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It's getting pretty hot these days here in Michigan. Tuesday morning I went for a run at 0600 with our newest foster dog Reese and it was already in the 60's! We only ran for 2.5 miles but I surprised myself (and perhaps Reese, too!) by holding a 8:15 pace without feeling too tired. We stopped at the river halfway and I discovered that Reese does not like water!
Today I ran with my co-workers at lunch, but beforehand I tried an experiment. Results? Don't eat before running! I completely wonked out on our 5-miler and practically dragged myself back to work. 87 degress and humidity didn't help the issue.
As long as I'm linking to my running blog I might as well add a link for my Memorial Day article honoring dogs.
Alas, I was not a Detroit Tigers ballplayer this weekend, even if it would've meant sitting on the bench as we got swept by the division rivals. Instead I rode a different type of pine, rolling along the White Pine Trail on my bicycle with Amanda and my parents.
My dad and I have long been planning to do a 50-mile ride on this trail, and Saturday was finally the day. Initially I was hoping to ride the entire 92-mile trail to achieve one of my "wouldn't it be cool?" goals for 2007; however, complications involving car repairs altered my plans and I opted for the logistically simpler plan of just riding 50. Not that riding 50 miles is ever simple...
In fact it was only 49 miles, but my dad and I aren't ones to nitpick. :) Mom and Dad drove to our house, loaded up my bike, and the three of us drove to the trailhead in Big Rapids where Dad and I began our journey. Since it had rained all morning we brought along our raincoats but seeing clear skies in the north, we chanced leaving them in the car. I was well stocked with 4 liters of water (planning to give my bottle to Dad, since he brought just one) and tons of munchies.
Three of those liters were in my Salomon Raid Race 200 (bought two years ago for my first adventure race) that I converted into a hydration pack. In contrast my dad went old school, wearing a vintage REI knapsack with felt-lined leather shoulder straps, a wedding gift from 1974! Aside from the handy waist-belt pouches, my pack didn't seem any superior to his - both were lightweight, comfortable, breathable, and durable. Impressive!
The first mile was easy pedaling - all paved. That soon gave way to a dirt two-track for the next, oh, 30+ miles that had been softened by the morning's rain. While some sections were harder-packed than others, the soft dirt just sucked the kinetic energy right out of our tires, much the way EMAS slows down aircraft that overrun a runway. Both of our rides were hybrid bikes with relatively narrow tires that the soft ground swallowed up. We kept wishing for some good old 2" mountain bike tires and I finally tried to emulate those fat knobbies by lowering my tire pressure from 70 to 45 psi. It helped quite a bit, but we'd already ridden 20 miles at the higher pressure so the benefit was minimal.
The weather held up for us terrifically. Temps hovered in the 60s while the sky remained overcast yet without rain - very comfortable! Every 45 minutes or so we'd stop and have a snack. By the end of our ride we'd consumed four energy bars, one bag of dried fruit trail mix, and half a bag of Combos - I later calculated our pit stops to have totaled about 1000 calories for each of us! I swear we burned it all, too.
We were amazed at how far down the trail we could see in some places. The trail is a former train track - straight and flat - and at times we could see two miles ahead of us! It was weird to see a road intersection way in the distance, ride for five minutes and look up to feel as though we didn't get any closer! 33 miles along the trail we spot this pink thing in the distance - minutes passed before we were able to confirm our guess that it was Amanda, who had ridden up to meet us from Grand Rapids. She had to pedal 16 miles to reach us!
Now our group was 50% larger as the three of us slogged through some loose gravel on the two-track. All of this soft terrain was wearing on Amanda's legs and she had one goal in mind: pavement! Half an hour later we finally hit Russell Road, which marks the point where the rest of the trail south is paved. Ahhh! Our average speed jumped a few MPH as cruised along the blacktop. Another 30 minutes and we reached the town of Rockford, our temporary finish line.
In Rockford we met my mom, who had ridden the four miles up from Grand Rapids to meet us all for lunch. We found a pizza restaurant situated in a 100-year-old house that was cramped, but the food was served quickly and it really hit the spot. That pizza joint has the world's smallest bathroom - imagine fitting a toilet, sink, and towel dispenser in a space the size of an outhouse!
Loaded up on food, we walked around the Rockford dam for 15 minutes to digest a bit before hopping back on our bikes for the 4-mile ride to our awaiting parked cars. A mile into the ride it began to rain and quite honestly I welcomed it - after 4 hours of cranking the pedals and getting sprayed with sand and pebbles, the rain felt refreshing! At the very end Dad and I sprinted ahead to see how high of a max speed we could hit on his bicycle computer - he reached 24 mph while I was still gaining on him. It felt fast but then again, Olympic sprinters can run that speed!
We got so carried away we almost missed the parking lot! Dad and I racked up 49 miles, which was his longest ride since a 100-miler in his youth on Belle Isle. This matched my longest - last June I rode the same section of trail but in reverse, going solo from Grand Rapids to Big Rapids. Amanda notched an impressive 32 miles, topping her longest lifetime ride of 28 miles that she did last year, also on this trail. Mom finished at 8 miles, which isn't bad considering that her longest ride in ages was 9 miles a couple months ago. Who wants to go again? :)
Four months ago I wrote the "Ultimate Sock Review" about my experiences with 10 models of sock that I've worn over the years. Amazingly a representative from Bridgedale found my blog and sent me three free pairs of socks to try out!
Quite a nice thing to do, eh? After putting lots of miles on those socks (and my older ones, too) I wrote a review of the Bridgedales that includes an updated ranking of the now 12 models of socks in my drawer.
I never thought that any material good would come from blogging, but those three socks are my first "commission"!
Today was the 30th running of the Riverbank Run in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The main event is the 25K, which serves as the national championship for that distance and naturally draws some very fast runners. I, however, ran the 5K in my quest to beat my 5K PR from high school, a 20:08.
You couldn't ask for better weather - when the starting horn sounded, the air was 52 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. The weather coupled with the 30th anniversary of the race drew record field participation in all of the events: 25K run, 25K wheelchair, 25K hand-cycle, 5K run, and 5K walk. If my memory serves, the announcer stated that there were about 6000 entrants for the 25K and almost 5000 folks doing 5K, plus 20,000+ spectators!
At 7:50 the wheelchair race started; at 7:55 it was the hand-cyclers' turn. Standing way at the back in the 5K corral a block up the street, I wasn't able to watch them start but I clapped anyway as the announcer kicked them off. At 8:00 sharp the crowd went nuts as the horn blasted off the 25K runners and the street in front of me slowly emptied. It took six full minutes for the 25K field to clear the start line! Finally the 5K legion marched forward and I took my place at the 7:00 min/mile pace sign. Very helpfully, the race organizers set up markers so that runners can start among others of similar speed. My goal was to beat my last race time of 21:07, a 6:49 pace, so I figured I'd be OK starting with the 7:00 folks. I didn't want to line up any further ahead because the 6:00 pace group was the first one!
Finally the clock ticked down to 8:10 and the horn sounded for our start! Right away it was clear that not everyone heeded the pace alignment and I had to pass countless runners in very crowded conditions. The course began on a 4-lane downtown street and it was flowing thick with striding bodies. I thought about mshobe and the difficulty he had weaving among traffic in his Chicago Marathon. It definitely slows you down! Within the first mile I was boxed in at least half a dozen times and forced to slow down and maneuver.
I reached the first mile mark at 6:55 according to my watch, but in 6:05 according to the clock they had stationed there! No way was I running 6:05 and I knew it was wrong; however, two guys next to me saw that and said "Whoa we better slow down" and I felt bad for them. Just after this point a little high school girl got boxed in to the left of me; instead of slowing down she jumped to the right, cutting me off! I nearly came to a complete halt trying to avoid running her over. That ticked me off, and she became one of my "marks" - I wasn't going to let her get away!
At the halfway point there was an aid station with water but I just ran through - I don't need to risk choking when I can barely breathe and 5K is short enough to do without anyway. It was here that I finally passed the last of the "soccer boys". At the start in the 7:00 pace slot was a group of six boys wearing matching soccer uniforms that looked to be about 10-12 years old. I thought they were a bunch of punks, assuming they would run slowly but as a pack and clog up the start. Four of them were indeed slow, but two of them were fast enough that they stayed ahead of me for half the race! I was impressed.
Approaching the second mile mark I was still forced to maneuver occasionally around folks who were dropping off the pace, some of them even walking! I can understand if a couple folks maybe pulled a muscle or had stomach issues, but 95% of they were simply tired. It bugged me that so many people were running a pace way beyond their means, apparently just to impress their friends by starting out so fast? In fact, that little high school girl encountered two such dudes who slowed down and she elbowed her way between them!
Mile 2 finally showed up at 13:50 - good for a 6:55 second mile - and once again the race clock was off by a minute! It's a good thing I started my watch or I would've been very confused. Climbing a slight incline my "mark" was right next to me - she had never been farther than 20 feet ahead - and I picked this point to pass her. I never saw her again! Satisfaction, baby. Cresting the "hill" (it was only a baby hill) I used the slight downgrade to accelerate my pace knowing that I had less than a mile to go. Boy was I feeling like crap, though! I was so tempted to rest for a few seconds but my heart convinced my mind to shut up for the next five minutes. :)
Apparently my mind just shut off instead - I have no memory of passing the 3-mile marker and thus have no clue as to my split time there. I was just trying to run fast - the faster I ran, the sooner the pain would cease! The course turned a sharp corner, ran half a block and then turned again and suddenly the finish line was 100 yards away! I dumped my last drops of fuel into the afterburner and passed several folks. Then I had a decision to make... left or right? There were two finish line banners because of the huge crowd of runners, and I was pointed right at the posts between them. Fewer runners on the right, so I ran right. Official finish time was 21:26.
While I was desperately catching my breath beyond the finish line, a guy next to me puked! Ew. I moseyed ahead to the food table and grabbed a water bottle, a breakfast bar, a bagel and a yogurt, then found a sunny concrete step to sit on while I ate the breakfast I earned. Food tastes so good after a hard workout!
Although I felt good speed-wise, I didn't feel great. Maybe having to dodge all the other runners in tight quarters slowed me down some, but even without that I might not have topped my adult-era PR from the last race. I'm happy that I maintained my pace throughout despite feeling rather crummy for the last mile; my finish time equated to a 6:55 pace, same pace as each of the first two miles. My legs had more speed than at my last race, but I think with more injury-free time to train properly I can go faster. Always something to look forward to!
Looking at the results online I see that I finished 18/260 in my age group and 204/4867 overall - must be that all the fast runners were doing the 25K. Speaking of which, after I called Amanda to let her know the outcome (she woke up tired and decided to sleep in rather than fight with the crowds) I walked back along the 25K course and watched the finishers for about an hour. Some observations... The top runners all had great form, smooth and powerful. The next batch of runners - fast but not elite - was mixed with good form and a form I call the "leg beaters" who have a stride that seems wildly inefficient. Some look like they're swimming, others stair-climbing, some are leaned so far sideways it makes me dizzy. These folks have the stamina to be top runners but for whatever reason, aren't efficient with it.
I stopped at the mile 14 aid station (25K = 15.5M) to wait for some of the runners I know to come by so I could cheer them on. One of the aid station volunteers was a colleague on my project who sits right next to me at work! I wasn't aware that he'd be there. It's amazingly fun to watch a running race and I'm totally sold on volunteering at one sometime. One of the aid station dudes, rather than handing out cups of water, was splashing it on the runners! Most loved it but a few got annoyed. The faster folks are in general more serious - you can tell that they have a plan and they pretty much ignore the encouragement of spectators. Slower runners more often will turn their heads when a spectator shouts out some good vibes, and some of them are mentally lost in space. Here we were, 1.5 miles from the finish, and some were stopping to rest - not just walking, but stopping! Just keep moving, people.
Many runners were busy wrangling their earphone cords. One guy going very slowly suddenly sprinted through the aid station like Forrest Gump and then collapsed in a pile of jelly legs. Weird. Another guy was dressed head to toe in a Spider Man suit! I encouraged him to use his Spidey Sense. One lady was clearly struggling with a look of sheer pain on her face as she reached her arm forward to the lady right ahead of her. The woman in front must've been a friend, as she took the struggler's hand without even looking back and pulled her onward the way she might pull the leash of a stubborn dog! It was a nice show of companionship - clearly they were going to finish together. Less cool was the young woman who took a sip of water and then puked about six times before walking on. She was clearly upset and I wanted to tell her "Don't worry, you'll feel better now!" but she probably wasn't ready to hear that yet. :)
Finally after cheering on almost everyone I expected to recognize (yet somehow I missed a few of them), it was time to go home. What a fun event - both racing and spectating!
Yesterday I wasn't in the mood for running but I was a good boy and went out for a run anyway. I took Beacon with me and he was a good boy as well - usually he pulls a lot but for some reason he was super obedient for our run! Both of us had a lot of fun and I was really happy that I forced myself out the door with running shoes on.
I needed to do some speedwork so Beacon and I warmed up by jogging the one mile through downtown to the local fairgrounds, where there's a 1/4-mile dirt track. I let Beacon off leash and ran some laps. I hadn't done this in a long time but was happy with the results. My plan was to run the first lap hard, next lap medium, third lap hardest, fourth lap slow, and then go from there. Between each of these laps was a slow jog/walk lap for recovery.
It worked! First lap was 82 seconds, second was 90, third was 75 (holy cow!) and fourth was 105 seconds. The 75 seconds was the fastest I've run a 1/4 mile since high school, although I did run a 76 last fall. Then I decided to see how well I could "suck it up" and do another fast lap despite being tired and at the end of my workout. I surprised myself by clocking 77 seconds! I would've been happy just to get under 90.
This Saturday is my next 5K, the Riverbank Run, which is the biggest running event in Grand Rapids. The marquee race is a 25K - it's the national championships for that distance - but there's also a 5K. I was really tempted to do the 25K with the goal of running it in less than 2 hours (it's everyone's goal for that race, it seems) but this year I want to focus on speed (slow as I am) and run a good 5K.
Too bad I can't run it with Haven and Beacon!
How about run 500 miles? Back on April 25 I ran my 500th mile and on May 3 I went for my 100th run of the year. Just 500 more until 1000... "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more..."
Today was a 9.8 mile long run - I ran to Meijer where Amanda met me and we went grocery shopping afterwards. Before and after the run I felt really good and somehow managed a 9:17 pace despite thinking that I was taking it easy - walking up a half-dozen hills, stopping to enjoy a couple scenic views along the river, etc.
Later today we took all three dogs - Haven, Beacon and foster dog Honey - to my Grandma's pasture to run around. We spent two hours hiking around and the dogs are completely worn out now! They got to have a ton of fun - they chased a rabbit, two nesting turkeys, a ruffed grouse, a deer, and a pheasant! Amanda will post the pictures as part of her DITL for today.
Yesterday I put a nifty new post on Why Run? about the physics of speed, pace and energy. I started thinking about it when Katiebell described some frustration when treadmilling recently:
"I was shocked to find that the difference between 5.4 miles per hour and 5.7 was negligible, but bump it to 6.0 (a mere ten min mile) and I could barely keep on pace...6.5 and I was struggling."
Thursday I was on the treadmill doing speedwork and it dawned on me how explain the physics of this phenomenon. If you're curious then check out my Why Run? article which even has a couple of cool graphs!
For my birthday last month Amanda planned an outing to a Tigers game. Last weekend it finally came to pass as Amanda and I were joined by eight family members to enjoy a perfectly sunny day at the ballpark. I still call it Tiger Stadium even though technically it's Comerica Park; not so much out of protest as much as out of habit. Speaking of which, I miss the old ballpark - I was lucky enough to attend the 4th to last game ever played there. On our way to the new park we drove past the old one:
It's sad how the city of Detroit and the Tigers franchise are allowing this historic stadium to rot away when there are so many folks willing to do what it takes to preserve it as a museum and/or exhibition ballfield. At least Comerica Park is a beautiful place to attend a ballgame and in my opinion underrated among the MLB ballparks.
We arrived early to watch batting practice, however the Tigers were already done by the time we arrived - despite arriving right after the gates opened. It always amazes me how normal ballplayers look - we stood about ten feet away from Joe Mauer as he warmed up and he doesn't seem any more fit than I am. Then you see him (and every other player) throw effortlessly and watch the ball rifle 150 feet and pop into a teammate's glove without having to move an inch. Wow.
Before taking our seats we wandered around the park, ending up among the statues of Tiger greats. We watched a few players warming up before taking our seats.
Our seats were great - upper deck front row along the LF line near the foul pole. It was a great view of not only the field but also the Detroit skyline. Amanda took a couple photos of the first batters before putting away the camera to enjoy the game.
And what a game! Johan Santana has been the best pitcher in all of baseball over the last three years but Mike Maroth matched him. Bottom of the 9th inning Brandon Inge hits a solo HR into the bullpen right in front of us and both the crowd and the Tigers dugout erupted in cheer! ROAR!
Some baseball observations:
- Joe Mauer is amazing with the bat - in BP he would hit the ball on a line in every direction seemingly at will.
- Justin Morneau has wicked bat speed, clearly a step above any other Twins hitter.
- Magglio Ordonez was born to hit - he looks so comfortable at the plate, he makes it look easy. Fielding... no. He was born to DH - he never seemed to read fly balls well and on one play Curtis Granderson had to run all the way from CF to attempt a catch that was ten feet from Ordonez the statue; Granderson missed and Ordonez didn't back him up, forcing Granderson to run after the ball that became a triple.
- Gary Sheffield is over his slump - aside from one pop-up, he hit every ball hard - he had a single that two-hopped to the RF and I swear the ball was never more than five feet off the ground.
- Carlos Guillen is barely a passable SS - not only did he make a few bad throws, but his footwork looked as stiff as some of the 50-year-old guys on my softball team.
- Mike Maroth doesn't throw hard - 88 mph was his max - which made it cruel on the Twins when Joel Zumaya relieved him and started throwing 100 mph.
- Pat Neshek has one of the most unique deliveries you'll ever see - it's not your typical sidearm. Even better, Neshek has his own blog that he started when in the minors.
- Jesse Crain... he gave up that HR to Inge, but I'm surprised that Crain isn't a more dominant pitcher. He had a 94 mph fastball to go with a 74 mph off-speed pitch, a combination that normally is quite deadly.