race was well organized.  I have no complaints at least.  It was pretty windy and chilly, which made for a good test of my lungs and their healing from my breathing troubles this summer following my nasty flu and sinus infection, and I am happy to say that I had no issues breathing at all!  I felt 100% normal.  I plan to still keep using my inhaler before bed until after the Half, but this race has me optimistic that those problems are behind me.  In addition, my shin held up well, and I didn't feel any of the soreness that I felt following last weeks 10 miler other than on the downhills.  I did pick up a hitchhiker in my shoe right at the 4 mile mark that threw my stride off a bit, but other than that the race was just a fun little trot.   

Even though, I didn't run this race that hard, I chose not to run with my camera, but Hiro took a few nice photo, which I've included with this post. I ran with my I-pod during a race for the first time in forever, but I think that I am going to take it with me when I run the Half Marathon because the Neuse River Bridge Half Marathon is a small race, and I have no idea what kind of crowds to expect.  I am sure I will be in for some long lonely miles once the 10k runners finish.  As for the Carrboro 10k, I count this race as a success and just I hope that tomorrows 12 miler will be just a good.

Start of the race

Fast people I never saw

Same as above

same as above

There I am sporting the red shirt and Raiders hat

Not sure that this guy and I were in the same race?

Fast

Also Fast

see above

Wow!  My feet touch the ground when I run!  Not like this guy.

My guess is first Female, but I never saw her either

Every time someone passes me with a baby stroller, I tell me that they have probably BQ'ed . . .I kind of helps 

Oh come on!  Two kids . . . you smoked me pushing two kids!  

Just before the finish line

Yeah . . . I'm still not there

This couple passed me around mile 4.  I would like to blame the rock in my shoe, but that's a lie!

Here I am.

Hey, am not looking like death!

58:08 according to Old Bob.

I need to thank Hiroko for all the support she has given my as I follow my running passion!

But . . . She must stop taking pictures of all the people, who finish ahead of me pushing strollers!

2011 Cary Road Race: 4/9/11 Race Report

This was my most intelligently run race to date because of the elimination of past mistakes and management of my body while not feeling my best.  I had some cranky leg issues over the last few days, which made me cautious.  A PR was within reach as long as I ran a decent race and didn't do anything dumb, but considering how much of a dumb ass I have been recently, there was at least a 50/50 chance I'd find a new a creative way to screw up!  My previous 10k time was 57:25.  I got it in race for which I wasn't prepared and went out way too fast.  My previous 10k was also run at a time when my overall fitness level was declining due injury and poor work habits.  Currently my fitness level is on the rise, and my preparation has been geared towards this race.  So, my old PR was as ripe for a fall as .

Unfortunately, my lower quads started to get cranky on Wednesday, and Thursday didn't seem that much better.  Friday they improved some, but we had lots of thunderstorms and the temperature dropped that night and didn't help things in the slightest.  My legs felt tight when I woke Saturday morning, and my left calf almost felt knotted.  I tried to warm up and loosen me legs before the race but was hit by a sneezing fit, which took away from my time to get warm.  I had taken allergy medicine before I left and figured that with the rain, allergies wouldn't be an issue.  I was mistaken, and after eight straight sneezes I had no choice but to sneak off to the side of the starting area and launch some snot rockets.  Disgusting? Yes!    But, I most of the people there were runner, so I am sure that they all been there / done that at some point or another.

The race was chip timed, but the only timing device was at the finish, so you may as well say it was gun timed.  Hiroko had to work and I was flying solo at the race, so there won't be any pictures unless there was a race photography company there, but I never noticed one.  The course was a double loop around a the 5k course, and I was happy for it because I had never seen the course before.  I thought that it would be fairly flat and was right for the most part.  There was one good sized hill towards the end of the first mile. 

My Garmin times are a little more accurate than the race time, so I'll use the splits from Old Bob in the report.

Mile 1: The first mile started with an immediate slight decline which got my pacing off, but I was able to fight off the urge to go out fast for the most part and held myself back.  I was hoping to run the first mile as close to 9 minutes as I could get.  But, I picked up time on the down hill that I never gave back and came in at 8:32.33, which was alright in my book.  I was hoping that my legs would loosen up more than they did over the course of the first mile, but the dampness in the air seem to work against me.  It also didn't help that we were running around a little lake.

  A lot of people passed me throughout this mile, but I didn't fight it at all because I knew that I would see them again as the race went on.  I just picked out a few people to target later.

Mile 2:  We continued up the hilly area just for a bit more then turned around and returned the way we came before turning off to go around the lake.  This portion had a large downhill that I had to take some advantage of and pick up speed.  I put Newton in the drivers seat and let my big ass pull me down the hill.  I didn't try to run anyone down or get caught up in anything going on around me.  No one really seemed to pass me here at all, nor did I pass anyone else.  I was still hoping that my legs would loosen up, and my calf still had most of my attention at this point.  I did this mile in 8:33 51

Mile 3:  this portion of the course was the  flat portion of the course and runners just streamed past me.  I didn't pass a single person during this mile.  I just kept my pace right where I wanted it.  I could feel a slight burning feeling in my hip flexors, sort of like I had applied a muscle cream to them, but I hadn't.  I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew something was a miss.  I did the third mile in 9:08.8, which was pretty close to the 9 minutes for which I was aiming. 

Mile 4: this was a repeat of the first mile.  About a halfway into this mile people, who had passed me earlier started coming back to me.  I wasn't really passing them yet, but I was picking off a few people that had been ahead of me for most of the race.  I caught the first person I had marked earlier as we were going up the hill, and I just eased by him was the hill took his legs out.  I was glad for all of the Umstead running that I had been doing because the hill wasn't hurting me as much as it was a lot of the runners around me.  I kept my pacing right where I wanted it and finished mile 4 in 9:09.82

Mile 5: The big downhill was right in this mile, and I again used it pick up some speed and began to take down a lot of the people that had passed me on mile 3 and got the last person, who I had marked.  I was running alright and knew that I was on pace for a big PR, but I also knew that my hips were not right and doubted that I had much for the push I wanted at the end.  At the end of Mile 5 my time was better than my 8k PR that I had set just last month by about 6 seconds, which made me feel pretty good because I hadn't used any kind of kick, which I would have had this been an 8k race.  I did mile 5 in 8.42.19

Mile 6: Once again we hit the flat ground and about five or six people passed me at this point, while I continued to pass about four others.  None of the people that passed me were people I had recently passed, so I didn't try to fight anyone except the last two ( I nearly caught the last person to pass me at the finish line, but she edged me out by a foot fall).  I debated about where to start my kick throughout this mile because I just didn't confidence in my legs at this point and knew that I had a 5k the following week where I was going to take a better performance than this to challenge my 5k PR that I want to challenge.  I held off until the end of the mile and just picked up a little bit rather than launching into the beginning of a kick.  I did this mile in 9:01.68

The last .2 was a little confusing it was the only portion of the course that I had not run on as part of the first loop and the finish line was right around a hairpin turn, so I did realize just how close, so my kick was shorter than it could have been.  I did it in 2:02  Old Bob say that my time was close to 55:00 flat, but my official time for the race was 55:14,which shave off 2:09 from my old PR, so I'll take it and be happy considering my legs never really felt their best.

Old Reliable Run (My First 10k): 11-14

I ran the Old Reliable Run today.  It was my first stab at a 10k and couldn't have picked a better event.  Everything was done very well from the registration system to the course layout.  I have nothing but compliments for the organizers, event staff, volunteers, and my fellow runners.  The last two races that I ran in were plagued with issues, so I was really nice to take part in an event that was done right. 

The course was deceptively challenging with many long slow hills that you don't give much thought to when you are driving but are difficult to run.  Also, I prefer courses with a lot of twists and turns because they force me to think about the section that is right in front of me and not look at how far I need to go.  Today's course had a two long straight stretches that forced me to stay focused mentally.  Also, this race is special for me because last year I watched it being run from the window of the YMCA where I workout.  I remember that I just stood there looking out the window watching as to runners were passing and thinking how I wished that I could be one of them, but at that time, I was tilting the scales at around 300 lbs couldn't imagine running around the block let alone 6.2 miles.  However, one year later here I am running in the race that a year before I could only stand and watch.



Nash Square where the race began and finished.

 We could not have asked for better weather for today's race.  Nice and sunny with a high of around 68 degrees.  Hiro and I got to Nash Square at around 11:45am for a 1pm start time.  I am the type of person that hates to be late.  We hung around the park while I warmed up and stretched a little.  Hiro wasn't running to day, so she got photographer and stuff holder duty, which is why she is wearing my Raiders Toboggan, which I think looks damn good on her!



workin' out the kinks in my pesky left leg




Hiro wearing my Raiders hat and looking just too cute!

 I once again got pretty amped up by the start of the race.  This was my first afternoon race, so I didn't really know what to expect and kind of worried about when I should eat and how much, but I just tried to do things like I would on any day when I went for an afternoon run, and I didn't have any problems.  The start of the race didn't seem to have any problems from my vantage point.  I did however run my first mile way too fast at something close to 8 minute mile pace.  And, I paid for it a bit in the second mile, which was my worst of the race.  Starting the race too fast didn't seem to hurt me as much this time as it did at the Autism 5k.  I think that since it was a longer distance I felt more comfortable backing down from the pace than I did at the 5k.  At the Autism race, I tried to maintain the pace into the second mile and got crushed in mile 3.  Today, I backed off from my first mile pace during mile two and was able to recover.  At no point in today's race did I think that I might need to walk.  I was able to run the entire race.


Near the 1 mile mark and going too fast.

 Even though I ran the first mile too fast, I did not waste a lot of energy weaving in and out of the pack.  I stayed fairly close to the inside edge or the middle of the road and didn't really get tangled up with anyone.  The second and third miles were the most difficult of the race for me.  they were a series of long straight stretches and slow rises.  But by the  of the third mile, I had things sorted out for the most part and felt like I was running pretty strong. 

Mile 4 was really good for me.  It had a few hills in it and I was able to use them to pass a lot of people by following Bart Yasso's advice about hills from runners world.  I got into a cadence right before the hill then shortened my stride and maintained the cadence as I went up the hill.  Most of the people around me charged up the hills or just fell off at the start of the hill.  By the time, I reached the top the people that had charged their way up were fading while I felt fine and was able to open up my stride and pick up my pace.  This hill strategy was probably what made this distance a reality for me.  I have run this area before as part of my first 5k, and it took the wind right out of me.  I know that I am much stronger now, but I didn't feel these hills hardly at all. 

Mile 5 had two more hills then it was back on the straight stretch.  Along this part of the race I remembered that I had watched the end of last years race from one of the restaurants after my workout, but this year I was running it.  That memory really gave me and extra boost for the last half of the mile 5.  At the end of mile 5, the gun time was around 48 minutes if I remember right. 

Mile 6 was another long straightaway and was the most difficult mentally because I kept looking ahead for the last turn.  At this point my pace was picking up a little and I was trying to figure out just how much I had left in the tank for the home stretch.  As it turned out, I had a lot left and I used most of it.  Right at the 6 mile mark two ladies went by and I picked up my pace a the turn and went past them and another lady.  The third woman called out to me to "get after it!"  I turned and said, "I don't know about that." 



The woman in bib 1025 and I legging it out

 One of the two ladies picked up her pace and pulled even with me and the race was on!  I am not sure how many times we passed each other, but at one point she spoke to me and said, "your going to make me go faster?" or something like that, and I replied, "Come on you push me and I'll push you. " We both legged out the entire last .2 miles of the race, people were cheering us on.  Most of them were yelling at her to not let me beat her, and she pulled out a late burst to pull ahead of me right at the finish line. 

After we crossed she came back and gave me a high five and I was really glad that we were able to help each other shave off sometime from our race.  I wish that I had gotten a chance to speak with her more, but that wasn't a real option because. . .

After legging it out with 1025

 was crushed!  I really don't know how I stayed on my feet long enough for someone to take off my chip and hand me a bottle of water.  I knew that I should keep moving, but it just wasn't happening.  I was able to get up after a few minute or two and take some pictures with Hiro.

Dazed and sweaty but really happy!

enjoying some post race grapes and bagels

Overall, I can't see how this race could have gone any better!  I am just thrilled with everything about it.  I would like to give a shout out to Miss 1025, who really pushed me to finish this race the way that all races should be finished! 

My times for this race were 58:05 by gun and 57:25 by my racing chip, which gives me 9 min. 16 sec.miles by my chip time.