Auburn KD Shamrock 5K

Wow!! It has really been a long time since I have raced. The KD Shamrock 5K was a good way to shake the cobwebs loose before the ING Atlanta Marathon at the end of the month. I had to sign up for something to get me motivated to train hard and consistently.

My wife was a KD and 2 of our babysitters for our twins are KDs. As you would suspect, there were a lot of 18-24 year old participating in this race. It was also very, very cold for this race, and I was ill-prepared. The built-in briefs in the running shorts provide little warmth. I met up with a friend of mine, Adam, that was running in his first race ever. I signed up on the day of the race, as there was only a $2 penalty for late registration, and I thought I could manage that. It was well organized and got through the line quickly.

The race went through a scenic route around downtown Auburn, with great views of Jordan-Hare Stadium, Samford Hall, Toomer's Corner, and the new basketball arena under construction. The start and finish corrals, timing, and results were well managed, as always, by the local running club, AORTA. The route was quite hilly and offer numerous challenges for such a short course of a 5K.

I was really pleased with my results, considering the hiatus. I finished second in my age group, although there weren't a large number of runners over 30. Here is a link to the results, in case any one out there is looking for their own time in this event.

It's Contagious

I received an automated email this morning generated from Active.com, stating that Robert Bruce has registered for the Murfreesboro Half Marathon 2009 and Kids Fun Run held on Saturday, October 3rd. Robert is a friend of mine from high school that we stayed with during the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN. He is an avid golfer and author of the blog Game Under Repair. He is also a beginning runner. I cannot think of too many instances when I have seen him run, Team Sports class back in high school is the only thing that comes to mind. He has been influenced by some people at his work, and a little by me, to start running on a regular basis. Shortly after we returned from our trip to Nashville for the Country Music Marathon, he announced to me his intentions to sign up for the Murfreesboro Half Marathon coming up in the fall.

I have received a few updates of his progress over the last couple months, mostly of the pains his body has gone through adjusting to these new stresses he is putting on it. He says he blames me for this. Hopefully, he might start to see some of the benefits from his efforts on the golf course, as well. I would think that having a better cardiovascular system and stronger legs would lead to less fatigue on the course and more power in his stroke. As a talented writer, I may have to ask him to give me a race review of how is first half marathon went.

graphics from www.active.com

Change of Plans

I decided Sunday night not to run the Celebrate America 10K in Alpharetta because I felt that I was coming down with a mild cold, presumably from the kids. Plus, I feel like someone punched me in my left eye. It is swollen up and seems to be a stye infection coming up. All that said, I decided not to run Monday and tax my body in a race before this coming weekend's triathlon.

I have been keeping keeping up my normal training routine and am getting ready to head down to the beach Thursday evening to get settled in, preview the race course and relax a little before the Grandman on Saturday. I spoke with my friend who ran the Celebrate America 10K, and he said it was a good race with really good support volunteers.

Favorite Runs: Columbus Riverwalk #3 - Oxbow Meadows

Yesterday, I went for a run after work on one of my favorite routes. It is a 10-K out and back route along the Oxbow Meadows area of the Columbus Riverwalk. It follow the old, meandering route of the Chattahoochee River and criss-crosses multiple oxbow lakes. There is always an abundance of wildlife from land, sea, and air to distract you as your legs and lung burn.
The route begins at the Oxbow Meadow Environmental Learning Center located on South Lumpkin Road. Then, head north along the Oxbow Creek Golf Course, where you dart in and out of wooded areas alongside 4 fairways.
Next, make the descent down into the meadows area. Over your left shoulder, you'll see wide open fields of hay straw and on you right, you run by a series of oxbow lakes that are connected by streams with turn-offs and parking for the fisherman.
There are very few hills on this route, as you can see, but the ones that are present are short and manageable. This is an excellent route for cyclists, as well.
From the meadows, the course continues to drop until you find yourself interlaced with the necklace strand of lakes. This part of the course is very shaded and preferred on hot summer Georgia afternoons.
There are usually a good number of people taking advantage of the Riverwalk. They are walkers, runners, fishermen, and cyclists. I have seen a few police officers monitoring the course on ATV's to help keep the area safe.
The only thing that you might need to watch out for are alligators and snakes. I have seen a couple of both over the last six months of running this part of the Riverwalk. It is a little unsettling, but generally, if you leave them alone the don't pay you any mind.
The last part of the route before you make your returning trip back to the Environmental Learning Center is a final drop down to your first real glimpse of the Chattahoochee River. The worst part of this last section is that before you reach the river you pass by the waste water treatment plant for south Columbus, but it is only for about a quarter mile.

It never fails on this running route that I see something new, be it wildlife or plant life or other. It is an easy route that holds you attention as you maneuver in and out of varying landscapes.

Map from www.columbusga.org

Celebrate America 5K/10K

A friend of mine has convinced me to enter a 10K race while we will be in Atlanta this weekend. I am having reservations about it since The Grandman Triathlon would only be 5 days after this event. I always hate to miss out on opportunities to run with friends of mine in races. The seas of people can get lonely out there.

The race is being held on Memorial Day, May 25th, in Alpharetta, Georgia near Northpoint Mall. The race is being put on by the Alpharetta Junior Woman's Club. They are offering a 5K and 10K that starts at the AMC Theaters on Northpoint Parkway. The 5K is a single loop around Northpoint Parkway and Mansell Road, while the 10K will be two loops. I am normally not much of a fan of retracing my steps in a race, but like I said, it's always good to run with friends. The route looks like is has a couple hills but nothing too bad. I will update after the race and tell how it went. Hopefully, I will have enough time to let my legs recover for the following weekend triathlon.

Graphics from www.ajwc.net

Wearing Thin

The Nike Max Moto 5+ were the shoes that I began my running season with last April. I ran cross country in high school and have run sporadically during the 15 years since that time. After the birth of our twin boys and a recent move, I decided to kick my butt in gear and take on some serious goals for 2008-09.

Before my first 5-K in these shoes in April, I had a pair of Asics Gel running shoes that were broken out occasionally but never worn in. I purchased the Nike Max Moto's in conjunction with an iPod Nano and Nike+ running kit. I thought, "finally running won't be so boring." Since that time, I have run in 5 5-K's, 3 10-K's, 1 10-miler, 1 half marathon, 2 marathons, and countless hours & miles by myself on long stretches of roads whose names have faded into memory. I am now hanging up the laces on the Max Moto's now that most of my long distance running is over for a while, and I am moving to more of a triathlon specific shoe. Plus, as you can see, I was starting to run the risk of a blow-out or altering my stride from deteriorating wear patterns.

I am still trying to figure out the wear patterns that developed on these shoes. On the forefoot, it is consistent with a neutral foot strike, neither on the outside or inside edges of the shoe. On the heel, there is something else entirely going on. This is the area of heaviest wear and looks to be more along the lines of a supinated gait pattern. I think that the bulk of this wear happened early on in my resurgence to running. I feel like I got into some bad habits that eventually lead to a lot of pain in my IT Band in November and December of last year. I took some time off and worked hard to correct this when I returned to running. For the most part, I have been pain free. During really long runs, I feel that I relapse into old habits, and sure enough, the pain returns.

From here on out, I have around seven triathlons in which I am going to complete before the close of the year. None of them over the International, or Olympic, Distance in length. That means the runs will be no more than a 10-k in competition. I have moved my training and competition show over to a triathlon specific shoe, the Zoot Ultra TT shoe. I have only ran in them a couple times, but so far so good. They allow for quick entry into the shoe, speedy fit adjustment (no-tying), reduced water retention, barefoot wear design, and many other features thought out with the triathlete in mind. I got mine for about half off the retail price on the 2008 models from a website called Running Warehouse. By the way it is only a coincidence that both pair of shoes are orange and blue (perhaps).

Runner Dies After Finishing Half-Marathon

On Saturday, a 25-year old runner collapsed shortly after finishing the Country Music Half-Marathon that I was at. He had finished the race around 2:16, only a couple minutes after a friend of mine that saw his collapse. From her account, he collapsed and medical workers jumped in quick to do what they could, performing rescue CPR before taking him off in an awaiting ambulance. He would later die at Nashville General Hospital that day.

The saddest part of this story is that he was a military veteran. Army Staff Sargent Benjamin Pigman from Hamilton, Montana had served 4 tours of duty in Afghanistan and 1 tour of duty in Iraq. He was a decorated veteran with several commendations and medals for his service. The medical director of the Country Music Marathon called it a "sudden cardiac event" and said that it was not contributed to the record heat on race day. It might be the case that it wasn't heat stroke or heat exhaustion, but indirectly, the heat could bring on over-exertion and stresses to the heart. My heart goes out to his family. It is terrible to see a life cut short before it even really begins.

Photo from www.wgnsradio.com

Race Day, Part 2

Now in the heart of downtown Nashville, we made the break from the half marathoners on the circle around the Tennessee State Capitol Building. We began a long, slow climb up our next out-and-back route following Rosa Parks Blvd. heading towards the Metrocenter area. This part of the route was one of the less scenic parts of the entire day. It was very industrial and very gritty.

It was only until we were on the northwest end of the Metrocenter area that the route turned to show us vistas of another Nashville landmark…The Cumberland River. For the next 2 miles, we ran along an elevate footpath that looked to be a part of some “Rails to Trails” project. There were steep banks on both sides of the path, with one side being the river and the other being an industrial park. There was only one area on the trail that had spectators and no water stations. I just keep looking to my right, admiring the river and greenery that tried to hide the rock-faced cliffs. You could barely see the downtown area to the right. Although the area was lacking in crowds, it was nice to have a few miles without the fanfare. It was more like a normal weekend run I would have at home.

The peacefulness did not last long as we made our return trip south on Rosa Parks Blvd to join back up with the half marathoners around the State Capital. If there was a confusing part to the route, this was it. Half-way through mile 19, we were again running alongside the hoards of half-marathon runners. Over the next mile, our paths were overlaid but were sprinkled with turnoff they would take before rejoining us on our path over the Woodland Street Bridge. This is where we got out first glimpse at LP Field where the race concluded for all of us.

The half marathon runners only had1/2 mile to go, but we would have to stick it out for another 10k. The joy that I had felt when I first saw LP Field quickly dissipated as we began to weave our way through more neighborhoods to our final loop around Shelby Park. Although I was in serious pain at this point and doing an alternating run/walk combo, this was one of the most scenic parts of the route. On one side we had the Riverview Golf Course and Shelby Park and on the other side was the Cumberland River again.

Now on our final leg, we headed down Davidson Street and passed under Interstate 24. As we rounded the corner and started heading straight towards the southern end of LP Field, I got my first glimpse at my wife that I had kissed good-bye at 5:30 a.m. that morning. Her and our other friends started yelling out my name. I looked at them and all I could do was shake my head. I actually found a little kick for the last quarter of a mile and pulled into the finish area in 4:19:39.

Race Day, Part 1

There was no other word for it than hot. The official high for the day was 87 degrees, which was a record high for the tenth edition of the race. The winner, Kenya’s Amos Matui that finished in 2:13:41, could have lapped me twice. I was happy to survive the hilly course under those conditions in 4:19:39. Tragically, one young man did not survive the event (more on that in a future post).

I arrived as close as I could get to the start of the race on West End Ave. at 5:30 a.m. and kissed my wife good bye as I headed towards Centennial Park. As I walked down West End Ave., the corral numbers kept falling in descending order, 29, 28, 27, 26….so on and so on. I was in corral number 4, obviously a little optimistic after coming off a good showing at my first marathon. I finally made it down to the park to drop my clothes off, stretch, warm-up, and make one final trip to the portable toilet before the race start. The bag drop off was well organize and manage by UPS. I had zero problems with drop off or pick up. By 6:15 a.m., the crowds really began to pick up. They could have put an additional 500 portable toilets in and around the park, and there still would not have been enough. After stretching and going for a warm up run, I ended up waiting in line for 20 minutes to use the bathroom. The wheelchair athletes were taking off while I was still in line.

The enforcement of the corral assignments was laughable. There were people from every corral down the line in a group with me. I could not even actually get into the corral until groups 1 and 2 left. Then, we were able to move our way into place and make the march up to the starting line. With the horn, we headed down West End Ave. as it passed by Vanderbilt University and turned into Broadway. Along the way we passed many famed Nashville landmarks, including the impressive Union Station Building, the Sommet Center, making the turn at the Gaylord Entertainment Center and coming back around in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

We then headed towards and out & back route down Music Square and Belmont Ave to a small loop past Interstate 440. This was the most scenic and shaded part of the entire course. Being a builder, I enjoyed the Tudor cottages and classic bungalows that lined the streets. Large oaks, maples, and poplars shrouded the sun as best they could. This helped mask the full effect of the hills in this section of the route. There were also large numbers of fans that turned out for this part of the courses, mixed in with the variety of bands that were stationed every couple of miles. As you can tell, I was pretty upbeat during the first 10 miles.

We made our way back into downtown, along the railroad tracks adjacent to the old Union Station Building again. You could still see people on the overpasses waving us on. The aid station people were top notch. The Cyto-max was in clearly marked cups, the water in water cups, and the Vaseline-on-a-stick was ready for places that were rubbing. As we made our way up onto Rosa Parks Blvd., the ½ marathoners were still with us until they made their turn off at Harrison St. on their way to glory at mile 11.5. For the rest of us, there was another 14.7 miles to go.

Also, check out the service by Garmin/MotionBased to give you elevation charts, 3D maps, and Google Earth view.

Photo from www.cmmarathon.com

Country Music Marathon Expo

We made it back yesterday from our weekend at the Country Music Marathon in Nashville. It was a good, tough weekend. I wanted to take the next week to review a few aspects of the race festivities. Since there is no better place to start than at the beginning, I will begin with the Race Expo on Friday.

The Expo was held at the Nashville Convention Center just off the downtown Broadway Street area and right across from the Ryman Auditorium. My wife and I decided to head up there early to avoid the bulk of the crowds, and we were glad that we did. We arrived not long after they opened at 11 a.m. and found no real lines to speak of. From the way the Convention Center was set up, you could tell of what was to come later in the day, with over 30,000 runners and 50,000 total visitors expected. They had plenty of security and event personnel on site ready to help and had the entrance weaving around to manage the expected crowds.

Once you entered to hall, there was a large area just for receiving your race number. There was an area for chip solutions and changing your corrals (although on race day this was useless). From there you proceed to the next station to pick up your event t-shirts, half-marathoners to one side and full-marathoners to the other. Next, you picked up your race bag/packet and headed off to the largest single-purpose area in the exhibit hall…The Official Merchandise Zone. We looked around for a little bit, but everything was way overpriced and a little too self-indulgent for a low-key guy like me. Besides, I’ll just wait until after the event when they mark everything down on the web site.

Finally, we moved along into the vendor area. This put my, most recent, first marathon expo to shame. My first marathon expo was held on the ground floor of the local Hilton Garden Inn in Albany, GA. With a higher caliber event, there comes a higher caliber expo. Just about every major shoe and clothing manufacturer was present, including Asics, Brooks, New Balance, Mizuno, Sugio, 2XU, etc. There were also numbers of vendors selling discounted clothing, nutritional products, running accessories and everything else under the sun. We ingested our fill of the samples, got some cards and flyers for items I want to check out online when we got home, and slowly meandered our way through the maze. All in all, there was little I couldn’t live without.

We made our way towards the exits and headed to Broadway to eat at a Bar-B-Q place there called Jack’s that a friend recommended. It was very good, as we should have known by the long line to get in the place. Without our bellies full and our feet tired, we went back to where we were staying to cat nap and watch some NFL draft previews.

Graphics from www.cmmarathon.com

The Hidden Key

My last post had me thinking back on something that happened at the Albany Marathon that I ran a couple months ago. At the time, it was quite nerve racking, but in the end, it turned out the be a much more embarrassing situation.

Before the race, I place my car key on the rear tire of my car. I could not carry it in either of my short's pockets since they both had gel packs in them. The race went fine, and I headed back to the car to wash off and change clothes. With my pockets now empty, I decided to put the key in the outside pocket of my shorts. I headed back down to the area along the river where all the post-race activities were going on. About half-way down the path back, I heard a "ping-ping." The key had worked its way out of my pocket and onto the asphalt. Now, this has happened in the past while I was running but never when just walking around.

After this, I decided to put the key in the inside pocket of my shorts. I proceeded to walk around, checking out the other runners coming in, trying to eat and rehydrate, watching the awards presentations, etc. All in all, I walked around for around 1 1/2 hours before I was ready to pack it in and make the 2 hour ride home. I reached for my key...nothing.

At first, I did not panic. I rechecked both pockets and tried to retrace my steps. Then, the reality of the situation set in. For you see, this was not only the sole key that I had with me...it was the only key to the vehicle that existed. This was my company car that I had put off getting duplicate keys made for over the last 9 months that I have been employed by my current company. So, back to the story.

I tried retracing my steps for well over an hour. At this point, I was full on FREAKING OUT. I start weighing my options. Do I call my wife to come pick me up (my phone was in the car), do I just leave it there or get it towed, or do I keep looking? I decided to find the race director and ask if there was a lost and found. No lost and found. There was no news from her that anyone had found a key at any point in time. I gave her my phone number and address, in case it was found.

CONCLUSION: I tried giving the grounds another once over...what else was I going to do. This was a good 2 hours since I decided I was ready to leave. Being male, I reached down to adjust myself. I felt something hard and it was not me. I said a quick prayer, opened up the waistband of my shorts, moved my manhood to the side and out popped the key. How could I not have felt it down there. I felt like such an idiot. I wanted to kiss that key but quickly thought better of it. I quickly headed back to the car and got out of there.

graphics from www.snickersmarathonenergybarmarathon.com

Nashville Bound

My wife and I are heading to Nashville tomorrow for the Country Music Marathon. I will be running in my second marathon ever. I ran my first almost two months ago. The Snickers Marathon Bar Albany Marathon had only a thousand runners. At that time, it was the largest event in which I had ever participated. It was a good flat course and a good temperature, but it was literally 100% humidity with zero precipitation.

The Country Music Marathon seems overwhelming even before I even show up to the starting corral. Besides there being 26,000 runners to navigate, 50 bands stationed around the course, and endless numbers of spectators, there is an mountain of paper work. I have a folder filled with maps, confirmation sheets, shuttle schedules, parking instructions, timing chip instructions and a final information packet.

It has been hard to recover from my first marathon, start building back mileage for this race, and then taper back down to make sure that I am rested enough. I have been doing a lot more cross training during my time between races. I have really started putting some significant miles on the bike and made my first visit to the pool Tuesday morning. All of this is looking forward to my first triathlon at the end of May. It is a modest sprint distance, but you have to start somewhere.

Also, this will be my last race in my Nike Max Moto +5 shoes. They have been a good shoe but I have run the soles off. I will have to see how they look after another 26.2 miles. Finally, here is a map of the race course. From what I understand it is different from last year but still has some scenic views and a great finish at LP Field.


photos and graphics from www.cmmarathon.com.