National Half and Caesar Rodney Half Marathons

I ran my 41st state plus DC this past weekend.  I added an extra day to what I would usually spend in order to take in some of Washington DC's monuments and memorials.  It turned out to be a great weekend for running and just being out and about. 

The SignUp: I can't recall exactly what focused my attention on running DC and DE last fall but I registered for both events mid November.  The National Half (and marathon) has tiers of early bird discounts; I got in somewhere in the mid level. 

The SetUp:  Following the Disney Marathon (Goofy Challenge), I had 10 weeks to train for these back to back events.  After running 39.3 miles in a weekend, I took it easy the first couple of weeks following Goofy.  On my 7th post Goofy run, I went out for a short 5-6 mile run from work during the day towards the end of January.  I started the run feeling fine but noticed a tightness near my hip about 2 miles into the run.  By the time I finished the run, walking was even painful.  I got in to see Dr Eric the same day and was diagnosed with a TFL pull.  I really thought I would be able to shake the injury off within a week.  A week turned into 6 weeks.  End of January injury 6 weeks later put me feeling fine heading into these races but with little to no training.  My total miles run in the 10 weeks was 65 over 16 runs.  That's an average of 4 miles per run.  My longest run in that time period was the Rodeo Run 10k race at the end of February.  I was able to run that event fairly comfortably.  My TFL tightened up after the race and i wasn't able to run for a few days after.  A week later, running 3 legs in the Texas Independence Relay boosted my confidence that I would be able to complete the 2 1/2's.  During the TIR, I was able to remain loose between running.

The week before the race, I decided that I would try to run both races at a 9:10 pace as that would put me at the 2 hour even mark.  I really had nothing to base that goal on as I had no idea what to expect with so little training.  Turns out I can run a 10k without training; after that, my races fell apart.  If I had started out slower, I probably would've had a better overall race experience but I was for the most part pleased with my performances both days. 

The National Half:
The start time for the race was 7:00; the metro started running at 5:00 Saturday morning in order to accomodate the runners.  I stayed at the host hotel; the Renaissance M Street hotel was located north of the orange/blue metro line Foggy Bottom/GWU stop.  I was 11 stops from the RFK Stadium/Armory station, the start and finish for the race.  Having the start and finish right near the metro station made it really convenient.  After checking my bag, I lined up around an 8 minute mile pace mark.  Actually that is the corral that I was assigned when I registered for the race.  I should've lined up farther back beyond the 9 minute mile pace mark. My mile splits were:

1        9:18
2        8:43
3        8:24
4        8:41
5        9:02
6-7  20:09
8         9:52
9       10:34
10       9:17
11      11:14
12      11:55
13.1   10:57

I remember thinking around miles 11 and 12 that I needed to take it easy because I had to do the same thing again in about 24 hours.  Total time: 2:08:06.

Caesar Rodney Half:
After checking out of my DC hotel, I caught the metro to end of the green line and caught a bus to get back to BWI airport in order for me to pickup my rental car.  The drive to Wilmington was easy with no traffic problems.  $9 in road tolls and I was in downtown Wilmington at the CR host hotel.  Packet pickup ended around 2:00 Saturday; I didn't arrive in Wilmington until around 5:00 so I picked my packet up race morning.  The start and finish for the race was about 2 blocks away from the hotel; a very easy walk.  There were no minute per mile pace markers to line up for this race; I played it smart and lined up further back than I normally would have lined up.  This strategy proved helpful in keeping me from going out as fast as I had the day before.   My mile splits were:

1        9:14
2        9:42
3        8:52
4-5   18:31
6         9:04
7         9:26
8       10:44
9         9:56
10       9:22
11       9:26
12       9:39
13.1   10:47

Sunday's race was much more evenly paced compared to Saturday's quick start and slow finish.  My total time Sunday was 2:04:38.


Hocus Focus: Can you identify the difference in the 2 US maps below? I ran 26.2 miles for this?

2010 Texas Independence Relay

Team Thing 2 at San Jacinto Monument

I completed my 3rd Texas Independence Relay race this past weekend.  My team of 12 combined with another 12 member team organized together opened up the race this year with a 6:00 AM start time in Gonzales, TX.  6:00 AM doesn't sound so bad; actually it was a little bit later start than my 2 Disney races that had 5 something AM starts.  Only problem was the start line was some 2 1/2 hours away from where I live.  I thought I had early mornings when I ran the Goofy Challenge as I was up at 3 AM each morning.  I was up at 1 AM Saturday morning to get to a meeting area around 1:45 AM to drive on over to Gonzales.

TIR is definetely an endurance event.  The running part of it is fun but the waiting to run time spent with fellow teammates is equally as fun.  I was on my 3rd team in 3 years running.  I didn't know any of my vanmates prior to running this year so it was great fun getting to know everyone over the 35 hour period that we ran together.

I'm not sure what next year holds for me in TIR.  I ran 5 legs in 2008 for the inaugural TIR, 4 legs last year and 3 legs this year.  With 40 legs and a maximum of 12 member per team, I can't run fewer than 3 legs.  I ran fewer legs this year but had to take a day off work this year to recover; guess my age is starting to show!  I slept a good part of the day yesterday and was probably still down on sleep time for the 3 day period Saturday-Monday.

The best news out of the weekend is that my TFL, while definetely not 100%, didn't get too tight on me after my first leg.  I was able to complete my 2nd and 3rd legs around a 9:30 pace.  Now I just need to rest more and I think I'll be fine to run my back to back 1/2's the 20th and 21st.  I may just stick to the Beth Whitehead method of skipping all training runs and running events only.

An Unusual February

Thankfully February has come to an end.  My TFL muscle was out of commission the entire month; there was noticeable improvement towards the end of the month but running is still not happening like it should.

It is frustrating as February has historically been one of the more productive running months for me.  I've run 9 of the 46 half marathons that I've run to date in February.  My PRs at the 5k, 10k, and 1/2 marathon were also run in February. 

To have logged only 4 runs for a total of less than 20 miles for the month is just not what I'm used to doing.  The good news is that the TFL does feel much better, although a co-worker made the comment that I was limping this morning.  Maybe I'm just getting used to the pain?????

Here's February results in Buckeye Outdoor Report format:

Running Summary


Runs: 4

Avg. Time: 00:41:30

Total Time: 02:46:02

Avg. Speed: 6.6 MPH

Avg. Mi Pace: 9:06

Avg. Dist.: 4.6 Mi

Total Dist.: 18.2 Mi

Avg. Cal. Burned: 575.7

Total Cal. Burned: 1727

2010 ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10k

This was my 2nd year running the Rodeo Run 10k.  I ran it last year setting a 45+ minute PR.  It was the first time that I hit the "Crescent City Classic Free Poster" magic number.  Back when I was living in New Orleans, the CCC gave out free race posters to the first race finishers.  The cutoff for the free posters was usually around the 45 minute mark.  I never came close to that time in NOLA so I was really excited to run a 45 minute time last year.
Fast forward to 2010 and I entered this years race with my right TFL muscle still not fully healed.  My running to date in February has been 3 runs all around the 4 mile mark, all with discomfort either during the run or right after the run.  I normally try to run a repeat race faster than my prior performance.  This year I was trying to run 55 minutes.  Race day saw lows in the 40s with the sun out.  I ran 52 minutes this year and was very pleased.  My TFL did not bother me at all during the race.  It is somewhat tight now but not nearly as painful as it has been. 
The Rodeo Run has become my favorite race.  It occurs in a great time of year here in Houston.  You get a built in audience for part of the course as you run on a portion of the Rodeo Parade.  People lined up early for the parade are there to provide support.   This years race raised $310,000 for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ Educational Fund.

Airport Worker's Shadow Equals Six More Weeks of Winter?

This could be the rental car at BWI airport that I'll be renting 4 weeks from Saturday to get me to my 2nd 1/2 marathon of the weekend in Wilmington, DE.  Things should be thawed out by then.  Right?

If my TFL muscle doesn't get better and fast, I'll have bigger problems than a frozen rental car.  I ran pain free yesterday but the muscle got tight after I finished my run.  I iced it right after running and slept with a heating pad on it last night.

What a Difference a Month Makes!

The frozen tundra that was WDW last month looks pretty pleasant today!

Hurry Up TFL

I attempted my first run last night after pulling my Tensor Faciae Latae muscle (right side) a week earlier on a 5 mile lunchtime run.  The muscle seemed to be loosening up nicely throughout the week and by Wednesday I was feeling pretty good walking and moving around in general.  My first mistake last night was that I forgot to tape the muscle with kinesio tape before running.  I noticed pain a few steps into the run; it was by no means a 10 on a 1-10 pain scale but it remained a solid 6 throughout the almost 4 mile run.  I think more time off is needed in order to speed recovery.  Listen to thy body....
In the meantime, I bought my first video game console since Mattel electronics Intellivision unit in the late 70s.  I'll try and keep occupied with Wii sports while my leg heals.