It’s been a couple of days now since the marathon and I can truthfully say that my feet and legs feel fine and I could easily do another one this weekend. Honest!
But, the next marathon is in October (Portland) followed a week later by the Westwood to Susanville marathon on the “Bizz” Johnson Trail. That means that I have to continue training and can’t slack off too much. One of the things I need to concentrate on are the longer walks. I need to do more 18 and 20 mile walks and less of the “once around the park” variety. Sure, they all help, but last weekend, I could feel my endurance running out around the 22 mile mark. I don’t like that feeling!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
The Midnight Sun
We’re back from a great trip. We arrived in Reno last night and then drove as far as Susanville; staying the night at Bill and Jill’s. We made the final leg of the trip this morning and we were at home with a collection of mail and a grateful cat, by noon.
What was Alaska like…well our trip began with a short flight (1 ½ hours) out of the Reno airport and that took us as far as Seattle. There we waited about 3 hours for our connecting flight; a flight that would take another 3 hours to complete. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the flights! Was it because I was taking this trip for pleasure and not for business?
The flight was uneventful and the view was limited to the tops of the clouds until we descended below them, about 45 minutes out of Anchorage. The plane was following the Cook Inlet north, heading directly towards the Knik Arm and the airport. I must say that the view was awe inspiring! Snow capped mountains on each side of the plane, as far as you could see and the wave flecked gray waters of the inlet below us. The sun was a filtered golden light that cast a glow over everything it touched. And I saw no sign of civilization below me; no buildings and no boats.
Eventually the plane descended and we landed smoothly at Anchorage’s international airport, where…surprise! our luggage made the trip as well. It was about 8 PM and the sun was firmly in place in the western sky. And there it stayed for another 3 and a half hours. To be replaced by twilight till about 2 AM. Dawn? That occurred about 4:30 AM.
We had reservations at the Ramada Limited on Muldoon Road, over on the east side of town and close to the starting line for the marathon. Well, “Limited” was probably a good description for the place and the neighborhood. Not that much could be done about it as every hotel in town was full. So we decided to smile and just enjoy being in Alaska. After checking in, we all thought it best to get some sleep in preparation for the next days activities. Sleep? No matter how hard I tried, couldn’t get the curtains arranged keep the light out of the room. Luckily we were tired enough to fall asleep in just a short time.
We had breakfast at our hotel and then went to the race headquarters at the Sheraton…a much nicer hotel. We also found running shorts, socks and other gear to buy; most at pretty good prices. After getting our race packet with bib number and chip, it was time for an afternoon of walking around downtown Anchorage, seeing the sights.
The next day was race day and we were ready. There was a crowd of 2,500 or more in the parking lot of the high school where the starting line was located and so we hung back, knowing there was going to be a crunch as the crowd surged toward the line at the sound of the gun. I was poised to start my GPS timer as we crossed the mat that would activate my timing chip. We kept walking forward, looking for the mat. Finally we had passed the starting line and I still hadn’t seen the mat, so I pushed the button on my GPS unit and began to thread my way through the crowd, looking for a little clear space. The paved trail was only wide enough for 3 people abreast and so it took awhile to get some breathing room.
This section of pavement lasted for about 7 miles and within the first mile we had our first moose sighting…and our last. It was also an uphill section, though a gradual one. Then we moved into the wilds of the Army base and the “Tank” trail. This was 8 miles of uphill rock and gravel. Some of it was quite steep, but it was finally wide enough to allow for easy passing. But by this time we had run out of the easy ones to pass. I suppose I should mention that we felt pretty good, despite the climb and we didn’t seem to be falling off of our pace. My GPS unit had us at a steady 4.5 mph despite the temptation to pause and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
At the end of 16 miles we went from crossing occasional streams on narrow wooden bridges to a wide expanse of asphalt and began a gradual downhill on our way back to the city. And we were pleasantly surprised to see Laurae and Bill waiting to cheer us on at mile 17. With just nine miles left, we felt confident of a good finish. The trail section had ruined my socks, but after stopping once to assess the damage, I couldn’t find any blisters or blood so I laced the shoes up tight and we pressed on.
We had about 3 miles of dreary sidewalk to navigate before we crossed over the road and headed into the city’s network of park trails. They were narrow but paved and, once again, the scenery was great! And once more we were passing people, giving us a boost for the final 6 miles. We needed it, as I noticed that our speed had dropped to somewhere between 4.3 and 4.4 mph.
The support had been great so far, plenty of water and orange slices available every two miles. But, at mile 21 we were offered popsicles, a first for us and most welcome! It was also at this point that I knew I was going to have a problem continuing at the pace we had been setting. My legs were definitely tiring and my feet had a dull ache in them. I also had a sharp pain where my left shoe seemed to be rubbing against my ankle. I kept looking, but there was no blood or blister so there was not much point in stopping to change socks.
We finally made it to mile 25, a trail running alongside a lake and in the distance I could see people leaving the trail and heading into the trees where the lake ended. That must be the finish line! Wrong…when I reached that point myself I found one more hill to climb. What cruelty! And it began to rain, which we really didn’t mind at all.
But, at the top of the hill were West High School and the finish line. The school track served as the finish corridor and Jill was just ahead of me, but there was still one person between us, so I decided to run the last 50 yards. I passed him with about 20 feet to spare and crossed the line right behind Jill. I looked at my GPS unit as I crossed and noted that it read 6:01. That would give us a 13.8 minute/mile average, though I was more inclined to think we were under 6 hours because of the problems finding an actual “start” point.
After getting our medals and more water, it finally registered on us that it was raining pretty hard and perhaps we should get out of it and into a restaurant for some well deserved protein and lots of tasty cholesterol!
All in all, a good marathon. Hey, make that a great marathon! We got to see some wonderful scenery, meet people from all parts of the country and we saw a moose (1). What else could we need? Well, it would be a better timing system. Other marathons, smaller marathons make use of timing chips for start and finish plus mid-course timings. Anchorage should do the same.
What was Alaska like…well our trip began with a short flight (1 ½ hours) out of the Reno airport and that took us as far as Seattle. There we waited about 3 hours for our connecting flight; a flight that would take another 3 hours to complete. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the flights! Was it because I was taking this trip for pleasure and not for business?
The flight was uneventful and the view was limited to the tops of the clouds until we descended below them, about 45 minutes out of Anchorage. The plane was following the Cook Inlet north, heading directly towards the Knik Arm and the airport. I must say that the view was awe inspiring! Snow capped mountains on each side of the plane, as far as you could see and the wave flecked gray waters of the inlet below us. The sun was a filtered golden light that cast a glow over everything it touched. And I saw no sign of civilization below me; no buildings and no boats.
Eventually the plane descended and we landed smoothly at Anchorage’s international airport, where…surprise! our luggage made the trip as well. It was about 8 PM and the sun was firmly in place in the western sky. And there it stayed for another 3 and a half hours. To be replaced by twilight till about 2 AM. Dawn? That occurred about 4:30 AM.
We had reservations at the Ramada Limited on Muldoon Road, over on the east side of town and close to the starting line for the marathon. Well, “Limited” was probably a good description for the place and the neighborhood. Not that much could be done about it as every hotel in town was full. So we decided to smile and just enjoy being in Alaska. After checking in, we all thought it best to get some sleep in preparation for the next days activities. Sleep? No matter how hard I tried, couldn’t get the curtains arranged keep the light out of the room. Luckily we were tired enough to fall asleep in just a short time.
We had breakfast at our hotel and then went to the race headquarters at the Sheraton…a much nicer hotel. We also found running shorts, socks and other gear to buy; most at pretty good prices. After getting our race packet with bib number and chip, it was time for an afternoon of walking around downtown Anchorage, seeing the sights.
The next day was race day and we were ready. There was a crowd of 2,500 or more in the parking lot of the high school where the starting line was located and so we hung back, knowing there was going to be a crunch as the crowd surged toward the line at the sound of the gun. I was poised to start my GPS timer as we crossed the mat that would activate my timing chip. We kept walking forward, looking for the mat. Finally we had passed the starting line and I still hadn’t seen the mat, so I pushed the button on my GPS unit and began to thread my way through the crowd, looking for a little clear space. The paved trail was only wide enough for 3 people abreast and so it took awhile to get some breathing room.
This section of pavement lasted for about 7 miles and within the first mile we had our first moose sighting…and our last. It was also an uphill section, though a gradual one. Then we moved into the wilds of the Army base and the “Tank” trail. This was 8 miles of uphill rock and gravel. Some of it was quite steep, but it was finally wide enough to allow for easy passing. But by this time we had run out of the easy ones to pass. I suppose I should mention that we felt pretty good, despite the climb and we didn’t seem to be falling off of our pace. My GPS unit had us at a steady 4.5 mph despite the temptation to pause and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
At the end of 16 miles we went from crossing occasional streams on narrow wooden bridges to a wide expanse of asphalt and began a gradual downhill on our way back to the city. And we were pleasantly surprised to see Laurae and Bill waiting to cheer us on at mile 17. With just nine miles left, we felt confident of a good finish. The trail section had ruined my socks, but after stopping once to assess the damage, I couldn’t find any blisters or blood so I laced the shoes up tight and we pressed on.
We had about 3 miles of dreary sidewalk to navigate before we crossed over the road and headed into the city’s network of park trails. They were narrow but paved and, once again, the scenery was great! And once more we were passing people, giving us a boost for the final 6 miles. We needed it, as I noticed that our speed had dropped to somewhere between 4.3 and 4.4 mph.
The support had been great so far, plenty of water and orange slices available every two miles. But, at mile 21 we were offered popsicles, a first for us and most welcome! It was also at this point that I knew I was going to have a problem continuing at the pace we had been setting. My legs were definitely tiring and my feet had a dull ache in them. I also had a sharp pain where my left shoe seemed to be rubbing against my ankle. I kept looking, but there was no blood or blister so there was not much point in stopping to change socks.
We finally made it to mile 25, a trail running alongside a lake and in the distance I could see people leaving the trail and heading into the trees where the lake ended. That must be the finish line! Wrong…when I reached that point myself I found one more hill to climb. What cruelty! And it began to rain, which we really didn’t mind at all.
But, at the top of the hill were West High School and the finish line. The school track served as the finish corridor and Jill was just ahead of me, but there was still one person between us, so I decided to run the last 50 yards. I passed him with about 20 feet to spare and crossed the line right behind Jill. I looked at my GPS unit as I crossed and noted that it read 6:01. That would give us a 13.8 minute/mile average, though I was more inclined to think we were under 6 hours because of the problems finding an actual “start” point.
After getting our medals and more water, it finally registered on us that it was raining pretty hard and perhaps we should get out of it and into a restaurant for some well deserved protein and lots of tasty cholesterol!
All in all, a good marathon. Hey, make that a great marathon! We got to see some wonderful scenery, meet people from all parts of the country and we saw a moose (1). What else could we need? Well, it would be a better timing system. Other marathons, smaller marathons make use of timing chips for start and finish plus mid-course timings. Anchorage should do the same.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
One for the books - Anchorage
It's over and we're back...well,almost back. We have stopped for the night in Susanville and will be heading home as soon as we have had breakfast.
This was a good marathon and not a great one. We redeemed ourselves after an embarrassing performance in the Valley of the Giants marathon, but we didn't do as well as we did in last year's Portland marathon. How well did we do? I wish I knew! We had timing chips, but apparently they were only to be used at the finish.There were no activation mats to run across at the start and none at the midpoint. I'm going to do some more checking but I believe that they used "Gun Time" to start everyone and then used the chips only to determine your finish time, as the finish linewas the only place where you ran across an activation mat.
Short story; I'm going with 6 hours flat and Jill was 2 seconds under that. I had planned to start my GPS timer as soon as I had crossed the starting mat,but when I didn't see one,I hesitated for quite awhile before starting that timer. At the finish,my timer said 6:01.The marathon website says 6:05 but since we had hung back at the start, we know that can't be right.
After we get home and unpacked,I will post some of the photos here and let you know more about the 2006 Mayors Midnight Sun Marathon
This was a good marathon and not a great one. We redeemed ourselves after an embarrassing performance in the Valley of the Giants marathon, but we didn't do as well as we did in last year's Portland marathon. How well did we do? I wish I knew! We had timing chips, but apparently they were only to be used at the finish.There were no activation mats to run across at the start and none at the midpoint. I'm going to do some more checking but I believe that they used "Gun Time" to start everyone and then used the chips only to determine your finish time, as the finish linewas the only place where you ran across an activation mat.
Short story; I'm going with 6 hours flat and Jill was 2 seconds under that. I had planned to start my GPS timer as soon as I had crossed the starting mat,but when I didn't see one,I hesitated for quite awhile before starting that timer. At the finish,my timer said 6:01.The marathon website says 6:05 but since we had hung back at the start, we know that can't be right.
After we get home and unpacked,I will post some of the photos here and let you know more about the 2006 Mayors Midnight Sun Marathon
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
On our way
It’s been a couple of days now since my last racewalking practice and so I should go to the park this morning and get in a short and fast walk, maybe 3 miles and try to hit under 12 minute/miles. Then it will be time to check and re-check my supplies before packing for the trip to Anchorage. Although, I’m sure I will be able to find anything I need or forgot once we are there. There is usually a large selection of running and walking gear present at the check-in site.
I checked the marathon website once more and found that our hotel is about ½ a mile away from the starting line. And I read this…“The marathon event is 26.2 miles in length beginning at Bartlett High School and traveling through the eastern foothills and across Anchorage to the West High School finish line. Scenic city bike trails, gravel, rocky, and paved roadways make up this gently rolling to extended downhill course.” Let’s see now; trails, gravel and rocky? I’m not sure how much I will like that…but I do like the words, “downhill course”.
Last week I read that the city of Anchorage is experiencing some problems with their resident moose population. They like to eat the spring gardens. Two to three hundred moose call the Anchorage basin their home and there is a good chance we will see one or two as we make our way through some of the parks on the route of the marathon. Now that would be cool!
I checked the marathon website once more and found that our hotel is about ½ a mile away from the starting line. And I read this…“The marathon event is 26.2 miles in length beginning at Bartlett High School and traveling through the eastern foothills and across Anchorage to the West High School finish line. Scenic city bike trails, gravel, rocky, and paved roadways make up this gently rolling to extended downhill course.” Let’s see now; trails, gravel and rocky? I’m not sure how much I will like that…but I do like the words, “downhill course”.
Last week I read that the city of Anchorage is experiencing some problems with their resident moose population. They like to eat the spring gardens. Two to three hundred moose call the Anchorage basin their home and there is a good chance we will see one or two as we make our way through some of the parks on the route of the marathon. Now that would be cool!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Dumb and Dumber
That was a workout! We did something over 19 miles on the Bizz Johnson Trail yesterday. And we did it in 4:44. Since we had conflicting data from Jill’s GPS unit, we had to estimate our distance and time. I am going to have to guess that we were doing 15 minute miles…which isn’t all that bad as we had decided to do a long and slow walk. So, “slow” it was.
The trail is certainly not up to its marathon condition; it still has lots of ruts in it and the off trail detours for the tunnels make for slow going. Hopefully those will be fixed before the marathon in October.
We made one serious error yesterday; we didn’t have a plan as to how far we were going to walk and we didn’t bring any water with us. Dumb! But the good news is the fact that we didn’t die…we were simply uncomfortable for the last 7 or 8 miles. That tells us that we’re in pretty good shape, physically. Mentally? That’s a different story.
Now the training plan goes into a relaxed mode; we know we can do the 26.2 miles. I’m thinking of doing one 3-mile race pace walk on Tuesday, just to tune-up before the marathon on Saturday.
The trail is certainly not up to its marathon condition; it still has lots of ruts in it and the off trail detours for the tunnels make for slow going. Hopefully those will be fixed before the marathon in October.
We made one serious error yesterday; we didn’t have a plan as to how far we were going to walk and we didn’t bring any water with us. Dumb! But the good news is the fact that we didn’t die…we were simply uncomfortable for the last 7 or 8 miles. That tells us that we’re in pretty good shape, physically. Mentally? That’s a different story.
Now the training plan goes into a relaxed mode; we know we can do the 26.2 miles. I’m thinking of doing one 3-mile race pace walk on Tuesday, just to tune-up before the marathon on Saturday.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Faster yet
A great day in the park as I ended up moving much faster than planned.
After getting past the construction without too much hassle, I arrived at the park about 6:30. My plan was to see how I felt before deciding on a distance, but do a fast walk, whatever the distance. I started off by walking in the opposite direction, just for something different to do. And I noted that by the 2-mile mark, I was already up to 5.1 mph. OK, so “fast” was definitely in.
I kept it up and by the 4-mile mark I had a time of 47:34; that kind of time was giving me 11:83 minute/miles and was a little over one minute faster than I had been able to do in the 4-mile race a week ago.
With nothing better to do…why not go all out and see how fast I could do the 6.25 mile course? And I completed it in 1:17. That’s good!
After getting past the construction without too much hassle, I arrived at the park about 6:30. My plan was to see how I felt before deciding on a distance, but do a fast walk, whatever the distance. I started off by walking in the opposite direction, just for something different to do. And I noted that by the 2-mile mark, I was already up to 5.1 mph. OK, so “fast” was definitely in.
I kept it up and by the 4-mile mark I had a time of 47:34; that kind of time was giving me 11:83 minute/miles and was a little over one minute faster than I had been able to do in the 4-mile race a week ago.
With nothing better to do…why not go all out and see how fast I could do the 6.25 mile course? And I completed it in 1:17. That’s good!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Dog Days
Quite a day in the park…I went there for a short and fast walk (8 miles) and I did succeed, even better than I thought I might. I did it in 1 hour and 38 minutes, which translates into 12.25 minute/miles. That’s not far off my 4-mile race pace from a week ago – 12.095.
Just getting to the park took some effort this morning as the highway into town is still under construction and even at 6 AM I had to wait for the flagman to allow one-way traffic through Hamilton City. It’s going to be a long summer!
And for the second time this week, I was chased by a dog…the same dog, which makes me even madder. It’s a golden retriever and it’s not well trained. Neither is the owner. On Tuesday, it came after me, jumping and leaping at me. I avoided it three times – while the owner scolded, “Bad dog!” Of course it wasn’t on a leash. I should point out that I never felt that the dog was dangerous, just a bother! This morning, the same scenario ensued, except this time the dog grabbed my arm in its mouth. It didn’t break the skin. And it didn’t seem to bother the owner that much, - “I’m so sorry…Oh you bad dog!” and she kept right on walking, never looking back at me. Tomorrow? I’m kicking the dog! Hard.
I suppose I should have stopped and complained at length to the owner and explained that I didn’t appreciate dog slobber all over my arm, but I was walking with a purpose and didn’t want to stop. It’s the same tomorrow. No stopping to explain, just one good kick. But should I kick the dog, or the owner? Decisions, decisions!
Just getting to the park took some effort this morning as the highway into town is still under construction and even at 6 AM I had to wait for the flagman to allow one-way traffic through Hamilton City. It’s going to be a long summer!
And for the second time this week, I was chased by a dog…the same dog, which makes me even madder. It’s a golden retriever and it’s not well trained. Neither is the owner. On Tuesday, it came after me, jumping and leaping at me. I avoided it three times – while the owner scolded, “Bad dog!” Of course it wasn’t on a leash. I should point out that I never felt that the dog was dangerous, just a bother! This morning, the same scenario ensued, except this time the dog grabbed my arm in its mouth. It didn’t break the skin. And it didn’t seem to bother the owner that much, - “I’m so sorry…Oh you bad dog!” and she kept right on walking, never looking back at me. Tomorrow? I’m kicking the dog! Hard.
I suppose I should have stopped and complained at length to the owner and explained that I didn’t appreciate dog slobber all over my arm, but I was walking with a purpose and didn’t want to stop. It’s the same tomorrow. No stopping to explain, just one good kick. But should I kick the dog, or the owner? Decisions, decisions!
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Here are my thoughts before I left the house this morning… “I will be out in the park today, getting in a much longer walk this morning. I’m not going to predict how long…I always fall short for some reason whenever I do that. But I better eat a good breakfast before I go. And plenty of water…the forecast is for 95°.”
I am back from that walk and I can report that I did 14 miles this morning. The first 6.25 was done in 83 minutes. The second one was completed in 84 minutes and the last 1.5 miles was done in 20:10 minutes. I figured it out to be a 13.39 minute/mile average…and yes, it was getting warm! And I had to argue with myself to get in the last 1.5 miles.
Sure it’s a hassle at times, but all of this walking has made me fit once more. My feet are in good shape and my blood pressure seems to be right where it should be. I haven’t had a blister in quite awhile now. And my weight is right around 200. I do expect to get down to 195 fairly soon in this warm weather and that should be my summer weight.
This morning’s data… BP 103/58 Pulse 77 Weight 199.2
I am back from that walk and I can report that I did 14 miles this morning. The first 6.25 was done in 83 minutes. The second one was completed in 84 minutes and the last 1.5 miles was done in 20:10 minutes. I figured it out to be a 13.39 minute/mile average…and yes, it was getting warm! And I had to argue with myself to get in the last 1.5 miles.
Sure it’s a hassle at times, but all of this walking has made me fit once more. My feet are in good shape and my blood pressure seems to be right where it should be. I haven’t had a blister in quite awhile now. And my weight is right around 200. I do expect to get down to 195 fairly soon in this warm weather and that should be my summer weight.
This morning’s data… BP 103/58 Pulse 77 Weight 199.2
Monday, June 05, 2006
One More Time
OK…another good day in the park. My initial plan was to do ten miles, but I made one critical error. I took the wrong vehicle to the park. I had no Kleenex and no headband and I knew I couldn’t do the full ten miles without them. So off I went to see how fast I could do a 6.25 mile circuit. First, a 5K time of 37 minutes and then a 4 mile time of 49:30. During yesterday’s race, my 4 mile time was 48:37 and so I’m pretty sure that I could have done better yesterday if I had some competition.
The final time for the 6.25 miles this morning was 1:21:00
The final time for the 6.25 miles this morning was 1:21:00
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Mission Accomplished
A great morning!...and I’m feeling pretty good after completing the Fleet Feet 4 mile run/walk at Bidwell Park in Chico.
I made a few mistakes this morning and those got me off to a bad start. First, I left the house later than I should have and the road construction on Highway 32 put me a little bit behind. Then, when I got off of the freeway near the park, I made right when I should have gone left. Now I was on the wrong side of the park and the road I was on ended in a dead-end. OK, so I parked the car and headed into the park and then I realized that I was a long way from the starting line. Without a watch, I wasn’t sure of how much time I had left so I decided to jog my way up to the Cedar Grove picnic area, where the registration packets would be located.
Jogging? What was I thinking? As it turned out, I had plenty of time left when I arrived and I soon had my number in place and began pacing around the area to stay flexible after that short 1 mile jog. I was also worried that I might have used up some reserves of energy. Energy I would need around mile 3.5.
The race started on time and I was soon near the back of the pack, as all good walkers are, though I did hear one person (behind me) remark, “If he can walk faster than I can run…maybe I should give up.” That was good for my ego. And as I neared the trail section of the course, a volunteer told me that I was the first walker he had seen so far.
I had seen a couple of Jeff Galloway devotees ahead of me and I passed the first one within 2 miles. The second one was tougher! She stayed about 100 yards ahead and then when we got to the trail section, she pulled even further ahead…darn! But with perseverance I was able to get close to her around the 3 mile mark. She was about 100 feet away, then 50 and then…she saw me closing in on her and took off. I was never able to get that close again and she finished about 100 yards ahead of me. The appearance of a fast walker will always motivate a slow runner!
I was pretty sure that I was on target for a good overall time in this event and when I finally saw the finish line I could just make out the first number on the clock, a “4”. That was good…I was still in the hunt for a sub-12 minute mile average. But then I saw that the number after the 4 was an “8” and counting up…oh no! I poured it on. Feet, don’t fail me now! And I crossed the line at 48:37. And I was the only racewalker. Would I have done better if I had some competition? I'm sure of it.
All in all, a good experience and it added to my endurance. And I ended up with a medal for being second in my age group; 65-69 years old.
(I also spoke to the runner that walked with me in Durham. He has recovered from his injuries and is back to running. He wasn’t in this morning’s race as he had already done 14 miles earlier this morning and was just jogging through to see someone he knew.)
I will post the official times here as soon as I receive them.
I made a few mistakes this morning and those got me off to a bad start. First, I left the house later than I should have and the road construction on Highway 32 put me a little bit behind. Then, when I got off of the freeway near the park, I made right when I should have gone left. Now I was on the wrong side of the park and the road I was on ended in a dead-end. OK, so I parked the car and headed into the park and then I realized that I was a long way from the starting line. Without a watch, I wasn’t sure of how much time I had left so I decided to jog my way up to the Cedar Grove picnic area, where the registration packets would be located.
Jogging? What was I thinking? As it turned out, I had plenty of time left when I arrived and I soon had my number in place and began pacing around the area to stay flexible after that short 1 mile jog. I was also worried that I might have used up some reserves of energy. Energy I would need around mile 3.5.
The race started on time and I was soon near the back of the pack, as all good walkers are, though I did hear one person (behind me) remark, “If he can walk faster than I can run…maybe I should give up.” That was good for my ego. And as I neared the trail section of the course, a volunteer told me that I was the first walker he had seen so far.
I had seen a couple of Jeff Galloway devotees ahead of me and I passed the first one within 2 miles. The second one was tougher! She stayed about 100 yards ahead and then when we got to the trail section, she pulled even further ahead…darn! But with perseverance I was able to get close to her around the 3 mile mark. She was about 100 feet away, then 50 and then…she saw me closing in on her and took off. I was never able to get that close again and she finished about 100 yards ahead of me. The appearance of a fast walker will always motivate a slow runner!
I was pretty sure that I was on target for a good overall time in this event and when I finally saw the finish line I could just make out the first number on the clock, a “4”. That was good…I was still in the hunt for a sub-12 minute mile average. But then I saw that the number after the 4 was an “8” and counting up…oh no! I poured it on. Feet, don’t fail me now! And I crossed the line at 48:37. And I was the only racewalker. Would I have done better if I had some competition? I'm sure of it.
All in all, a good experience and it added to my endurance. And I ended up with a medal for being second in my age group; 65-69 years old.
(I also spoke to the runner that walked with me in Durham. He has recovered from his injuries and is back to running. He wasn’t in this morning’s race as he had already done 14 miles earlier this morning and was just jogging through to see someone he knew.)
I will post the official times here as soon as I receive them.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Oh No!
Jeff Galloway's Marathon Training will drive you crazy!
No, it's not you...it's the Galloway students that drive the serious walkers crazy. Case in point; the last marathon we did in the Redwoods. As soon as we got started, we were passed by a running flock of Galloway "birds", perhaps 7 of them. And just after they passed us, they came to a halt, spread out across the road, like birds on a telephone wire, and began to walk...slowly. So we caught up with them and managed to work our way around them. And just as soon as we had passed them, they took off in full flight once more, running by us and then settling to earth again about 100 yards ahead of us. Well, you know the drill...we pass them, they pass us. Forever! Except there are only two of us for them to get around while it is a logistical problem for us to make our way around their much larger group. Plus, they chatter. They can't flock together without all of them recounting how exciting the last 100 yards were!
And even Galloway "loners" are a source of irritation with the constant run/pass/walk/pass/run cycle. Yet...his method has merit for those wanting to get in a good cardio exercise. Just go do it somewhere else...where I'm not.
No, it's not you...it's the Galloway students that drive the serious walkers crazy. Case in point; the last marathon we did in the Redwoods. As soon as we got started, we were passed by a running flock of Galloway "birds", perhaps 7 of them. And just after they passed us, they came to a halt, spread out across the road, like birds on a telephone wire, and began to walk...slowly. So we caught up with them and managed to work our way around them. And just as soon as we had passed them, they took off in full flight once more, running by us and then settling to earth again about 100 yards ahead of us. Well, you know the drill...we pass them, they pass us. Forever! Except there are only two of us for them to get around while it is a logistical problem for us to make our way around their much larger group. Plus, they chatter. They can't flock together without all of them recounting how exciting the last 100 yards were!
And even Galloway "loners" are a source of irritation with the constant run/pass/walk/pass/run cycle. Yet...his method has merit for those wanting to get in a good cardio exercise. Just go do it somewhere else...where I'm not.
Solo
Is there anything worse than a solo race against the clock? For some reason I dread the short workout races where I have to “beat the clock”. So I was less than enthused about a planned 3 mile (5K) walk this morning. And as soon as I started, the mental war began…”you’re really slow this morning!” and “Give it up! No one will know.” But I persevered and went the distance in 35:42, which is under 12 minute/miles. So if I do all the math, that works out to a possible 12.1? minute/mile for the 5K…or a 5K in 37 minutes? The math eludes me but I like the time. The last time I did a 5K I did it in 37:49, so it is an improvement.
Weight 202 BP is 123/58 and pulse is 59.
Weight 202 BP is 123/58 and pulse is 59.
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