Eric's Running Adventures

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Mud and Muck Run 5K

When: August 28, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Temp: 75F
Finish: 25:xx

This is my second time running this race. I planned on taking it easy since I have another 5K tomorrow morning. I still managed to finish a little faster than last year even though it seems like they lengthened and added more hills to the course.

Morning Routine:
Everything was going good this morning. I woke up to my alarm, showered to wake up, and drank my coffee. Then I went to make my pre-race bowl of cereal for breakfast, but come to find out I forgot to pick-up milk yesterday as I had planned. Oh well, honey nut cheerios taste good without milk. I had plenty of time to relax before having to leave for a race so I decided to watch the movie 13 Ghosts. Not necessarily race inspiring, but a decent movie nonetheless.

Before the Race:
I arrive at the race location with plenty of time to walk around and stretch before the race started. I snapped a few pics of the crowd and start/finish areas.

People starting to arrive

Fire tucks arrived to let the kids have a tour of them

Starting line

Finish Line

Then it was time to go and line up. There were quite a few people in costumes so I tried to get pics of some of them.

There were a lot of people in colorful outfits like the gal in this picture.

The RD said a few words then started the count down and we were off! The race starts with a short paved section and then starts down a dirt/gravel road for the rest of the race. The next pics will give you a general idea of what the majority of the course looked like.

Shortly after the start

First gravel section. A gradual incline that's not too evident in this picture.

At the top of a hill. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of the hill.

One of several tree-lined areas.

The course also had a couple of obstacles other than the mud pit. My pictures of the obstacles didn't turn out very well, but here they are.

You can't really tell, but the gravel mound on the upper left side of the picture was one of a series of three gravel piles that were dubbed the "rolling hills" of the course. Yes, I ran up and down all three so I guess I got in my hill sprints during the race.

The orange barrier fence up ahead was the first of a series of three in the "low-crawl" part of the course.

Overall it was a very fun course, but there was one hill that had a lot of people walking. Everyone that I passed on that hill stayed behind me the rest of the race! The next couple of pics show the hill after I had already ran down/up it.

The aid station was at the bottom of the hill.

After the hill we run an out and back along a levee. This pic was during the "back" section.

The lake on the other side of the levee.

After that hill was a nice flat section, then we ran up another incline and finally made it to the mud pit. They mentioned there being a mudslide, well it was a mud mound in front of the pit with no real "slide" to be seen. A little bit of a disappointment.

The mud pit was actually deep, thick, shoe-sucking mud this time. I debated taping my shoes to my feet, but since it was just muddy water last year I decided against it. My first step I start to pull my right foot up and the shoe starts slipping off my foot. I plunge my hand down in the deep mud and pull my shoe out of the mud. I continue walking and it was tough going. I decided to fall into the mud and crawl on top of it while carrying my shoe in one hand and my camera in the other. I'm sure they will have pics so I'll post them when they become available.

I finally make it out of the mud pit and continue on my way running/trudging along covered in mud, my right shoe in my hand, my sock almost coming off. I must have looked strange, but I couldn't put my shoe back on since it was filled with mud. Even running with 1 shoe, I still managed to pass people and not get passed. I crossed the finish line in 25:xx and received a coffee mug for being one of the first 300 finishers.

I made my way over to the clean-up area and someone was nice enough to snap a picture of me before I washed up.

As you can see, I had FUN!

The following pics are of the clean-up areas.

After getting cleaned up, I had some of the post race goodies. They had a decent little spread consisting of hotdogs, chips, chili, milk, water, and sodas.

All in all it was good fun and a good way to stretch out the legs before the 5K tomorrow.

I warned you it was going to be very long! Now go get yourself a beer for making it through it, you earned it.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the pics.

Eric

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Psych Night 10K Trail Race - RR

What: Psych Night 10K Trail Race
Where: Wyandotte County Lake Park, Kansas City, Kansas
When: August 6th, 2010 @ 8:15 p.m.
Temp: 87F with dew point of 62F
Finish Time: 1:14:12
Place: 61/108?

Unlike my norm, I'm going to post the majority of pics first and then get on to the race. OK, the real reason is I only have 1 pic taken during the start of the race, the rest were taken prior to the start.

These first few pics will give you a glimpse of what the surrounding area looks like.

Facing the start. We cross the ditch and head up to the white sign in the distance, then cut left and hit the trails.

The crowd about 20 minutes before the start

About 10 minutes after the above photo we received some comments from the RD, "Bad Ben." Below are just a couple of the tidbits:

the trail does have poison ivy near it. For those who don't know what it looks like, just remember "leaves of three, don't wipe with me"
Please don't litter..there are well trained snipers just waiting to take you out if you throw trash on the ground.

He had some more good ones, but I can't remember them.

So I guess since this is an RR, I should get on to the race. Since this was only my 2nd trail race and my 1st night trail race, my only goal was to have fun and not get knocked out by a tree. I am happy to report that I accomplished both goals!

Since I didn't know what to expect, I lined up toward the back 1/3 of the pack. It was about the right spot. We get the short countdown and we're off! I hurdle the creek, follow the crowd and start realizing that I am in for a tough, hilly race. We reach the sign, cut into the trail, and I tried to take a picture. Here is the failed result:

After this picture I realized it wasn't going to be worth trying to take pics. So I put the camera away and focused on the trail. I doubt I would have been able to safely take pics while running this race. There where sharp turns, plenty of roots, sections of large, loose, angled rocks, slippery and deep sections of mud, low tree branches, and some logs laying across the trail.

It took about 20 minutes before I needed to turn on my head lamp, that's when it started to get really interesting. It seemed like I was running a lot faster than I was actually going. There were some sections of trail that I slowed down and even walked (mostly uphill) because I almost twisted my ankle several times. I did tweak my left forefoot and it felt like the right half of the foot bent toward the left side. The foot feels fine now.

I could probably have used some trail shoes instead of my older Mizuno Wave Inspires. I think my shoes were too flexible in the forefoot for the technical nature of the trail.

At this time, I must give MAJOR PROPS to everyone who races long distances on trails. This 10K was quite hilly and tough, it definitely took its toll on me. It was soooo much FUN though!

It reinforced that I need to run on trails more often.

OK, back to the RR. For most of the race I was following fairly close to others and saw their mishaps in the mud. Learning from their missteps, I went along the edges of the mud. The mud wouldn't have been bad, except it was as slippery as ice. Now from mile 4 to 5, I couldn't see any runners around me. Talk about a strange, but exhilarating feeling running through the woods at night, with nobody else around. I LOVED it! I was able to hear some great-horned owls off in the distance, tree frogs in certain sections of the trail, and eyes looking at me from the branches (raccoons). I did walk a bit more during this section, just to be sure I was still heading the right direction.

Thankfully the trail was well marked with bright pink flags so I didn't get lost.

I would highly recommend this race to anyone near the Kansas City area. First, it's only $8. Second, a great group of people. Third, it's an awesome, challenging course. Fourth, free photos will be posted on the web for us to download. Did I mention that it was only $8!

Speaking of the free pics, they became available as I was typing this so here they are.

I'm, the dude in the yellow shirt in the background.

I was caught as I was slipping in the mud.

Having fun.

Running through the water.

I better stop all this rambling. Thank you for taking the time to read this report. If you haven't ran a trail race yet, I highly recommend it!

Eric

Saturday, July 24, 2010

RR for A Divine Run 5K

Where: Overland Park, KS
Why: in honor of NicoleHasFeet's nephew Ethan
Temp: 81F
Dew Point: 74F
Goal: Sub-8:00 avg pace
Finish: 24:30 (Garmin time)
Official Results: 24:26; AG - 7/58; OA - 46/500

How many times has it been said to "try nothing new on race day"? Yep, I can't count that high either. So what do I do, I go out and run 2 miles as a warm-up thinking it will help. Normally, I walk around to get the blood flowing, not run. So did it hurt my performance, who knows for sure, but I think it did. Don't get me wrong, I met my goal and am happy with my performance. I just believe I could have done better. Granted, the conditions didn't really set me up for a great performance anyway.

Before I go any further, I ran this race in honor of Ethan. Ethan is NicoleHasFeet's (RWOL) nephew that passed away from SIDS a little over three years ago. She had a thread on RWOL for the three year anniversary in which a lot of runners dedicated their mileage that day to Ethan. I was given the go ahead to run this race in his honor. I believe this allowed me to dig down deep for the third mile and actually find a kick for the last 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile.

Now back to the originally scheduled account of the race. Since I wanted to do the best I could in this race, I figured I try to do a proper warm-up. After all, the majority of the experienced and faster runners on this board have talked about running a few miles to warm-up for a 5K. This is where I mad a major newbie mistake. Just because it works for them does not mean it will work for me. Plus, I think I ran the 2nd mile too fast (8:45 pace).

After the warm-up run I had about 15 minutes to stretch and relax before the start of the race. I went to start, lined up, and snapped a couple of pics.

Facing the starting mats. Just look at that sun.

Facing behind me.

The race ended up starting about 10 minutes late. Finally the National Anthem was sun and we were off!

I felt pretty good during the first mile. It started with a gentle downhill which I think prompted my second newbie mistake. I started out too fast. Even though I felt like I was running easy, I knew that the 6:40 avg pace at the 1/2 mile point would come back to bite me in the a$$. I forced myself to slow down, aided by a gentle incline, and finished mile 1 in 7:21. I did manage to snap a few pics during this mile.

Just after the start.

About 1/3 through the first mile

Pretty much the only brief point of shade on the course!

Mile 2 was mostly flat and we had are first water station about 0.1 miles into it. I grabbed the water, walked about 10 steps to drink it, then got back to it. By this point, the sun was really beating down and I could feel the heat. It felt as if I was cooking and I don't mean my pace. About 1/2 mile through I made the decision to walk and try to lower my heart rate. Well it didn't work. Yes my heart rate lowered, but since it was still at 177bpm when my avg pace reached 7:35, I decided to pick it back up. I didn't feel like I had much left in the tank. Even though I was running, my pace kept dropping. Between the heat, humidity, and my newbie mistakes I started to let doubt creep in my mind. I doubted that I could hold my slower pace for the remainder of the race. I doubted that I would reach my goal. Heck, I just plain started to doubt my running ability. Yep, you guessed it, I started walking again. I probably walked for abou 30-45 seconds. Way too much for a 5K. I started thinking back to why I was running this race. I couldn't let Nicole and Ethan down. I took stock of how I was feeling. Yes I was hot and miserable. Yes my heart rate was still up there after walking. BUT, I could still run and meet my goal. With Ethan in my thoughts, I started running again. I saw my avg pace start to lower, but I was still hurting. I told myself "there is about 1.25 miles to go and you better finish strong!" I completed mile 2 in 8:29 and managed to snap the following pic along the way:

Near the start of mile 2. Notice what's missing..that's right, SHADE.

Mile 3 started with me trying to push the pace. I knew it was time to dig down deep and keep going. The faster I finished, the faster I could drink cold water and get rid of the dry mouth I had going on. I had to focus on nothing but the race and why I was running it in order to prevent myself from walking again. It worked. I started picking up the pace even more at the 2.75 mile point. It felt good passing people who had passed me during my walk breaks. I finished mile 3 in 7:46.

I was told by a runner that already finished that we had one turn left and then straight to the finish. I saw a couple of guys up ahead that could have been in my age group. I gave it all I had. I past the first guy no problem, but the 2nd guy looked back and saw me closing. He picked up the pace. I tried, but it felt like I was standing still. He managed to put a little distance between us and finished about 5 seconds before me. According to the garmin, I finished the last 0.15 miles at a 5:45 pace. I honestly don't know where that came from.

Let me tell you, I was SPENT! Then I was quickly stopped by a volunteer to remove my timing chip. It felt like she was taking forever to open the safety pin and remove the tag. In reality, it was probably only about 10-15 seconds.

I wanted nothing more but to lay down. I forced myself to walk around and go get some food/water. They had orange slices and bananas and ice cold water!

After walking around for a bit I snapped a couple pictures of the crowd.

Facing toward the finish line (blue balloon arch)

Facing toward the food canopy

I waited around for a bit to see the awards and wouldn't you know it, I won a random drawing for a 25$ gift certificate to Bangkok Pavilion, a Thai restaurant. Never been there, but I will use the gift certificate.