First off I have to say the
Blues Cruise was one of the BEST races I've ever done! The
Pagoda Pacers are a phenomenal running club and they really know how to throw a
party race! I felt like a King running. Every aide station was filled with an amazing amount of food, drink and the most friendly people around. The men and women working at the stations cheered everyone on, got us anything we needed and would even open our bottles for us and fill them up! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR TIRELESS WORK!!
Now for the race...
I was running this race with long time friend,
Jay Austin (that me on the left and Jay on the right at the Kutztown Tavern). We were the best of friends in middle school and the beginning of high school. During high school Jay and his family moved to Vermont. I saw him once after that. Fast forward 24 years and we found each other on Facebook.
Now, about a year after that, and after he moved to Bolivia (that's right Pacers, you had a runner here by way of South America), he's knocking on my door, ready to surf the couch and head to the race (after a run up and down Ski Slope Hill the day before the race, dinner out with family and a lot of catching up). We woke up to, you guessed it, RAIN! Yay! We haven't had enough (insert sarcasm here). By the time we headed out the door and started driving to the race, the rain did slow down and eventually stop, but we knew that the trails (having already been flooded for quite a while) would be thick with mud. The temperatures were cool (upper 40's to the low 50's) throughout the race and it did drizzle on and off. The sun tried to make an appearance, but the clouds said "No!". The trails were muddy buy cleared because of the amazing work done by the Pacers and the park rangers. I can imagine how nasty the trails were after being covered with, what, 6-8 feet or more of water? Yikes...We also had a little surprise at mile 19, a creek crossing, but more on that in a bit. We got to the race, got our numbers, hit the port-a-potty a couple times and headed to the start line. Jay and I wished each other luck, he headed to the front and me to the back. He was hoping for around 4:30 at best and I was hoping for 6:30. After a quick talk from the RD, the race was on!
I knew that the first part of the race would be fast and that I needed to pace myself so I didn't crash and burn in the hills on the other side of the lake. My goal was to stay in the 10's and keep in control when the hills popped up. I didn't want to run up the hills and kill myself...yet. The start was crowded (about 240 started, I think) but I was able to quickly get into a good groove. The trails at Blue Marsh are amazing. I run here as often as I can on the weekends. Most of the trails are single track with some wider parts here and there as well as some pavement and road crossings. The thing about trails, though, is that you have to watch out for rocks and roots. And, of course, I missed a root in the first couple miles. I went down fast, but caught myself in a kind of one armed plank, so I didn't completely hit the ground. I got myself up quick and shoo the pain out of my wrist, though I did feel a tweak in mt left hip...crap, my sciatic hip. It really wasn't that bad, just a slight twinge. We got to one of the first downs and I had some room in front of me, so I hit it fast (just like road biking, I love to fly down hills!!)...but I missed that large root under the leaves. My left leg hit the leaf covered root and promptly started to slide out from under me. I caught myself again, laughed and...twinge...my right hip! WTF! Again not that bad, just a twinging. I did finally stop slipping so much and got into a nice groove of miles in the 10 minute range (the first few with the people and a few hills were in the 11's). With all the mud I found myself hopping from side to side hoping to not loose a shoe in the thick, brown goo. This side to side hopping and the loose footing didn't help my hips out much. As I ran on, both hips started to nag more and more. Mile 10 was my last mile in the 10 minute range and also where the hills really started and, coincidentally, where some walking started (though I did
walk a couple hills in the very beginning). Mile 13 or 14 is where the sciatic really started to bother me. I began to switch my bottle around more frequently so I could rub at my hips as I went. The pain definitely didn't slow me, it was just slightly painful and really annoying. Mile 19 brought some fun and some relief to my legs...a creek crossing! We knew it was there coming in, but I didn't expect it to be about 15 feet long and about 2-3 feet deep! It was also very cold and felt great!
After that, things started to go downhill for me mentally and I think that made the aches and pains I had feel worse than they were. I began to run slower and walk a bit longer. I also stopped a couple times to stretch my quads and hips. My times during this stretch (miles 19-26) were in the 14-15 minute range. I also started talking with more and more people as I went, which helped me mentally. One thing about running a long race like this compared to a 5 or 10k, you get a chance to get to know some of the people you are running "against". After the final aide station at 26.5 (at which the guy I was with proudly exclaimed "I just finished my first marathon!" and got a well deserved ovation from everyone!), I decided that I needed to STOP
LOOKING AT MY GARMIN. Each time I looked at it (about every .05 miles) I became more and more down about my chances of coming in around 6:30. I decided that I need to say F-U to the pain and just run! Not looking at my Garmin definitely helped. I ignored the pain and hammered out the last 5 miles of the race, all in the high 11's to low 12's. I did finally look at one point, after getting near some park entrance roads and thinking "This is the final stretch" only to be disappointed) to see that I had 2 miles left. Again, I was disheartened- I could have sworn I was closer! That left me more determined to RUN. I even managed to run up a couple of the hills in these last few miles. At last, I reached the final road! I turned down and saw a familiar face telling us "Two-thirds!" to which I replied "Two-thirds of the race! Aw man!" and she replied "No, you're two-thirds of a mile in- you've got 30 to go!". I was all smiles! I checked behind me to see if anyone might try to "sprint" past me, but in this kind of race, I don't think anyone would do that to another runner for a place in the 100's. Top 20 or 30? Yeah, awards are on the line, but not at this point. As I got closer to the finish, I could see my friend Jay looking very well rested and fed- and limping badly. My official time was 6:19:42! 11 minutes under my goal time! We hugged a congrats, asked him how he did (4:59:16) and told me that he had to hobble the last few miles because of a crunching sound and feeling in his foot (Yikes!). To his surprise, while I was eating my grub, he got called up for 5th place in the Master's division! His award? A rock with a small metal plate on it. Nice! Very Paris-Roubaix like. And seeing that he's living in Bolivia right now, he may have to eave it at his Mom's in Vermont!
We sat around and ate a ton while chatting about the race for a while longer, but we started getting colder and colder. Plus, my wife had baked us some fresh peanut butter chocolate chip muffins...that plus the thought of hot coffee....mmmmmm...
Again I'd like to thank the Pagoda Pacers and Stephen Weiss for putting on the BEST RACE EVER! Also, thanks to any runner that I chatted with! There were so many of you! You all helped me keep on moving, I can only hope that I helped you along as much as you helped me!! Next year? Maybe I'll run it, but I think I'm leaning towards helping out at an aide station.
My next stop? Trying to find another 50k and a 50 miler!
After all, I was smiling quite a bit- why not go for more?
Up to 12 inches tomorrow (check out the map, we're in the 8-12 range...)? I don't mind running in slop (check out this video from Feb) at all. But I don't like the idea of running in slop IN OCTOBER! Especially since the fields behind our house haven't been harvested! I mean how are we supposed to sled through the corn stalks let alone run? Oh well. I'm not gonna drive in the stuff if I don't have to, so I won't head to the trails tomorrow like I was hoping. I guess I'll head out onto the roads! I was hoping to get 10-12 in, but if the roads are bad, I'll be doing less. The only plus is that I'm heading out early and maybe the white stuff won't be falling yet. But what will make it really hard to get out early is that my wife is coming home early from a photo expo and it's hard to leave that heater when it's cold in the morning!!
I thought I would just run whatever I wanted for the next couple months. And I plan on doing that. But I have a race in each month that I want to do! So, what did I do? I created a training plan for 2.5 weeks for a race coming up. How about December and January? Well in December (a 5k) I may end up running with my wife or I might end up trying to kick some Winter Ass. I know I will run Chilly Cheeks hard in January as it's right after my birthday AND I didn't get to run it last year because of a foot injury. Then I figured I would I would start picking it back up in February with more miles each week and speedwork as well. 
If you knew of a race that was "slow" (the runners have not been that fast the last two years I have done it) and that with minimal training you finished 3rd, should you do it again because you "know" you can win it even though they have a faster and more challenging longer race that same day? It's tempting to do it to win it, but if I didn't win it that would be a huge let down and if I did, I think it would be a let down, too. I am going to do the 15k that day (not the 6k), but what would you do? I honestly have been tempted, on and off, to sign up for the 6k and go for it. But it would not be a fulfilling victory.
First off I have to say the Blues Cruise was one of the BEST races I've ever done! The Pagoda Pacers are a phenomenal running club and they really know how to throw a 
Now, about a year after that, and after he moved to Bolivia (that's right Pacers, you had a runner here by way of South America), he's knocking on my door, ready to surf the couch and head to the race (after a run up and down Ski Slope Hill the day before the race, dinner out with family and a lot of catching up). We woke up to, you guessed it, RAIN! Yay! We haven't had enough (insert sarcasm here). By the time we headed out the door and started driving to the race, the rain did slow down and eventually stop, but we knew that the trails (having already been flooded for quite a while) would be thick with mud. The temperatures were cool (upper 40's to the low 50's) throughout the race and it did drizzle on and off. The sun tried to make an appearance, but the clouds said "No!". The trails were muddy buy cleared because of the amazing work done by the Pacers and the park rangers. I can imagine how nasty the trails were after being covered with, what, 6-8 feet or more of water? Yikes...We also had a little surprise at mile 19, a creek crossing, but more on that in a bit. We got to the race, got our numbers, hit the port-a-potty a couple times and headed to the start line. Jay and I wished each other luck, he headed to the front and me to the back. He was hoping for around 4:30 at best and I was hoping for 6:30. After a quick talk from the RD, the race was on!
walk a couple hills in the very beginning). Mile 13 or 14 is where the sciatic really started to bother me. I began to switch my bottle around more frequently so I could rub at my hips as I went. The pain definitely didn't slow me, it was just slightly painful and really annoying. Mile 19 brought some fun and some relief to my legs...a creek crossing! We knew it was there coming in, but I didn't expect it to be about 15 feet long and about 2-3 feet deep! It was also very cold and felt great!
LOOKING AT MY GARMIN. Each time I looked at it (about every .05 miles) I became more and more down about my chances of coming in around 6:30. I decided that I need to say F-U to the pain and just run! Not looking at my Garmin definitely helped. I ignored the pain and hammered out the last 5 miles of the race, all in the high 11's to low 12's. I did finally look at one point, after getting near some park entrance roads and thinking "This is the final stretch" only to be disappointed) to see that I had 2 miles left. Again, I was disheartened- I could have sworn I was closer! That left me more determined to RUN. I even managed to run up a couple of the hills in these last few miles. At last, I reached the final road! I turned down and saw a familiar face telling us "Two-thirds!" to which I replied "Two-thirds of the race! Aw man!" and she replied "No, you're two-thirds of a mile in- you've got 30 to go!". I was all smiles! I checked behind me to see if anyone might try to "sprint" past me, but in this kind of race, I don't think anyone would do that to another runner for a place in the 100's. Top 20 or 30? Yeah, awards are on the line, but not at this point. As I got closer to the finish, I could see my friend Jay looking very well rested and fed- and limping badly. My official time was 6:19:42! 11 minutes under my goal time! We hugged a congrats, asked him how he did (4:59:16) and told me that he had to hobble the last few miles because of a crunching sound and feeling in his foot (Yikes!). To his surprise, while I was eating my grub, he got called up for 5th place in the Master's division! His award? A rock with a small metal plate on it. Nice! Very Paris-Roubaix like. And seeing that he's living in Bolivia right now, he may have to eave it at his Mom's in Vermont!
