ARR South Mountain 20K Classic Race Report

I ran this race last year knowing that there would be hills, but when I actually encountered them out on the course, it deflated me a bit. I had no strategy for hills and no expectation for having a fun successful race. I finished in 2:12 and change, not too bad at the time. This year, I had expectations to beat that time, and possibly come in sub-2:00.

I got a 2:00:05 on the chip time, and sub 2:00 on my Garmin --Personal Record!

The Boring Runner had advised me to survive the hills as best as I could and attack the downhills to get time back in the bank. The course goes by mentally quick, and the out and back route makes it seem like it's going by even quicker. I was at mile 8 before I really started yearning for finish line, and after mile 9, it eases up a lot. If you aren't familiar with the San Juan South Mountain route, it looks like this

Boobies!

So, up a bit, down down down, then up a bit, then all of it in reverse. The nice part is that you finish on a downhill for about 2 miles, so you get to come through the chute looking good. Last year, the downhills were in the 9:30 range. This year, there were some miles in the 8's, and not so many super slow miles.
Splits were (numbers in parenthesis are the splits from last year):
9:23 (9:40)
10:10 (11:00)
9:38 (10:26)
8:39 (9:20)
8:28 (9:28)
9:32 (10:09)
10:19 (10:59)
10:47 (11:43)
11:43 ouch (12:09)
10:44 (12:15)
8:58 (9:40)
9:10 (9:59)
9:08 final segment (9:16)

A big improvement over last year. I've lost about 18 pounds since Jan. 1 on a sweets-free diet, and have also logged  many more miles per week on average. Last March, I ran 4 times total (including the race) for a total of 30 miles. This March, I have logged almost 90 miles in 15 runs so far, and this will be my first ever +100 mile month.

This event was designed to be a litmus test for the Pasadena 1/2 Marathon in May. My main 2012 running goal is to break 2:00 in the half marathon distance. The Pasadena course hills look like this:

A relatively benign set of hills in the first half of the race, then a monster uphill moving away from the Rose Bowl, and a nice downhill finish. If you have been reading this blog lately, you know that my mind is centering around hills and how to improve on them. Almost all of my runs are on flat roads around here, so when I have to run on real elevated routes, I get a big dose of "I told you so's" from one of my alter egos.

Come on in loonies! Plenty of room in here!

A big thanks to Arizona Road Racers for another well-organized event. As much as I didn't want to face the hills again, this was fun, and I will be back next year to record a time that has "1" as the first number.

2011 Cactus Cha Cha Race Report

Chip Time: 1:19 (pace 11:27)
Distance: 7 miles
Location: White Tank Regional Mountain Preserve Competitive Track, West Phoenix

What a beautiful venue. someone should take photographs of it.

Thanks so much to the organizers and volunteers who all helped to make this a smooth fun event. There were something like 600 or 700 people out there and about 1/2 of them ran the 3 mile children's bunny course while the other half ran the 7 mile adult black diamond Wildcat course. I chose the later because that is just who I am. I had listed "trail run/race" as one of my new year resolutions, so this fit the bill perfectly for that. Having never run in a  trail race before, I selected my skimpiest sluttiest RTP outfit to hopefully disguise my novice status.

Dirty Girl

This race was started "because we just like to run". There is no special charity or person that the funds are dedicated to, so the price stays cheap. I headed out the door this morning at about 5:45 to make the drive to the West side of Phoenix and made it to the starting area in about 30 minutes. The race didn't start until 7:30, so there was plenty of time to hit the PJ. Since I had chicken wings and 2 slices of pizza last night, this was a priority. Sorry for the defilement beautiful Arizona desert. The 3 milers started at 7:15, and we started at 7:30 without much fanfare. I did the first couple of miles conservatively at about 11:00, then we went uphill on a singletrack, so even if I could have gone faster, we were in a soul train of 11:15'ers. The ups and downs reminded me of several other Maricopa county trails. Mostly sandy and flat with some rocks thrown in just enough to prevent you from looking up. There were some mandatory walks due to traffic on the singletrack, and some mandatory walks due to low endurance on my part, especially for varying paces. That almost never happens on my street running, but in this trail race we were bouncing up and down the pace zone throughout.

After the race was over, I chatted for a while with Nathan, owner of the soon to open Tortoise and the Hare running store in Glendale. Nathan was there as a volunteer and let me just say the volunteers were great at each aide station. This seems like it would be a fun race to join the volunteers, and that might be on next year's resolution list.

Today actually had a 7 mile run on my 'break 4:30' training schedule and my pace is supposed to be 11:23 LSR. Trail running is supposed to be slower than street running, so success. Also, I feel injury free and was able to hack out several good sized lungers that have been loitering in my bronchial passages for the past week.

Check out this race next year if you are looking for a trail run or something different to do around the beginning of Oct.

2011 Pat's Run Race Report

2011 Pat's Run 4.2 mile race Tempe, Arizona

That's a PR!

This was the third time in three years I have run in this event and I've gotten faster each year. The top finishers:

20:33!! HS!

Average age of these finishers is 29! I'm kind of a stats nut, and I really love looking at ages and times of some of these runners. There were six 89 year olds who smashed my time, and plenty others who finished. That's inspiring. I have a buddy from Florence, AZ who is a skinny young fast runner and he finished in less than two minutes ahead of me. I haven't had a chance to talk to him, but either I'm getting faster, or he has a broken leg.

I was thinking during the last mile about dragons and cheerleaders whether I could have gone faster, and the answer was no. My paces were off from my plan and mostly positive splits instead of my usual negative splits, but I really believe that even if I were able to reverse that, my total time would have been the same. The hill in the third mile was a surprise to me. I had forgotten it thinking only about the hill on Curry road in mile 2. I ate that hill alive but burped it back up on the hill in mile 3. I was feeling pretty gassed at that point and wasn't able to throw down a turbo in the last .3 when we enter the stadium (Lauren, I was doing the gasping thing again! How embarrassing) With about 30,000 runners, you can imagine that it was difficult at times to stay on a planned path. This is supposed to be a fun run, and so I only pepper sprayed one or two "people" who decided to walk right in front of me.

Hey! Good times and nothing more about this lest I draw too much attention away from the folks running that little huckleberry in Boston on Monday. Tear it up Beth!

ARR South Mountain 20K Race Report

2:10 on the Garmin 2:12 chip time. Mmmm, last place in my division. Must work hills into routine. Automatic PR because I've never gone this distance in a race. This 20K is an out and back through the hills of South Mountain in Phoenix. You can get a better idea of the elevation with this--

Reminds me of........ except for that growth in the cleave

And the beauty of the course here:

I haven't been putting in that many miles lately and definitely no hill work, so I was not thinking about setting any records. I wanted to make this race within my long slow run range of around 11:00 minute miles. My overall average pace was 10:23 so I'm happy. The hill work was kicking my butt, but it's nice to know that I recovered some time on the downhills.

Mile 1: 9:40

Mile 2: 11:00 up up up

Mile 3: 10:26

Mile 4: 9:20 nice downhills

Mile 5: 9:28

Mile 6: 10:09

Mile 7: 10:59 back up again

Mile 8: 11:43

Mile 9: 12:09 ouch!

Mile 10: 12:15 more ouchy!!

Mile 11: 9:40 glide and stride

Mile 12: 9:59 I said glide and STRIDE!

Final .4: 9:16 that's better

Look at my 15 foot shadow

Typical ARR race starting zone. Well organized, friendly, and efficient.

Then we got a little testy didn't we? This 6 year old and his daddy came by me already past the turnaround and on course to finish in under 2 hours. It took me a while, but I had forgotten that there was a 6:30 start for those who thought they might not finish. Better luck when you get a bit older kid, maybe you'll be able to join the big leagues!

Hey Jimmy! An extra hour?? Growing up as a cheater will not get you very far.

Got to the turnaround and I hadn't really consulted the Garmin prior to that. 

Apparently it's ok to pee next to the cone?

I was surprised to see that I was in range of my goal, but I knew that I had some major uphills to run before the final 2 miles of downhills. These were tough! Made it to the final downhills and ran it in. Nice race ARR!

Oh, and we had an ultrasound Tuesday: Girl!!

The 2011 Northern Virginia Bronchitis 1/2 Marathon Race Report

I'm losing my breath just walking from the kitchen to the living room. Got to the doctor yesterday and I'm on all kinds of meds. The only running I'm doing these days is in my Oxycodone-fueled dreams. Like last night:

I was in my old neighborhood where I grew up in Virginia. I was running in a 1/2 M and it was through the golf course. Something interrupted the race for me and I had to do some other work somewhere else for a while, and then I was back in the race and running pretty fast and easy. But I was mentally wrestling with the idea that I had 'taken a break' in the race and would it be ok to 'extrapolate' a finish time based on the last 5 or 6 miles when I resumed running. Hey, it's my dream so wtf. Finish time was 2:07, a new PR and my first race in Virginia -and with hills. Oh, and negative splits. Recovery has been eventless since it was just a dream, but today I will take it extra easy and drink plenty of fluids and continue my medicine regimen.

2011 Runners Den Pancake Fun Run

4.21 miles in 41:50. Still nursing a left calf strain but it's feeling better and I ran the last quarter mile at 8:41.

This photo about sums it up

This fun run was designed by Runners Den to be a limited opportunity fun run for post RnR AZ runners or the first 250 people who emailed in. There was a waiting list of about that many, so there is definitely an interest.

The route is familiar to all who run with the RD running groups on Wed evenings or Sat mornings. An out and back from the store and along the canal with views of the Biltmore.

This guy is getting heavy!!

Sally Meyerhoff was there just standing around so I chatted her up and got this photo:

World Class runner Sally Meyerhoff touching me

Later, I took this photo of Sally SLAMMING Log Cabin syrup

Sally: eyes wild, incoherent growling speech, and hands and jaw a blur as she lays out a stack of flapjacks

Good buddy Lauren was there serving pancakes, curiously without a hairnet.

The Brooks Cavalcade of Curiosity Van was still in town and was set up for free gait analysis and there were shoes to try on along with 20% off of all Brooks gear. Good deal.

Daddy wishes his errrr... feet were that big

I love you little guy!

Semi-Vicarious Leavened Pseudo-Virtual Run(s) Giveaway

I'm making this up as I go. 

I am hereby challenging my readers to The First Annual Semi-Vicarious Leavened Pseudo-Virtual Run(s). The premise of this contest is that RTP followers will pick one day of the week (and this is for next week  Sunday thru Sat), assign a single running task to me for that day, have your task selected, complete the run you assign to me yourself, and report back to this blog in a daily recap.

There are two ways for a chance to win a loaf of homemade bread

1. Have your task selected

or

2. Join us in at least one of the daily runs and report

For each day next week, I will randomly select one follower's run to complete (if you are the only one who submits an entry for a day, you are automatic). That person has to complete the run also which hopefully prevents the 50 mile assignments from sneaking in. I'll randomly pick one person from the seven to win a loaf of bread.


The rest of you can join in the daily runs, post here your results, follow this blog, and each completed run will earn you a chance to win the SECOND LOAF!

Get it?

WTF???

• Pick one (only 1) day of the week for next week (Sun thru Sat)
• Prescribe a run (be considerate, it's late July in Phoenix and no barefoot shit)
• We both complete the run that day
• Report back on this blog at the end of that day. Remember, we are not time-competing against each other, just trying to complete the run and have some fun.
• Wait for the bread (1 in 7 chance)

To have your run chosen for one of the days, you must follow the above instructions and you must follow this blog. You will get extra chances to be drawn for following any of the blogs I follow (up to 3 extra points, separate comment each). You get an extra chance for

• mentioning this contest on your blog. 
• You can also get an extra point if you follow me on Twitter (jgeyer66) but you will be sorry, my Tweets are flat. 
• Also for retweeting this message "New Contest at Running Through Phoenix --First Annual Semi-Vicarious Leavened Pseudo-Virtual Run(s) --check it out!!"
• Lastly, RTP followers get a point for completing each run, just report your results here. Please list each in a separate comment.

Ready.......  set......... Go! (on Sunday.... go on Sunday)

Pat's Run 2010 Race Report

38:33 and felt strong. Splits were 9:18, 9:11, 9:04, 9:13, and 9:17 for the final .2. Yeah, I was running out of gas. Last year was 45:26, so big improvement there. I chugged up the hills and glided down the other sides. I kept thinking that I would not be able to make my goal of sub 40 because it was so difficult to get going in the crowds. I couldn't get below 10 for the first qtr mile due to the masses. But after that it was fairly open with only a few dodgy situations.

Me wondering if the camera is working...

Nice to catch up with Adam and Tiffany afterwards. This was a crowded event with a reported 30,000 people and almost 20,000 participants. The organizers didn't expect that many so the start was delayed, but everything seemed smooth to me. Took the light rail into Tempe which was no sweat -until the disgusting return trip when it was all sweat and we stank up the entire metro transit system.

A HUGE thanks to race organizers who decided to 'urge' walkers and strollers to cue in the rear corrals. There were still some 'let's walk with arms entwined' people in the running corrals, but mostly the people in the front 7 corrals were there to run. Lot's of people waiting on the sides of the corrals to break in. Next year, they will need to prepare for the larger crowd.

Rio and Lauren has good races too, though Rio was stuck in a slower corral full of Ked-wearing posers and couldn't get her speed. Lauren promised everyone ice cream and when we found out that there wouldn't be ice cream this year, we deleted her from our blog lives just like that. forgave her and ate a flavorless orange from Safeway which was probably harvested from a plastic environment years ago and held in suspended animation in a chemical bath on the space shuttle.

Fun race overall and I'm really happy to help the Tillman foundation. There were many military service people out there and thanks to them for all they do!!

GWMA 6.66 mile Virtual Race Report

Global Warming My Ass 6.66 mile Virtual Race Report

6.66 miles 66.91minutes --(almost got the .66!!)

This was a terrific run this morning with Rio and Runlaur. Runlaur started out before we got there and got in a quick 5 miles because she needed 14 total for Bobby Potts. The three of us ended up going nine miles together and I extracted the race time from the first six.6 miles on the Garmin. These two are really fun to run with. We kept a nice training pace and were able to chat the whole way, and no injuries!!

The weather was a little off --it was sunny and about 65 degrees. I run my best at about 68 degrees.

We ran the canal from 48th street past Fashion Square and around some construction, some Italian fishermen, and a guy with a backpack who seemed to be on a little side trip to Pluto. There were also lots of runners out there which is really inspiring.

I can also report that I beat Adam's time who has a foot injury and is restricted to spin classes, The Lifetime channel, and "working his core" (if you know what I mean!!)

Thanks for the Race ROATM! Had fun and got a little bit healthier too.

Runner's Den 5 and 5 Feb. 7, 2010 Recap

5 miles at 46:05. Ran pretty fast (for me) in this race and I'm happy with the results. And I'm ecstatic that there are no injuries (knock on wood).

This was the first time I volunteered at a race, and I loved it. I showed up a bit early, got a brief orientation and sat down to do what I have seen countless other volunteers do at race registration. I looked up bibs by last name, explained the timing chip as needed, and wished lots of smiling people well in their race.

I did get confused a couple of times by people getting into my line with last names that weren't A-E, but each time that happened, I sang the ABC song in a loud shrilly voice and they moved away to the correct line.

I ran into fellow blogger/runners Runlaur and Rio. They were hanging out and helping volunteers.

Lauren had just run the Sedona 1/2 M yesterday and was a bit sore, so she only ran in the 5K. Can you believe that?!? Rio ran the 5M and ran fast finishing somewhere around 43 minutes. Great job to both of you!!

I also met Olympian shot putter (4th in the world) Dan Taylor. Dan has a blog called DanTaylorThrows and a web site which has a lot of the same content. I've never been around an olympian before. Dan is a pretty big guy and seemed open to new ideas, but did not appreciate my attempts to engage him in an olympic tickle fight. This photo was taken just before I tried that and whereafter he proceded to "Throw" me an olympic distance. Hey Mr. Big Man Olympian, lighten up!

I wasn't sure that I would run today. My M training plan has me running 10 miles slow. But I did an internal compromise and thought that 5 fast would sort of equate to 10 slow. I'll know whether that was a sound decision in June. I was able to watch the 5K finishers come in and had time to change and hit the porta potty. The race started quickly and I found a rhythm at 9:30. I pretty much stayed there through the race and went under 9 for the last mile. I was huffing and puffing pretty hard, but kept telling myself that it is a race and I need to finish without anything left in the tank. I did and it was fun. This was my first race at this distance, but I pretty much blew away my PB's for 5K (28 and a little bit) and mile splits (all under 9:30 and a strong negative trend). This race is a good time, and volunteering is really fun and inspiring. Thanks Runner's Den!! Enjoy the Super Bowl!