Running The Race

There is always a first time for everything and today it was mine for a leg cramp.

Now I have had leg cramps before but never while running. They have always been after the run or race, until today.

This morning I ran the 10k at the Franklin Classic. It was a great morning to run. I was hoping for a sub-50 and was on pace until just before mile 4 marker.

It started as just a tightness in my right calf. But all of a sudden I couldn’t put any weight on my right leg and had to stop.

I walked best I could and it slowly loosened up, at least enough to finely start running again.

I was able to finish. But I lost about 5 minutes, rats!

Now I am home with ice on my calf. I can hardly walk because my calf is so sore. This not how I planned to spend Labor Day.

Here are the splits…

Today was another great afternoon to run.  It was a little warmer than yesterday but still very pleasant and low humidity.

I ran 10 miles with 4 miles at half marathon pace.  My splits were right on target, 8:05, 8:07, 8:02, 8:08.  Felt real good about the workout.  The last time I attempted a tempo run the temperature was in the 90s.  The 15 degrees really makes a difference.

August 31 is the end of the meteorological summer, but today felt more like Fall.  The humidity was low and with the wind from the North, it was a very pleasant 70 degrees. It was a great afternoon for a 5 mile recovery run.

Logged 192 miles this first month of training for the St. Jude Marathon.

Friday Gayle and I moved Sara and Laura Anne into their dorm rooms.  This is Sara’s junior year and Laura Anne’s first year. Our nest is now officially empty and the house is quiet.  I knew this day was coming but I guess some things you are never really ready for.

On the running side of things, training is going good.

I am following a training plan that I created.  Since I am now a “certified” RRCA coach, I figured I need to be the gennie pig the first time around.

Currently, I am building my base miles and put in a total of 46 miles this past week.

It is hard to believe that it is already August and time for school to start.  It is also hard to believe that no one in my family will be in public school this year.  Sara and Laura move in the dorm the end of the month.

Did a few races this summer but mostly kept up my base mileage around 35 to 40 miles per week.  So, I feel that I have a decent base going into the fall.  But with the heat, it has been slow going.

Currently, the plan is to return Memphis in December and run the St. Jude’s Marathon.

The recovery period is over from the last marathon.  I made it through the May races (GJCC Tri and Run4Kids 5K). So now it is time to settle in with the maintenance mileage of the summer.  The hard part right now is getting acclimated to the heat and humidity.

Had a solid week of training logging 37 miles.

Next up is the RC Cola and Moon Pie 10 miler this Saturday.

Looking to the Fall, this week I registered for the Middle Half in October and am making plans to go back to Memphis for the St. Jude Marathon in December.

I have been taking it easy as a far as running is concerned the past two weeks.  But when it occurred to me that the GJCC Tri on Memorial Day was fast approaching, I knew I could not rest for long.  I needed to spend some time in the pool and in the saddle.

This past week I rode once, made it to spin class once and was in the pool three times.

My mantra for the summer is to have fun and not worry about racing. But needless to say, I do want to be able to finish.  So, this past week on…

Sunday, Amy and I rode 12 miles.

Monday, I swam at lunch and ran 5 miles after work.

Tuesday, I made it to spin class.

Wednesday was a repeat of Monday.

Thursday was a rest day.

Friday, it was back to the pool and only 4 miles after work.

Saturday, I ran an easy 7 miles.

or “Who Knew That Swine Flew?”

Late Friday morning Gayle and I headed North to Cincinnati.

We stopped and ate lunch and rolled into town about 5:30.  It was not a bad drive from Nashville.

After checking into the hotel we headed off to find some place to eat supper downtown.

Woke up Saturday morning to a beautiful day.  We ate breakfast in the hotel and then headed across the street to the expo. I had promised to get the girls T-shirts that read, “ I’ll run a marathon when pigs fly”.

This race has the best swag of any that I have run.  They gave us technical shirts, posters and a messenger bag, not bad.

Once we finished at the expo, we headed off to get our bearings in the city.  We scoped out a place on the race course, about mile 5, that was two blocks from the hotel, where Gayle could go to take photos.  Then we headed to find the start and finish lines.

About mid-afternoon, Michele rolled into town and the three of us headed out to preview the course.  We picked it up about mile 5.  The two parts I really wanted to see was “the climb” and “the finish”.

The forecast for race day was a concern.  The weather folks were calling for light rain at the start and getting heaver as the morning progresses.

Met Michele in the lobby at 5:30 and we headed to the start.  It was raining lightly so we wore trash bags to keep dry.

We made our way to the 3:50 pacer in the coral.  Even though she said she was going to run negative splits.  She took off at the gun.

It was rather crowded for the first several miles as we crossed three bridges in a trip over to Kentucky and back. By mile five the pacer was long gone but we did see Gayle.

We started the climb at mile 6 and kept a reasonable pace to the top.

From there the course was rolling hills with several long ups and downs but by mile 15 we were running 8:47 miles with an average pace of 8:47.  I was feeling good but knew it was too early to celebrate.

At mile 18, I told Michele to take off to get her BQ.

By mile 20, my pace had slowed.  The hills had worked their magic and this pig was having trouble flying.

Mile 22 and 23 were tough but by mile 24 I was able to pick up the pace some.

I finally shuffled across the “finish swine” at 4:24:11.

Luckily, it stopped raining about mile 4, and the heavy rain never materialized.

The elevation chart on the web site is deceptive. They have smoothed it out. My Garmin makes it look more like the roller coaster that it is.

All in all it was a good race.  Gayle and I got to get away and it was great to see and run with Michele.

Here are my splits in all the gory details.

My original plan was to run this race as my last training run.  I would run it with Amy. Thereby guaranteeing I would not run it too fast.  When Amy decided not to run, I looked for plan B.

Monday, I called my friend Keith and he said I could run with him.  I knew he would run faster that I wanted (under 2 hours) but I figured it would be a good training run even though it was a little late in the training for a tempo run.

Got up before the alarm went off at 3:30 Saturday morning.  Got ready and was parked at LP Field a little after 5. It was already warm.  I didn’t need any extra clothing to stay warm while I waited.

Caught the bus to Centennial Park. Todd and Jeff from the running group from my church were on the same bus. There was some trash talk that got a few laughs from the folks on the bus.  It doesn’t take much to get folks going at that hour of the morning.

Headed to the “tree house” at the park that Amy and I waited in last year.  There was no one there this year since there was not a need to stay dry. It was a good place to sit and relax.

It was a beautiful Spring morning with the temperature in the lower 60s.  The big discussion of the morning, though, was how hot it was going to get.  Since we have and a cool wet Spring, Saturday was the first 80 degree day.  Normally, that would not be a problem. But without any time to acclimate, it was a concern.

Found Keith and friends.  Keith’s brother-in-law, Chris, wanted to run with a money on his back. You can imagine the looks and the comments we got as we waited in the corals to start.

One of things I enjoy about this race is that is is such an event.  With 30,000 runners, the start is really something to see. Runners as far as you can see.

We all lined up in coral 5 and waited for the start.

The course was changed to include more of downtown but in doing so, they add several more hills.

Keith wanted to run under 2 hours. So I just stayed with him.

The first couple of miles were too fast for me but we began to get back to more realistic pace on the hills on miles 4 and 5.

Around mile 7, Keith said that he had a side stitch and need to walk for a bit.  He told me to go on and that he would catch up.  I was on my own, Plan C.

By this time we were heading up Belmont and the heat was kicking in. I seemed to set in around a 8:50 pace.  I didn’t push it.  Just ran what felt comfortable knowing that the real race is next weekend in Cincinnati.

When I got to where the half marathoner and the marathoner’s split, I was glad I was only doing the half this year.

As I headed toward the finish, I saw several folks cramping up.  About 200 yards from the finish line, one guy grabbed his hamstring and limped to the side of the road. I was glad I was finished, 1:57:56.

Here are the splits….

I waited around after the race for Keith. He finished about 5 minutes behind me.

Came home and took an ice bath to start the recovery for the Flying Pig Marathon next Sunday.

A friend at Church this morning who has run the Half several years made the comment that this year she felt like she was constantly running up hill. I agree.  I am stiffer today than I should be for only running 13 miles.  Hope the recovery is quick.