Goodnaz 5k

After almost three months without racing, it was time to race again. One of my running club friends, Dawn Harrison, was putting on this race through her church, so I decided to run it. However, I wasn't too sure about my fitness level. I decided to not coach Beech during the track season this year and was just going to hang loose and get in my token daily afternoon naps. During the winter, Vance Pounders, a runner from JPII tracked me down to help him with his training some. That ended up turning into a coaching job for JPII, so bye-bye naps.

Anyway, I was running pretty consistently with the JPII kids and got in a few hill repeats sessions with them that Vance would totally smoke me on. I wasn't sure what kind of time goal to set but thought I could break 17 with a good race. I knew where the course was, so I ended up scoping it out and it turned out to be one of my worst nightmare courses...primarily uphill for almost the first two miles, with the last mile being downhill. I absolutely hate hills because I'm so bad at them (I guess most people hate what they are bad at), so I wasn't sure how to race.

Dawn said there was guy running who had a goal of around 16:30. I didn't want to lose, so I had to devise out a good strategy. My plan was to hold back somewhat the first part of the race and hope the guy wasn't familiar with the course, went out too hard and then died the second half. Of course anything can happen in a race, but that's what my plan was.

I met the guy before the race and he turned out to be David Hudson, a coach for Brentwood Academy. We both went out a little bit cautiously, so my plan was to run with him, without pushing the pace and wait to make my move. I don't remember the first split but I definitely remember it being in the 5:30s. That's over 17:00 pace but it was right on the money for me considering the course conditions. The second mile was the toughest of the race and at one point, I attacked a hill to see how David would respond. He gave me about a three second gap, which gave me some confidence, so I slowly backed-off until he caught up.

We hit two miles in around 11:20 and with the last mile being primarily downhill, I decided to make a long push for home. Over the next couple of minutes, I built up a 5-10 second gap. However, the pain was definitely coming in and I was hurting pretty badly and was hoping I could hang on for the next three or so minutes. Shortly before the finish, there was a steep 100ft. or so hill and I knew if I could hold my lead until then and then attack the hill, I could probably take the win. I did my best to hang on and after attacking the hill, I finished the race in a time of 16:50, which meant I ran the last mile under 5:00 (it sounds impressive but gravity made it possible) with David finishing in 16:58.

I was really pleased with this race because David is a legit mid 16s guy, so with a little more consistent training, I could maybe make a run at 16:00 in the Purity Moosic 5k in about six weeks. I feel this effort was around 16:30 or a tad faster on a more flat course.

YMCA Frostbite 5k

This was a race that I was really looking forward to. I've gotten in some good training over the last couple of weeks and after going through three miles in 16:40 during a five mile race, I feel like I could break 16:30 with a good effort. The race took place at the Hendersonville YMCA and ran around the neighborhoods through there. I didn't know much about the course but it turned out to be really tough.

I was trying to scope out the competition before the race and wasn't sure if I would have any company. When the gun went off, I went right to the lead. The first mile was mostly downhill and I had about a 10 second lead at that marker. I thought I would have a little bit of a bigger lead over the guy, so I tried to push again and keep the hammer down as long as I could.

The course was constantly up and down with steep inclines and declines and it was really hard to get in a rhythm. I have trouble with these type of courses but I still tried to throw down a good effort. My lead was slowly increasing but it wasn't as big as I thought it would be. After two miles, I tried to push even more and tried to keep a vision of seeing the clock reading a 16:20ish type time as I crossed the line.

When I entered the final straightaway, I wasn't certain what the clock would tell me because of the rolling hills. However, I was certain it would read sub 17. As I got closer, I could see I was well over 17 minutes, which really frustrated me.

I finished in 17:36 with a win. I don't know how in the world I ran so slowly. I went through three miles in the Thanksgiving race much faster than this and during this race, I was running hard. I spent the rest of the day being frustrated because I don't know how I could run a minute slower than my goal. In 5ks, you can be coming off a really bad sickness and still run within 30 seconds of your "healthy time" so a minute is just unacceptable.

However, a few days before this race, I started feeling sick and it got worse after the race. This turned out to be the strangest sickness I've ever had. For the next month, I would be completely fine during the day and like clockwork, my fever would climb over 100 with flu-like symptoms before bedtime. A week after the run, I ran a nine miler with the Hendersonville Running Club and even though we were running just under 8:00 pace, I was dead.

That next month, I cut my running in half and lost about ten pounds. I ended up going to the doctor and my blood work showed that my monocytes were way elevated. He then recommended that I see an internal medicine guy for additional blood work but I never got around to it. After about a month, the sickness went away and within two weeks, I unfortunately gained my 10 pounds back. Wow, that was probably the longest excuse for a bad race ever.

Indian Lake Loop 5-Miler

With a really good race about six weeks ago, I was feeling optimistic about the race. I had some really good recent workouts and was beating Miles in some of them, who is a 16:30ish type guy. I've also started doing my long runs with the Hendersonville Running Club, which I've enjoyed. It's a group of 100+ runners on all ability levels, so there is always someone to run with. People think they have to spend tons of money on a personal trainer or gym membership to become more fit but the Hendersonville Running Club is free and the roads are always open.

The weather was perfect for racing....about 40 degrees without any wind. When the race was about to start, I took my spot behind the starting line and tried to scope out the competition. The only person I saw was Charlie Jordan, who is a really good high school runner at Station Camp High School. I frequently coach my runners against him and he's Miles biggest rival, so I was looking forward to racing against him.

When the gun went off, Charlie shot out into the lead and I followed just behind. After a few hundred meters, I took the lead and noticed there was a guy right beside me. I tried to do some random surges to see how he responded and he hung just off my shoulder. We hit the mile in 5:10, which was way too fast for my ability.

When I know I'm not in great shape or am doubting my ability to beat someone, I like to sometimes throw on my best poker face and do sporadic pick-ups or surges to either appear stronger than I am or to mentally break the person. Unfortunately, I couldn't drop the guy and I noticed it was someone I've sporadically seen at Moss Wright Park and every time I see him, he's flying. We hit three miles at 16:40, which was fast in itself but with a 5:10 first mile, it meant I was fading fast.

I fell behind in the fourth mile and continued to fall back with every minute. I would hope I could stay close enough to make a last rally but I was just flat out running out of gas.

I hit the line in 27:41 to finish 2nd. While I would have like to win because it was a low-key local race and I got beat by an out of town guy, I'm pretty happy with the result because it shows I've consistently gained fitness over the last two months. The course also had a lot of gradual climbs, so it most likely isn't a PR type course. Since cross country season is over, I'll have more time to run some more and continue to increase my fitness. I've been running about 40 miles a week or so but I'd like to progress that to 70 or more a week and add in some tempo runs to help my gas tank. I'm going to do a 5k in a couple of weeks, so hopefully that will be another break-out run for me.

Harvest Moon 10k

It's time again for the Harvest Moon 10k and I feel confident that revenge shall by dealt on Bonita Paul if she shows up. I feel more confident in my fitness and want to somewhat redeem myself from the crappy race a few weeks back. I didn't have any time goals really but thought I would be able to break 37:00.

While this race last year had over 100 people, this year's had just 29 finishers. It was cold and misty, which is actually pretty decent 10k weather. When the race started, I got out relaxed and waited to see if anyone would push the pace. Before a race, it's easy to spot the really fast guys but since I wasn't in very good shape, anyone could surprise me.

No one really took the lead, so I took over and got in a groove. There was a cop on a bike leading me and I felt good from the get-go. Luckily this course was downhill for the first 1.5 miles but the course also included a lot of wooden bridges that were really slick. I slipped at the end of the second wooden bridge, which busted up my knee and after stopping to look at it for a few seconds, I was back on my way.

I was running a pretty steady pace but it was hard to push really hard because of all the slick bridges and being out-front alone. At the turn-around I saw no one was really close, so I just kept a steady effort so I wouldn't puke up the hill this year. The bike cop ended up crashing his bike on one of the bridges but I didn't laugh at him because I didn't want to get arrested.

I saw the steep incline sign and had flashbacks from last year where I completely died running up it but I felt surprisingly good. I crossed the finish line in 36:08 with a pretty steady effort. It was a motivating run because I felt like I could have run 35:00 if I really pushed myself and I also got a little bit of street cred from running on my busted-up, bloody knee.

Hopefully I can continue to train and race well and dip into the 16s pretty soon.

Christie Cookie 5k

It's time to race again! After the Harvest Moon 10k last October, I didn't really run again until I started coaching the distance runners at Beech High School in January. I'd run with them a few days a week, which enabled me to get a little bit of basic aerobic fitness in. I took about a month or so off at the end of their season and until after my honeymoon. After the honeymoon, I reached an all-time weight record of 168 pounds which gave me the motivation to get my weight down.

I was running 4-5 days a week from July on and was slowly building some fitness. My "B" goal for this race was 18:00, with my "A" goal being 17:30. Unfortunately, for the past few weeks, I've had a sinus infection and have been clogged up for quite a while. I didn't know too much about the course, so I didn't know what to expect.

I got out a little slow and shortly into the race, settled into third place. Chris Demetra had a huge lead from the gun and I tried to stay somewhat close to Jacob Carrigan. The course had a lot of rolling hills and I didn't get any of my splits but at the two mile mark, Jacob was only a few seconds ahead of me. I had a goal of reeling in him and then outkicking him but as the race went on, I fell further back with every minute. I crossed the line in 18:14, with Jacob at 17:48 and Chris at 16:35.

I was pretty frustrated with the race because I haven't run a 5k this slow since 8th grade and I thought my workouts indicated sub 18 fitness. Oh well.

Harvest Moon 10k

Wow, my first race in almost two years and first race as a Tennessee resident. I was browsing the internet and saw information about this race a little over a week before it was to take place. It was in White House, TN, which is the town I work in and it went down their greenway. I saw the men's and women's winner won $100 and usually the male winner would run around 39-40:00, so I thought I could have a decent shot at winning.

At this point, I've only been running a few times a month, which consisted of a 2.3 mile route from my apartment that I use to help exercise Roxy. I became so slow and out-of-shape, I even dubbed the main hill on my route "fat man's hill" because to anyone besides a fat man, it would not be a hill.

I still wasn't fully on board, so I started running nearly every day and within a few days, worked myself up to an easy six miles. I knew I couldn't really make any lasting physiological changes in my body in such a short period of time but I could get in better shape neuromuscularly and make my body a little more efficient at the running motion.

My big make it or break it test was a few days before the race. I decided that if I could run two miles on the treadmill at 6:00 pace, I would be fit enough to run sub 40 for 10k. It wasn't too hard for the first mile, despite the slip and near treadmill death when I was admiring my biceps and shoulders in the mirror from all the weight work I was doing. After 12 minutes it was over, I survived and my fate was sealed.

On race day, my plan was to hang with the male leader (he won the past few years, so I thought no one else would come) and try to leave him the last couple of miles. I even wore my Kenyan National Team warm-up to help give myself the eye of the tiger.

When the gun went off, I got out a little too quick and hit the first mile a little over 5:40. There was a girl from South Africa who was somewhat legit and at this point in my life, I haven't been beaten by a girl since the Snowman Run 8k in 1995, so I didn't want the streak to end.

We ran down the White House Greenway and made some small talk for the first few miles. We were under 18:00 at the three mile marker and I was feeling pretty good. The 2nd place male was a good bit behind, so I thought I had the victory sealed. However, fatigue quickly started to rear its ugly head, I tried to play off the "tough guy" routine and told the girl that I was going to hang back a bit and she could go on without me.

Each mile got progressively worse and on the way back, I passed a sign that said "Challenging Incline Ahead." That sign did not lie and I absolutely died on that hill. I had several dry heaves running up it and decided to name this hill "Puke Hill" for all of eternity. I was dying really quickly, so I backed off somewhat in case I needed another gear for later on.

Luckily, I crossed the line as the first male in 39:27 (the girl smoked me by 2:13 the last 3.5 miles) and was over 30 seconds ahead of the guy behind me.

The next day, my legs were TRASHED. I tried to use it as motivation to start running again and tried running the next day but failed miserably. I decided to take a week off and give it another go but it felt like my calves were severely strained, so that killed all of my motivation for quite a while.

Most importantly, the thing I learned about this race is that I may have decent talent but that talent is worthless without the training. Too often people will shrug off potential running goals or landmarks and say they aren't talented enough without even taking a stab at it. Instead of hitting the roads as many days a week as they can and making big sacrifices, they curse their genetics without realizing how much they could accomplish if they made themselves have the will. I've been fortunate enough to have some success in my prior running life and my talent surely made it possible but the real secret really isn't a secret at all. It was year after year of weekly 18-20 mile long runs combined with many 100 mile weeks.

"And too there were the questions: What did he eat? Did he believe in isometrics? Isotonics? Ice and heat? How about aerobics, est, ESP, STP? What did he have to say about yoga, yogurt, Yogi Berra? What was his pulse rate, his blood pressure, his time for the 100-yard dash? What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials. How could they be expected to understand that?"- Once a Runner