From Fat to Fit - you can get there from here...

Bird In Hand Half 5k & Half Marathon - 9/5 & 9/6/14

2014-09-06T12:34:00.000-04:00

The 5k was a 5k. The plan was to run it with Bren, but we ended up passing on her bib number to a friend, who ran it as her first 5k.

As usual, we were driving over on the day of the race from Michigan, just a wee ~8hr jaunt. We just managed to get there on time, but on time we still were. Packet pickup was a breeze as usual. The forecast had been for some nasty weather, but it ended up really quite nice, if a little warm. I wanted to come in under 30 minutes, which I just managed and although my PF hurt a little at the start I ran it off and rather enjoyed the whole evening. I had foolishly signed up for the Firefighters challenge, which means I had the half marathon the following morning. I spent the evening carb loading at a local bar and playing 'Pass The Pigs', all in all a fun day overall.

Time: 28:19.12; 247 out of 762 & 21 out of 41 in my age group.

And so, onto... the half...

Got up in plenty time, our hotel was only a couple of miles away from the start, left in plenty time but traffic got backed up. We got parked I headed for the portajohns, of which, as usual, there were plenty, but I had no time, so off to the start I went.

How bad was it

In 2012, I finished in 2:06, last year I managed thirteen minutes less than that at 1:53, this year, jeez, 2:37, almost 45 minutes slower than last year, and 15 slower than my previous worst in Denver, and Denver included two bathroom stops, while this one had only one.

Let's look at some numbers

Criteria	2013	2014	Which means..?
Field	25%	67%	I finished in the bottom third of the race, no hiding this one, I sucked
Age Group	50%	71%	Wow, finished in the bottom 30%; of the field, again, not so bloody good
Top 25% time	1:53:11	2:05:42	Top 25% of finishers were 12 minutes slower, kinda interesting
Top 50% time	2:06:45	2:23:12	Top 50% were 17 minutes slower, again, interesting
Top 75% time	2:26:49	2:48:14	Top 75% were 25 minutes slower, again, interesting

Bottom line, last year I had trained hard and it showed in my race this year I've been injured, so much less training, conditions sucked and it showed. Still loved the race though, great shirts, even better medal than last year, we'll see what next year brings.

Three years of running

2014-05-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

Three years ago, I decided to go out for a run one morning after starting a regular 'walking at lunchtime instead of eating out' exercise regime, see the posting here. It was ugly but I went and due to the persistence of a very good friend and some bloody mindedness on my part, I still want to run, only further and faster.

Just re-read this part and it seems a little bitchy, but I'll let it stay;

So this is the year where I was due to crank it up a notch and where it all went horribly wrong. As I sit here on 2nd June 2014 I have managed a whole 135 miles, which is 285 miles behind where I wanted to be by now. I haven't managed a single run in almost a month and that was on just under 2 bloody miles, my last significant run was the Passion For Life 5 miler almost ten weeks ago, bloody hell, now I see it actually written down, it really pisses me off.

I've had to cancel my proposed ultramarathon, and missed many races I wanted to do. I have all bought and paid for a 5k/ half marathon weekend in the fall and I just hope I can be ready for that, as it would be my third year doing it and myself and Bren like to make a fun weekend out of it. There are another couple of races that I'll be very sorry to miss, but right now I'm not very confident, just kinda really crappy about the whole thing right now.

The Highs

Jings, so many, where to start;

Dropped a helluva lot of weight, some due to my getting divorced diet, but the rest due to running.
Ran a marathon, aye that's right, a whole 26 miles 385 yards, on a damn hot day and I managed a 4:36, not what I wanted but not too shabby, and I just found out that it is a Comrades Marathon qualifying time, so there...
Ran multiple other half marathons, 10km's, 5km's, etc, giving me a selection of snazzy medals and some rather tasteful and a whole lot of other really ugly running shirts.

The Lows

F&%ck#%g injuries, and that's about it.

In Summary

Onward and upward, shake this bloody injury and get my arse back in gear and get out there, the world is waiting for me...

Plantar fasciitis sucks...

2014-05-13T13:32:00.002-04:00

Ok, so my sore foot at the Passion For Life 5 Mile turned out to be full blown plantir fasciitis, which is easily the worst crap that has happened to me during the running phase of my life and it is bloody annoying as all hell...

So here's what those lovely fellas at the Mayo Clinic define it as;

Plantar fasciitis (PLAN-tur fas-e-I-tis) is one of the most common causes of heel pain. It involves pain and inflammation of a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes

My definition is 'bloody ouch...' I could barely walk after the five miler and I'm still suffering about six weeks later. I read up all about it online, spoke to several people that know about this kind of thing, spoke to other suffers both online and in person and everyone pretty much said various things.

So what have I tried

Not running - hmm, really don't like this one, but I'm avoiding running, I've missed a few races I wanted to do and I'm pissed about it.
Frozen water bottle - rolling the bottle under my heel and the various sore spots, doing this lots, both at home and at work, it hurts a bit and I'll keep on going.
Tennis ball - again rolling this under my heel and the various sore bits, ho hum
Ice water bath for 8 minutes - jeez, this bloody hurts
Kinesiology tape - I'm trying a couple of brands right now, both KT Tape & Rock Tape. I changed to the Rock Tape as I couldn't find the waterproof KT Tape. The KT Tape is pre-cut strips, whereas the Rock Tape is a roll. Both websites have video instructions on how to put the tape on, which Bren has been doing for me.

So what happens next

One of the most annoying things about this is that I ran all bloody winter, in all kinds of crap and just when the weather started to get better, this crap happened, so my plans for a > 1,000 mile year, an ultramarathon, a couple of marathons, etc, are all buggered.

Passion For Life 5 mile

2014-03-29T16:13:00.000-04:00

This race was pretty much planned well in advance, then cancelled, then, when it became apparent that Gordon wasn't going to be able to run, due to injury, I decided to do it afterall. This was going to be my third year doing it. It is a small race & takes place very close to home, so packet pickup and parking, etc, are no big deal.

This was the first year that they were going to have chip timed start & finish as well as the 5k & 5 mile runs starting at different times. it made for a much quiter starting area, but on the whole I think it was a good idea. I had done as much running as I could beforehand but what with a crappy winter and a niggling pain in my foot, I wasn't holding out too much hope.

It was a cold morning, but not as bad it had been so, not too much to complain about although I was one of a very few that had decided to brave shorts on the day.

I split of from the pack fairly quickly and found a nice gap to run in. My splits while gradually slowing, are pretty good for me, especially as I hit the hilly section in the second half. I finished strong and I'm, on the whole, pleased with the resut

Summary
This race has left in a kind of bitter sweet taste in my mouth. I PR'd the Walled Lake circuit, yippee, I done some serious damage to heel and I am now fighting pantir fasciitis, which has put my running in jeopardy for who knows how long...

Sucks

2013... another year of running

2014-01-01T01:11:00.000-05:00

So here we go, how did 2013 look...

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Miles	41.70	7.49	40.73	59.74	20.83	70.09
Kilometers	67.11	12.05	65.55	96.14	33.52	112.80
# of Runs	13	3	10	13	9	15

	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year Total
Miles	102.61	118.02	73.67	70.30	74.32	73.91	756.50
Kilometers	165.13	189.93	118.56	113.13	119.61	118.95	1,217.47
# of Runs	20	32	18	22	18	15	188

12 races; 2 x 5km, 1 x 5 mile, 3 x 10km, 1 x 10 mile, 4 x 13.1 miles, 1 x 100km team relay

The year started quite well, considering how cold it was, I still managed to strap on the Yak Trax and pound the trails, really rather enjoyed it. Bren was still working on her Couch to 5k program so we were also running on the indoor track at Lakeland High School where I managed a 5km PR. There wasn't really any running at lunch time, due to the cold, but lots of walking. Unfortuately the wheels came off the bus in early February, what with the whole bloody rolling my ankle on Superbowl Sunday, while sober, thing. I still managed a couple of much smaller runs, even although I really shouldn't have. My running then settled down, with a couple of small stutters, peaking in the summer with my forty day running streak. I continued to bang out fairly consistent miles every month, but I was never going to make up for the crappy winter/ early spring, c'est la vie.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Two new 5k PR's, one on the inside running track in the late winter and another at the Superhero 5k in the early summer, taking it down to 23:40, a total of 39 seconds off. I ran my second best half marathon in the fall at Bird-in-Hand, which also took ~13 minutes off my time from last year. I managed a 40 day running streak, which really helped set me up for my, previously mentioned, second best half marathon.

Injuries killed my springtime mileage, and not respecting them and letting them heal over time wasn't my best idea ever either. I did manage to grind out a trail half marathon with a sore ankle, groin strain and a couple of very sore achilles tendons, glad I did though.

On to 2014...

Wicked Halloween Run - the race with two logos!??@!

2013-10-27T10:13:00.000-04:00

Another Kona run, I'm think I'm over them and I suspect I won't be doing too many more. Same 10k course as usual, not as cold as usual, really quite pleasant. Myself and Gordon started in the first section, he left me fast. I maintained a fairly good pace.

Done with this post, time to finish it...

Dances With Dirt - 9/21/13

2013-09-21T19:30:00.000-04:00

Leg #1 - The Stampede

I did this leg last year as well, starts out really fast and then slows up as we get to the forest. Hilly with lots of exposed roots and rocks, just to give you that potentially ankle rolling excitement. Conditions were perfect for running. I felt really good at the start but that waned fast, I overtook quite a few people in the forest, but ended up slowing down as we got towards the end. I finished 1:25 faster than last year, though, which was a pleasant surprise

Leg #2 - This Sucks!

Second time for me with this one too, although it didn't seem wasn't quite as bad as last year. this leg involves a short run through a campground and then up into the woods, I saw a number of runners that were finishing the previous leg, coming towards me. but on the whole it was fairly quiet. I passed probably half a dozen people in the woods and only got passed by one girl (now known as the gazelle). I attempted to keep pace with her but she was flying, so I ended up on my own for a bit. After a three miles in I heard some voices, which can only mean one thing, we are at the mud, waist deep thick crappy gooey stuff, followed by a river crossing. I actually saw the gazelle at the river crossing, she and another couple of girls were going down the river, presumably to try and find somewhere better to exit, while myself and another guy decided that straight across would be the least painful method. After about half a mile of complete crap, we got out of the woods onto the bridleway for a long straight run to the exchange. Whaddya know, about half a mile into the bridleway, I got passed by the gazelle again, kinda funny, I guess her short cut wasn't such a great idea after all. I got to the exchange point but my team was nowhere to be seen, so what followed was a couple of minutes of confusion and then I was done.

Leg #3 - Bovine

First time for this one. Last year it involved a really nasty pond crossing, this year a slightly less nasty pond crossing, but some very extreme trails and a couple of very steep hills, oh and not very many people.

Reflections

Would I do it again, yes, I think so, if you'd ask me beforehand I would probably have said no, but it was kinda fun.

The whole timing thing is a joke, let's not pretend that this is really a race, unless you are in the top few teams, all the other teams do so much 'cheating', ie letting your next team member leave before the previous one has arrived.

Before the race, Bells Brewery setting up the beer

More beer setup

Pre-race milling about

Me, after my second leg, 'This Sucks!'

Post run festivities

Relaxation

Slightly busier beer area

The band... done

More festive imbibing

The team

Bird In Hand Half Marathon - 9th September 2013

2013-09-07T09:45:00.000-04:00

What an event, loved every minute of it.

Parking and packet pickup on Friday night was a breeze, big improvements over last year. They even had a choice of race shirts, now when do you ever see that.

Bren had her first competitive 5k on the Friday evening. after which we had a couple of beers and a nice meal in a local hostelry, that we discovered when we were in town for the Garden Spot Village half in April. We went back to the hotel and hit the sack, after checking that the alarm was very definately set for 6am. Bren wasn;t sure if she was going to be coming for the race due to her IOMS* from her 5k. I also grabbed a couple of bananas on our drive over as a per race snack.

6am, the alarm went off, I grabbed my kit, got Bren up and off we went. Got there nice and early and got ourselves parked and ready to rock. The race was going to be a little bigger this year, but due to good organisation, you couldn't really tell. Conditions were absolutely perfect, beautiful blue sky, start time temps at around 45F. I had my virtual partner pace set for 9:09 which would get me in at sub 2 hours, but all I really wanted was to come in faster than last year (2:06:46), which would mean a sub 9:39 pace. The main thing is, in any race is to finish uninjured.

We wandered around a little before the start, soaking up the atmosphere, we ended up with more time than we anticipated due to the awesome parking. I enjoy pre race anticipation, especially when everything else is done and all you have to do is get started, all very cool.

So off to the start, as usual there was the whole milling around thing, waiting for the last minute speeches and anthems, etc. The horn went and we were off. I knew the course well and remembered how nasty a fair amount of it was from last year.Owing to the usual start line business, ie people walking at the front of the pack, groups of two & three people running together in a line, hills etc, my first mile was my slowest of the race @ 8:58, which on a good day, isn't too shabby. During the second the pack spread out, significantly and I managed to find a gap and enjoy it, between this and a long, gradual downhill, I hit my fastest mile @ 8:09.

Reasons to be chuffed

I wanted to try and beat last years time, ended up 13 minutes ahead of last year, my second fastest half marathon time overall & my first sub 2hr marathon of 2013.
My splits are nice and consistent, my fastest mile was mile two (8:09), my slowest was mile one (8:58), other miles varied by only a few seconds either way, my average being 8:37.
I fuelled almost exactly the way I wanted. Started with a GU about 15 minutes beforeand a couple of bananas before the race, alternating sips of water & gatorade during the race and a GU after just over an hour.
No unshceduled walking, which killed me last year.

Reasons to be miffed

What is it with runners playing music through smartphone speakers; a) sounds horrendous; b) what makes them think other people share the same tastes in music - solution, use headphones or don't listen to music, please.
Slow runners and walkers starting at the front of the field, jeez people, can you not just start nearer the back, please, huh?

* IOMS - Most people suffer from DOMS a couple of days after exercise, not Bren, she gets IOMS (Immediate Onset Muscle Soreness, as opposed to Delayed)

Random pics from a great couple of days

Bren, before her 5k, trying to look
like it is after her 5k...

Hot air balloon take off before the 5k

The end of the kids 1 mile dash

The start of the 5k

The buggey responsible for leading off the 5k

The finish chute

Balloon flight on the morning of the half marathon

Very chuffed post half marathon
with medal and Road Apple award

Random Amish family

Random Amish people

Just people

Very cool medal, a real horseshoe

Milford Labor Day 10k, August 31st 2013

2013-08-31T09:35:00.000-04:00

Jeez, what a bloody messy start to the day that was...

Woke up at 8:10 am, for a bloody 8:30am race, of course, at that point I wasn't even sure that it started at 8:30, I just got up, got my crap on, found my Garmin and hit the door, swearing all the way. I quickly realised that I hadn't eaten or drank either before leaving the house, which isn't ideal race preparation, but what the hell. I did have a complimentary GU that I picked up at packet pickups evening, so I guess that was now officially going to be breakfast. After driving like an idiot, I arrived at the parking lot just in time to see the 10k start. I was willing to start running without food, but not without hitting the restroom. And with all deeds done, I got to the starting line ~5 minutes after the start, I asked if it was ok if I could go, got the nod and off I went.

I caught up with the slowest walkers after two or three minutes and the slowest runners a couple of minutes after that. I have to admit that it was kind of cool starting at the very back as there was none of the usual jostling for position that goes on further up the field. It was also nice not getting overtaken by anyone, and not feeling the mildly demoralizing feeling that it brings.

This is the third year in a row that I have run this race, so the course no longer contains any surprises for me, even the aid stations are in the same places as before. The hills haven't gotten any easier though, they still suck. This is definitely the most challenging 10k in the local area.

All in all, I enjoyed the race. The usual medal, but with the year on it, free beer, free food, awesome day.

My official time was 57:00, but as the race was using gun time, ie no starting timing mat, I'm taking my Garmin time, 54:24.

Superhero 5k, Walled Lake, 4th August

2013-08-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

Decided to run this only a few days beforehand. I wasn't expecting much from it, but it went better than anticipated - whay hey, new 5km PR.

The Color Run

2013-08-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you are not sure what The Color Run is, here is the official video;

Not a lot to say here apart from it was a blast and here are the pictures;

Sand Creek Half Marathon

2013-07-13T15:16:00.000-04:00

Wanted to run a race with my old buddy and running mentor, Stuart, while visiting him in beautiful Denver, Colorado. The calendar didn't show us too much to choose from, it was either this or an extreme trail race, and what with it already being difficult for me due to the altitude, we opted for this half marathon.

They say it's all about the company and that was the only positive about this race.

Rather unimpressive stalls, mostly not open

Gordon & Stuart

Gordon & me, note he put on his own number

In summary; crap post race snacks, crap course, crap medal, great running with my son and my buddy.

Yes, the medal really was that small

First Parkrun

2013-06-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

Trying out Endomondo embed option...

This was a kinda fun thing, will do again...

They email results out that day and you also get a handy dandy webpage to look at too.

Kona 10 Mile Run, Northville, Michigan

2013-06-08T14:08:00.002-04:00

Woke up, bright and early at 6am, the race was due to start at 7:30 so I had plenty time to eat, feed the dogs, let them out and get on the road. I got to Northville Downs about 45 minutes before this start, parking was no hassle (a pleasant change from most races). I wandered in and then went out onto the race track.It was quite a bizarre experience as I have been there a couple of times to watch trap racing, so to actually be put on the track was really quite surreal. I walked once around the track, just to try and stretch out my left calf, which has been bothering me. I was there a while before the start so I got to watch the starting line getting setup and the crowds build. I even had time for a couple of trips to the restrooms inside the racetrack. I met a couple of friends that were running in the 10k, had a quick chat then left them to it as they were getting ready for their start.

I wasn't feeling at all confident about this race due to injuries which led to crappy preparation, my goal was to finish and hopefully still manage to be able to walk afterwards. The race started on the racetrack and we done one loop and then out onto the open road. As usual, even though requested not to, the front of the field was full of walkers and slower runners, and as usual it made a mess of the start - a real pet peeve of mine. I had the usual messing around trying to find a gap and got underway. On leaving the track and car park, I saw a guy leaving and then rejoining the race, apparently he didn't like the surface in the racetrack so kept on his VFF's until he hit the road and was now going barefoot for the whole 10 miles, damn impressive.

The first hill came almost immediately, I decided that I had to try and power up it as I was planning on losing time later, it was a nasty ass kicker but got there. I decided at this point that my usual forefoot strike was going to hurt too much so opted for what I hoped was a mid foot strike with high cadence ¹. Even though I was midfoot striking the pain stayed with me for the whole race, didn't get any better or any worse, just stayed there,as a dull throb, but what the hell.

The race continued very hilly, but I struggled on, hoping for a sub 1:45 finish, what with injury and dismal training. I cranked it up for the last mile, when I realised that a sub 1:30 was possible, but to no avail, all in all, very pleased with it though.

Snacks and entertainment after the race were great, as usual for a Kona organised run. I really enjoyed the Japanese drum troupe, especially.

The finish line and party

Shirt (tech), number (with QR code for personal results) and medal

Close up of the medal, The darker
blue stripes in the middle
are actually translucent, kinda cool

1 - I really must get someone to take a video clip of my various running strategy's so I can get a feel for what is truely going on down there.

Random musings of a frustrated runner

2013-06-03T10:45:00.001-04:00

What a bloody pain in the arse of a year its' been so far, with respect to my training. I started out the year full of hope, running in the snow, doing great, setting a new 5k PR on an indoor running track and then on Superbowl Sunday it all went horribly wrong...

rolled my ankle walking down stairs, sober at that
pulled my left achilles tendon walking around
acquired a left hamstring problem
...

So what was going to be my year of multiple >100 mile weeks and a plan for at least 1,000 miles for the year has ended up, at the start of June, having done 179 miles in total, just over half what I should have done for the year so far. I went to the doc about the hamstring last week, he said, no running for 10 days, which is just before my Kona Run 10 miler. We see if the Kona stays as a run or just a walk...

Trail Marathon

2013-04-27T14:49:00.000-04:00

I couldn't miss the opportunity to run a trail half marathon, on some of the same trails we ran during the Dances With Dirt 100k relay last September. Booked the race well in advance and, of course, my training was a disaster, but I was going through with it, just because.

You could not have asked for any better weather for race day, it was perfect.

Due to the tightness of the trails and the amount of people in the race (~800), they were have a 'wave' start. The first group that started off were people that legitimately thought they had a chance of winning and then up from there, starting about a minute apart. I, rather over-confidently, decided to opt for the 8:30 road mile pace, but start at the back of the pack. The course started out across an open field at the edge of the lake, but very quickly went into the woods and didn't mess around from there. For the first mile it was still quite congested as either we caught up with the stragglers in the previous group of the sprinters in the following group. The trails are very tight and a quite a few people aren't so big on trail etiquette and can make it really quite tricky when they try and sprint around you like a bloody gazelle. You really have to pay attention of the trails and look out for exposed roots, loose rock, etc. This is mentally taxing and it really doesn't help when you are right behind someone and can't see what is coming up.

My first problem arrived at around 1.5 miles in. I had gone for a short run on the Thursday before the race and ended up have a slight pain in my left achilles tendon, this came back with a vengeance, hills started to suck. Just to top it off, at around 2.5 miles in, my right achilles decided to join the fun, ahh the gangs all here, let the party begin, every hill came with pain, getting worse the longer we went on, deep bloody joy.

The race scenery was gorgeous, but with it being a technical trail run, to look around while running would have meant a severely turned ankle, or worse. Rather bizarrely there were a couple of times during the race when I was completely alone, with no one in sight, I even thought that I'd somehow managed to miss trail markings, but no, it was just hilly and I saw people ahead, it was really quite strange though.

The race had many, many hills, with varying degrees of nastiness. The pain in both achilles meant that they were all slow going. I basically ended up running/ walking like a bloody penguin up most of them.

On crossing the line we were handed a bottle of water, the all important medal and sent on to the snack table, which had bagels, bananas, muffins, water, etc, all very pleasant. I staggered on, found a spot on the ground and lay down and tried not to die.

Final official time was 2:18:00.2, 38 out of 68 for my age group, 339 out of 766 overall. According to my Garmin, taking into account stopping to let people past, I got 2:17:50

New Shoes

2013-04-26T10:18:00.001-04:00

A good deal on new shoes and realizing that I had almost 400 miles on the Sketchers, ended up being a good coincidence. So my new road running shoes and going to be Saucony Kinvara 3's...

Garden Spot Village Half Marathon

2013-04-06T14:47:00.000-04:00

We decided that I would do this one after finding out about it and the Road Apple award at last years Bird-in-Hand half marathon. We drove over to Pennsylvania the night before, allowing us to go and get a feel for the place at packet pickup, which was a breeze, followed by a nice meal and few cold ones the night before. We did see an English girl that was asking everyone to sign a car tire that she had, and commit to having a healthier and more environmentally aware lifestyle, what the tire was all about, we had no idea. We were staying about ten miles from the start live, but armed with the trusty GPS we were quite confident. Little did I realize the fun that the GPS had planned for us in the morning.

Up bright and early in the morning, as planned. I had already decided to wear a long sleeve shirt and shorts, although at the start of the race it was damn cold, it was going to heat up a little during the race and obviously I was going to warm up as well. I grabbed a quick snack, we jumped in the car, fired up the GPS and got going, or so we thought. It turns out that this was going to be one of these times where the phone's urgency detection system kicked in and steadfastly decided that it was just not going to bloody work, we were on out own, jeez. After a few minutes we realized that someone had decided to try and follow us to the race and we soon took a random, 'just bloody turn left here and we'll get close'. Luckily we had inadvertently managed to find the second half of the half marathon route and we followed it in. We got there, way more stressed than planned, but get there we did.

Start area, damn cold, well organised though

The race start, while bedlam, was very well organised. There were plenty people to help with directions and general questions, etc. We parked on the grass at the entrance to the residential complex and strolled over, it was damn cold, but with with a beautiful blue sky. All we had left to do was to try a find a spot to wait that was (a) in the sun & (b) out of the cold breeze & (c) find a bloody portapotty for me before the race started.

The band, before the start

After the obligatory national anthem and then a rather bizarre pre-run prayer it was time to get ready for the off. Here is a video of the start, taken by Bren, if you watch to the very end, you can see 'tire girl', I'm approx 1:48 in, but not too easy to spot.

The race eventually got underway and we were off. The first part of the course took us out through the far side of the village, and as like all other races I've been on was bedlam and basically an exercise in trying to find a small gap to run in and not getting stuck behind a group of slower runners. The pack did stretch out quite fast and before even the first mile was done, running at my own pace was a breeze. The hills at the start were fairly gentle and only a mild preview of what was to come.

In the race packet was a small hydrapouch, that the race management were encuraging everyone to refil & use, instead of grabbing cups from the water station. At first I thought this idea a little crazy, but decided to go with it. I used it at the first water station and after a little practice I decided that this appealed to my 'tree hugger' sensibilities and decided that it was the way to go. Within half a mile of using the bloody thing and then clipping it onto my waistband, it had fallen off and I was back in the land of the cup consumers, oh well, c'est la vie.

If there is one thing I will say about south eastern Pennsylvania, it is damn hilly, and they seemed to go on for ever. It seemed lke there wasn't a flat piece of land of the whole thirteen miles. My pace would be pretty good on the downhills, I'd even overtake a few people, but not going crazy, trying to conserve energy and my legs, but come the uphills, I'd be getting passed by everyone. After mile 5 we had a mile or so of downhills, but they weren't much fun, as I realized that, what with this being a lollipop run, I was going to be running up these soon enough, and they were damn steep. Typically I only walk at the aid stations, while drinking, but almost exactly at mile 8, on a really crappy and very steep uphill section. It was around this time that my running form fell apart, my ankle starting hurting and I was full of self doubt. Around mile 10, I saw the tire girl from the night before and she was dragging the thing, it was tied to rope which was tied around her waist, and I believe she was doing the marathon, absolutely crazy, she is an athletic god, incredible.

It was just after seeing her that I had a wee bit of a revelation, my paced had slowed but I really didn't feel any crappier, I was just wimping out. I decided to get my sh!t together, stop feeling sorry for myself and, most of all, stop letting people pass me. Once I got over that purely psychological hurdle I starting feeling a little better about things. Don't get me wrong, the hills still sucked, but instead of bitching about it to myself, I just got on with it.

Around mile 11 the course stopped being a lollipop and we started to head to the end. It was looking flatter and really quite pretty for running, after some very tricky mental gymnastics I realised that given luck a sub 2hr completion was in my sights, all I was looking for at the start was a sub 2:10, due to crappy preparations, so what the hell. It all finally fell apart as we turned the final bend towards the village, only to be met with a long gradual, uphill, oh well, ho hum...

The final ~100 metres

I turned the final corner to the finish line, saw Bren, smiled, felt a guy desperately trying to beat me, the old guy, let him enjoy it and finished. Official time 2:02:37, 22 out of 37 for my age group, 295 out of 682 overall, not amazing, but not too shabby.

How Endomondo saw it - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/173746210/360526
How Garmin saw it - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/293938087

Large tech shirt, not quite
large enough for me, Liam got
this one

The carriage and horse are Amish
inspired, shoes for running,
shoes in a horses mouth,
your guess is as good as mine

Passion For Life 2013

2013-03-23T08:57:00.000-04:00

Jings, another damn cold run, this time with the whole family, I was going to be running the 5 mile with Gordon and everyone else, ie Bren, Liam, Iona, Chris & Emma were signed up for the 5k. The run is organised by the head of the track program at Gordon's high school, Walled Lake Central, so the were going to be a lot of Gordon's friends running, I wasn't anticipating seeing very much of him.

I got up bright and early to get own and pick up the seven race packets before the crowds arrived, turned out to be one of my very few good decisions of the day. I then went home, distributed the shirts, pinned on the numbers, passed out the bagels that I got on the way home, as I am super awesome, and generally got everyone moving. As we live about ten minutes from the starting line I wasn't too concerned about getting there on time, which ended up being a little too optimistic on my part.:-)

What with trying to get Chris & Emma from their dad, Liam trying to find his friend and the general bedlam around the place, the start of the race ended up being fairly stressful. not exactly as intended. I had planned on trying to get a picture of the family together at the start, but that quickly went away as Gordon went to hang out with his cross country team buddies, Liam with his friends and generally, we all split up. The race start was pandemonium, as usual, and I managed to find Gordon within the first five minutes or so, but we were keeping a fast pace and I knew I wasn't going to be able to sustain it. H stuck with me, when he & I both knew he could do better, but stick with his old dad, he did.

On the whole the race went well for, I managed to come second in my age group, which got me a letter and prizes; a free $38 haircut and some other sundry nonsense.

Results compared to last year;

	2012	2013
David	40:48	41:50
Bren		1:03:56
Gordon	53:40	40:35
Liam	46:21	42:37
Iona	45:54	42:38
Chris		1:03:44
Emma		52:15

Me, close to the end, struggling

Gordon finishing strong

Liam & Iona finishing together

Bren & Donna, Commerce Cougars,
crossing the line together

2013 Shamrock 'n' Roll Run

2013-03-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Here's to a quick one. Damn cold morning, Bren's first race. Bren was starting exactly one hour after me but I was hoping to make it back in time for her start. Due to current injuries and lack of training, this wasn't at all certain.

The morning was damn cold, well below freezing, which is really quite bizarre as last year it was in the low 70s at the start, but this is Michigan and the climate is a bloody disaster, and so we move on. After the usual Kona stuff we got on with it. At one point, ~mile 5, one runner asked if I was carrying an injury as I seemed to be favoring my left foot, and he was right, the pain in my ankle was building and my form was starting to get affected, I just wanted to be done. Crossed the line faster than I hoped for, got the usual snacks and a very impressive medal (they never disappoint). All in all a fun morning, but damn cold.

I have to give a huge shout out here to Kona Running, every race they organize is better than the last. This time, instead of just trying to encourage slower racers to start at the back, they were actually having two different starts, the second 10 minutes after the first in both the 5k & 10k races. Obviously this still doesn't stop eveyone, but it certainly helped.

The bibs also have a QR code that enabled you to get your results after the race, just by scanning it with your handy dandy cell phone app

Finish time of 52:12, 27th out of 100 in my age group and 340th out of 1,818 overall, glad I got it done and legs weren't sore for too many days after.

2013 and all that...

2013-02-12T18:36:00.002-05:00

So here we are in 2013 and my grand plan for running is gradually falling apart, one missed run at a time. I started out in great form, out running in the snow, freezing cold with my new hydration system and then the really crappy temperature and conditions hit and all hell broke loose. It only takes a couple of days for things to things to really fall apart and before you know it you are horribly behind. And then I ran 3.5 miles outside on the morning of Superbowl Sunday, I was very pleased, it went well and I felt that I might just be able to get the wheels back onto the bus and get going, and then I managed to roll my ankle going down stairs to put some clothes in the dryer. Jeez, wtf, I run almost four miles in ice and snow, cross country, without issue and bugger my ankle going down stairs that I have went down literally thousands of times before...

Update January 12^th - went to see the doctor yesterday, just over a week after it happened. The nurse decided that maybe the doctor would like see an x-ray, just in case, so we did. After a while he eventually decided to join me and after a brief examination he declared that I may have some ligament damage so no running for another three weeks and maybe an MRI, for good measure.

So right now, I have a number of races in jeopardy...

Gutted...

2012 - A Year of Running

2012-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

So how did my 2012 go, my first whole year of running? First lets look at my mileage, courtesy of Endomondo.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Miles	29.41	17.43	54.76	89.78	70.63	57.20
Kilometers	47.33	28.05	88.12	144.49	113.67	92.05
# of Runs	13	5	14	15	16	10

	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year Total
Miles	65.05	47.48	75.63	60.34	91.80	68.73	731.46
Kilometers	104.69	76.41	121.71	97.11	147.74	110.61	1,177.17
# of Runs	21	9	18	16	23	20	180

A number or things changed over the course of the year that may help explain the changes, although one of the most notable happened in November when +Bren took up running. I'm not quite sure why it affected my so much, but it obviously did. I ran a whole lot further and a whole lot more than before. Maybe it was seeing how inspired she has been with her running, maybe her running has encouraged me to find more time for my running, but either way, it inspired me to put in more miles than any other month.

Martin Parkway

Looking back, at the start of the year, running at all was tough, just due to it being winter, although not even a particularly nasty one. In January and February I was running at the weekends and trying to run maybe one or two evenings a week, weather permitting, which obviously wasn't very often. By the first week in March, the weather had started to get not too bad during the day and I decided to forego my walking at lunchtime regimen and convert it to a trying to run at lunchtime regimen. I work in the FMCC building, next to Ford World HQ and there is a path through the grounds of the office that I had been walking around, it then became my running track, much to the bemusement of others. I tried to run two to three days a week at lunchtime with varying degrees of success, in November, after getting bored with looping around the offices I started running around Dearborn a little.

On the 30th or March I signed up for what would be the first of around 5 or 6 half marathons for the year, the Martian Marathon on April 14th, so not too far in advance, but I thought, 'what the hell'. The actual day sucked, it was cold and wet, the course while starting nice, ended up being a long out 'n' back, boring as hell, but I finished, under two hours as well. The kids also ran the kids marathon that day, which was very cool.

We did eventually manage to go and visit our friends +Stuart & +Diana in sunny Colorado, I even managed a few runs with Stu and his buddy, +Chris, but no organised race, due to logistics, etc. Colorado was gorgeous and I can't wait to go again.

Richardson Center

Another big trip was when we went out to Pennsylvania for a race deep in the heart of Amish country, which ended up being a 5k on the Friday night, followed by a half marathon on the Saturday. Considering theses were my first ever days of back to back racing, I think I done ok, but the hills really and truly kicked my arse.

Another huge event for me was Danced With Dirt as part of a five man team running in a 100k technical trail race. Each member runs three legs of four to six miles each, with me both starting off and running the messiest leg. The final, awesome thing, was running in three races with my son, looking forward to running more with the kids.

Plans for next year

I want to run at least two, preferably three, marathons next year, possibly Lansing, Garden Spot Village in PA & I'd like to do the North Country Run in Manistee national forest. As far as half marathons go, I'd like to do Detroit & Bird-in-Hand in PA, and maybe others, but we'll see. the two races in Pennsylvania will qualify me for the Road Apples award, see here. In other races, I'm shooting for the Kona Triple Crown Award, which involves running the Shamrock 'n' Roll run in March, the Kona Run in June and the Wicked Halloween run in October. I will do other various runs as and when I find see fit.

I would also like to try and do some cycling and maybe try a duathlon at some point. There is a good one which involves a 5k run, followed by a 20k bike ride and finally a 5k run.

I want to try to do some more trail running, I ran Dances With Dirt and had a blast, so more of this, please.

30th Fifth Third Turkey Trot; 22nd November 2012

2012-11-22T10:29:00.000-05:00

Myself & Gordon before leaving home

Up bright and early on Thanksgiving morning for our second Fifth Third Bank Turkey Trot. Myself and Gordon were going to be picking up a friend on the way, but he lives very close by, so no big deal. The forecast was for very mild weather, so I opted for just regular running shorts and a short sleeved shirt, the only thing was going be the waiting beforehand and the walk back to the car after, but I'll take being cold then rather than too warm on the run. The drive downtown was kinda scary due to extremely heavy fog, but it didn't hang around for long.

We parked at a lot that my friend Chris uses regularly, it was $10 but the Lions were in town and even the car park guys like to make some money once in a while, that's capitalism for you. We had a ~10 minute walk down to the starting line at Campus Martius, which was uneventful. We decided to hang around inside of the Compuware building and avoid the crowds and the cold.

Hiding with Chris in Compuware,
avoiding the cold.

With about 15 minutes to spare we decided to head down to the starting line, I guess we knew it was going to be busy but didn't quite realise just how busy. We started in the group called 'Blitzen' - expected 8:00 to 9:30 minute mile pace, but there was all kinds of runners around us that it didn't really matter, even more importantly they, it started 15 minutes ahead of the next group. There were an awful lot of announcements going on, but due to terrible acoustics we never understood a word of them. we then got the national anthem, just as the sun was rising over Windsor, which was kinda cool, and then we were off.

The start, as usual with these things was bedlam, with slow people and dog owners deciding that they should start at the front, and fast people that ended up at the back for some reason, the bottom line is that people are flying everywhere, while you try and dodge around others. The few streets at the start are quite tight and wind quite a bit, which makes for an overall interesting and slightly terrifying experience. The route is pretty much three long out and backs, with some messing around at the end. Much as I tend to not like the out and backs, the crowd (waiting for the Thanksgiving Parade) and the variety of runners with costumes, etc, make for an interesting race. Myself and Gordon both had inexplicably sore knees, but that is the joy in running I guess. We did stop at one point to see if Gordon could stretch and get rid of the pain, but to no avail and we kept on going.

Bedlam

What with this being the 30th anniversary of the race, the Parade company, that put on the race decided to give out medals and this was really killing the end. We rounded the last corner only to be met with a throng of people. So much so that we weren't even sure at which point we crossed the finish line, a disappointing end to a cool race. I'd say it took easily 10-15 minutes to actually get our medal and get inside for a snack. Snacks were very underwhelming, with some water, a cookie, a bagel and the worlds smallest banana. Chris was a little behind us a got nothing, again, very disappointing.

I did hear while trying to get to the end that there are more races on Thanksgiving morning in the US than any other day of the year and that the race in Detroit is the biggest of them all, at around 20,000 runners, so I'll cut them a little slack, but not too much.

I finished around 54:44, but to be honest it was a bloody mess at the finish line, I didn't even know where the line was it was so busy. According to the official stats, I was 91 / 384 in my age group and 1224 / 7695 overall, which I'll take quite happily. This race was never about doing a PR, it is just a cool thing to do on Thanksgiving morning and cooler to do with Gordon.

How Endomondo saw it - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/109167489
How my Garmin saw it - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245685006

Looking up Woodward, to the starting line &
we were nearer the front...

The best present ever

2012-11-10T14:08:00.000-05:00

So I turned 46 on 10th November 2012, no big deal, just another birthday, but this one ended up being a little different. Now I'm not really one for presents and don't really ask for much. From my kids I just like wee things, like a book or something, from my wife, same kind of thing, nothing fancy, but his year she went all out. Bren decided last week that she wanted to start running and on the day of my birthday, we ended going out together for the first run of her Couch to 5k plan. This is the best birthday present she could possibly have given me and I am rooting for her. I know that it is going to be tough, but I promise to be with her throughout this stunning task.

As usual I had to technologify the whole process and downloaded a c25k app from the Google Play store, the first one sucked and ended up going with this one from the guys at Active.com. Over the past week and a half I have watched Bren go from being a very reluctant runner, to a avid running blog reader and writer too, although she is keeping it quiet right now.

Couch to 5k is a 9 week program, designed to take a coplete novice runner, from nothing to running for 30 minutes solid at the end. It starts as a run/ walk program, with increasing running duration and decreasing walking duration, three days a week. We have commited to do it on Saturday mornings, Monday nights and one other session midweek. I am super impressed that Bren has taken this on.

Wicked Halloween Run; 28th September 2012

2012-10-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Very cool medal, nice lanyard

As soon as they announced that this one was coming again and that the medal & shirt designs were going to be different, I knew I was going to sign up for it. Plymouth is a great little town to run around and mid-fall is the perfect time to do so, what with the fall colors, etc. I also asked Gordon if he wanted to run this one with me and he was all over it.

Got up, bright and early on race day as usual. I decided that I'd continue with the shorts, although it was a little chilly, but wear a long sleeved shirt and gloves. We were going to pick up Gordon at his moms so we had to leave a little earlier than usual, but no big deal. We got to Plymouth about 45 minutes before the start, and got parked easily, I didn't get a chance to pick up race packets beforehand, so we headed there first, and it was mobbed, c'est la vie, it's always something. The line went fairly fast and we got them within 15-20 minutes or so. It was still damn cold, so we waited in the food tent until they called us to the start.

The panels are actually purple, dunno why they
came out blue in the picture

The race was running about five minutes late, due to the huge crowds now a packet pickup, not really a big deal but it was good to see the problem getting dealt with. We met up with one of my colleagues from work, just before the start, had a chat and then it was time to begin. One strange thing here was the lack of an actual starting line, sure there was a timing mat, but typically there is a big inflatable archway at the start, all very strange. I also noticed as we were starting to line up for the start that this 10k race was going to have pacers, 4 minutes apart, which was kinda cool. I decided that sitting behind the 48 minute pacer would be a good place to start, I was hoping for a sub 50 minute finish, which would be 1:21 minutes below my current PR, so no mean feat. Plymouth is a very flat little town so I knew that if I was going to PR anywhere, it was here.

The race started nice and fast, due to everyone spreading out next to their expected finish, probably the first time I have really experienced this one. I knew that a 48 minute finish was a little too keen, but if I could at least try and keep it in sight I might do ok. Gordon ran with me, only getting stuck a couple of times, we both felt pretty good, if a little chilly, but I knew that would soon go. Matt, who was running with us, decided to pull ahead after the first mile, but we found a good pace and kept with it, putting in a solid 7:55 for the first mile. The second went even faster at 7:41 and both myself and Gordon still felt good. We passed a couple of aid stations, only briefly pausing to grab a quick drink and keep going. The race progressed better than I hoped and I kept up the sub-8 minute splits, 7:57, 7:56. By the fourth mile I knew I was feeling it, but suspected Gordon still had some pace left in him so said he didn't have to wait back for me, he could get going if he felt up to it - he sped up gradually and was gone. The fifth mile was another solid sub-8, 7:54, but by the sixth I was feeling it, and just couldn't manage another sub-8, managing a 8:08. I attempted to speed up and finish strong, but I didn't have too much left.

PR my 10k by 2:10, also PR my 5k by 1:15 on this race too, kinda cool.

Kinda fuzzy pic of myself
& Gordon

I came in at 49:11, beating my best by 2:10, 25th out of 87 in my age group and 187 out of 1555 overall, a good solid performance and one to be proud of. Gordon finished in 47:57, 5th out of 23 in his age group and 142 overall, a great performance, beating his best by over 12 minutes...

How Endomondo saw it - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/huKKcaso1us
How Garmin saw it - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/237883576

We got very cool medals to go with suitably black and purple long sleeved tech shirts. The snack line was nice and short, and better organised than last year.