Category: Running

This last week I had a few interesting runs. I was out with a medical team in a smaller town. Fortunately, there were new maps put up on Google Earth for this town. Previously you could only see that there were lines on the ground that could be considered roads. Now there is a pretty good shot of Valladolid, Yucatán, México. There is one pretty opaque cloud to work through, but I guessed on the path of the road during those runs.

Monday
I got up at 3:15 to head to Valladolid and meet the medical team for breakfast. Needless to say, I did not run before leaving town. However, in the afternoon I had some time after playing with the team at a local cenote to take a short run. I wanted to get 8 miles in, but the 95 degree weather impeded that from happening. I would have pressed on, except where I wanted to run was pretty remote and I would not have any way to get water if I needed it.

I still ran 3.8 miles and had a good time by myself.

Tuesday
I had been talking to a few of the doctors who were in our group and I found two dentists who wanted to run with me. We met at 6:00 to try and get some mileage in before having to be cleaned up and leave for breakfast by 6:45. We did 2.31 miles, but we were really pushed for time. Only one dentist showed up.

Wednesday
We decided to head out a little earlier and hit the road at 5:45. That worked out well and we were able to run 3.76 miles.

Thursday
Another dentist was supposed to run with Mike and I, but he chickened out. I was starving when we left the hotel. I usually try to grab a snack the night before that I can eat before heading out in the morning. Since we had gotten home very late Wednesday night, the store was not open to grab a snack.

I was a bit concerned that I would not do too well in the run because of being so hungry. About 3 blocks down the road from our hotel we ran by a tortilla factory. I jumped in and asked the lady if I could have a sample of one. That was enough to knock down the hunger pangs and keep me going.

We ran 3.33 miles then.

This was the first time this year I have run more than 3 days in a row. I have been trying to be conscious of that so that I am not putting un-due stress on my bones and joints. I am still able to run enough each week to make my goals by taking 2 days off.

Sunday
I showed up about 30 minutes before the start of a 5K race. I was ready to register and think about running for a PR. When I got to the race, there were a few people who are at every race. Probably only about 12 people showed up. There was no one to do registration for the event. We decided it was canceled and I just ran 5K at an easy pace. I got home later to find that I had an email telling me the race had been canceled at the last minute without explanation.

Today
I was back to my normal running partner and routine. I ran 6.58 miles. I am perfectly on pace to finish the year at 1000 miles. Now that my traveling is over I will be able to get a bit ahead until mid-summer. All my extra banked miles will come in handy as we get back on the road and travel through the fall.

I ran the Dogwood Dash 5K race this morning. There were several really good things about the race, and a few disappointing ones.

Pre-race
I learned about the race on my Tuesday morning run. I was out with the Running Wild Six at Six running group in Pensacola. At the end of the run I saw a banner for the Dogwood Dash 5K. I got information and signed myself up for the race the next day. That was the cutoff for the cheap registration rate.

Later, I talked my son into running the 1 mile fun run. When I went to pick up my packet on Friday night, I told them my son wanted to run the fun run. They gave me a registration slip and I paid the $20 bucks they requested. I found out this morning at the race that he did not need to register since there were no prizes for the 1 mile run. I donated $20 to a cause that I am not at all sympathetic to. I just wanted to run the race.

For our registration, we each got a T-shirt and a free pancake breakfast. I got a fridge magnet and a coupon to Chick-Fil-A. My son only got the shirt.

Race
It was very cold. I had planned to try for a PR since it was going to be cooler. However, I did not plan for 38 degrees. My previous PR was at 72 degrees. I am used to the warmer weather, but I have been running well in the cooler temperatures. The constant 10 to 14 mph wind did not help much either.

I stayed warm–as much as I could–getting ready for the race. We got there about 25 minutes early, which was planned. But with it being so cold, I think it was probably not a good idea to get there too early. I waited until 15 minutes before race start to do some warm up running. I usually like to trot around for 10 or 12 minutes just loosening up. I did that and gave myself just a few minutes of standing around before race start.

Right at the time we were supposed to start the race, 8:00, there was an announcement that the start would be delayed by 10 to 15 minutes. There was a problem with the company that was doing the timing and they packed up their equipment and left. That meant the race organizers were scrambling for everything they needed to accurately time the race. Something sounded fishy about the explanation. Maybe the truth will come out in the paper tomorrow.

Now we were left with a “10 to 15” minute delayed start time. How do you properly warm up again when you don’t know when the race will start? I was already cold and getting stiff (not that I ever really loosened up). I did another warm up trot and got back to the starting line moments before the start.

My 5K PR was on a course with a 20′ rise and fall. The course today was 100′ elevation change. We went over the same hill 4 times during the run.

Splits:

1. 4:54
2. 5:06
3. 5:25
4. missed
5. 10:24

I was trying to run 4:48 splits (to get a 24:00 time). The first one was a bit slow and I slowed down from there. I was not in the right mindset to get the PR and the wind, cold and hills were a factor. I think the bigger hindrance was my thinking though. I know with a bit more experience on hills I would know how to handle them in the future.

I am not at all disappointed with not getting the PR. I did not really feel it happening when I got up this morning.

One of the highlights to the race was the group of Marines that ran with us. They ran in formation and called cadence the whole time. They were just behind me most of the way. It was very motivating.

Post Race
It was not clear that there were post race snacks available. I did not know about them until 30 minutes after I finished my run waiting for the fun run. Having the bagels, bananas, oranges and water would have been nice.

Since we started late, the fun run started late. They did not start until close to 9:30. The pancake breakfast was being served until 10:00 at a different location from the race course.

My son ran a 10:25 mile, which we think is a PR for him. We ran it together.

We then went for the pancake breakfast and got there around 9:45. The pancakes were fine…all 2 of them. They were out of coffee. There was no indication that we could have more pancakes. I wanted more, but no one else was going back for seconds, so I stopped at 2. Sigh. So much for paying $40 for a nice breakfast.

We were inside the eating area waiting for the awards ceremony. They posted the results on one of the walls. Nothing was said to the 100 or so people inside, but they were giving out door prizes outside. We happened to wander outside shortly before my son was called as a prize winner for 2 free appetizers at a restaurant. About 20 people later, my name was called for the same prize. Now we have 4 free appetizers. We probably won’t be able to use them before leaving town, but, we won something. That is good.

Awards
The overall winner was someone in my age group (35-39 year olds). He ran it in 16 minutes and something.

I took 69th overall out of 336 runners.

I also got 3rd in my age group! I don’t know how many runners were in the group, but there were at least 5. They gave awards to the first 5 in each division.

The awards took over an hour. We left shortly after I got my award. I don’t know how much longer it went on.

I think things were terribly disorganized. I was disappointed with several little things in the event. Though I have had some bad experiences with races in Mexico, this was probably the most disappointing as far as just being non-informative. The one good thing I can say about the organization is that it was really 5 kilometers in distance.