Even though this event wasn't really a "race" per se, it was my first opportunity since April to run in an event with other runners. That being the case, I was really looking forward to getting out there with other runners rather than my usual running regimen of solo training runs.
The venue was about 50 miles away and was about an hour drive from the house, and with the run starting at 7:00 am, we left the house at 5:30 am. Ick.
The event was sponsored by Luke's Locker Room so they had their folks out there with the Luke's signage promptly displayed and with their tent and the event timer. A lot of the people were regulars to Luke's or attended their organized runs. The route itself was an out and back along a newly built trail. Unfortunately, it wasn't a running trail like the Katy Trail as it was concrete and some rain water and dew made the surface kinda slippery in some places.
There were about 50 people who participated. Not a huge turnout, but it was a good-sized crowd. I was actually expecting more since it was a free event and you got free swag (sack and technical t-shirt), and heaps of food afterwards.
It had gotten down to about 8 Celsius so it was running tights weather, the first day this running season that this was necessary! Personally, I love running in the cold. It must be the Canadian in me. Also I tend to generate a lot of body heat in the first mile of a run, but I knew that it would still feel cold enough for my legs to feel cold. When it gets down to about 5 Celsius I break out the gloves, the hat, and the extra long-sleeve layer.
All in all it was a nice run. I finished the 10K in under an hour (official time of 58'51") and as usual I forgot to turn off my SportBand so it kept going for a couple of minutes before I found out and stopped it....and as usual my SportBand was about 10% off again. Geeesh.
Fortunately or unfortunately, today was my normal training run day so I got my marathon training in and participated in an event as well. I was only supposed to do 4 miles today but I may cut myself some slack and run 12 instead of my regularly-scheduled 14 miles.
At the time of this post, I am in 4,487th place. As for how many total participants, I'm extrapolating that based on 549,323 miles run for this event (according to the Nike Running website) and dividing that by 6.2, there were roughly 88,000 participants. I somehow find it hard to believe that I ended up in the top 5%...but I'd be happy if I ended up in the top 50%.
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
So...what's going on....
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Thursday, October 1, 2009
So I've been really negligent about maintaining my regimen of running. I suck.
Quite a bit has happened since I last blogged.
First, I had intended to run the Chicago Marathon in October, but life happened and I won't be going. There's always next year, right?
Second, I was included in an article in Wired Magazine that featured the Nike+ technology. No, not just an article on the website, but the actual printed publication. The article can be found here.
Third, I *may* be doing the Dallas White Rock Marathon, *IF* we can find a sitter for the kids and *IF* there are any spots left. If not, I'm going to try a different event in early 2010...maybe the Cowtown or maybe the Austin Marathon.
So right now, I'm training with the assumption that I'll be running the Dallas White Rock marathon. I'm doing all the miles that are part of the training plan. I'll be logging some heavy miles in October, but in September I logged more miles than I had in any month before, even when I was training for the half marathon.
We'll see where life takes us now.
Quite a bit has happened since I last blogged.
First, I had intended to run the Chicago Marathon in October, but life happened and I won't be going. There's always next year, right?
Second, I was included in an article in Wired Magazine that featured the Nike+ technology. No, not just an article on the website, but the actual printed publication. The article can be found here.
Third, I *may* be doing the Dallas White Rock Marathon, *IF* we can find a sitter for the kids and *IF* there are any spots left. If not, I'm going to try a different event in early 2010...maybe the Cowtown or maybe the Austin Marathon.
So right now, I'm training with the assumption that I'll be running the Dallas White Rock marathon. I'm doing all the miles that are part of the training plan. I'll be logging some heavy miles in October, but in September I logged more miles than I had in any month before, even when I was training for the half marathon.
We'll see where life takes us now.
2009 Goals and the Marathon Dilemma
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Saturday, December 20, 2008
After hitting almost all my modest goals for the 2008, I'm approaching 2009 with some more aggressive goals. The main goal is a marathon, which I'll get to.
I'm planning to do more 10Ks (i actually didn't do any this year) and possibly a half marathon. I did a few 5Ks this year which were fun but I'm hoping to do some longer distance events next year, not so much to actually win them, but to do some events at the intermediate and longer distances.
I'm pretty confident I can get a PR at the 5K distance since my 5K times have been gradually improving so it's not out of reach. As much as that's a nice accomplishment I do want to do a marathon. My half marathon this year was such a great time and I had quite a sense of accomplishment afterwards, but I want to experience running a marathon.
Actually one of the goals this year for both Christine and I was to do the Walt Disney World Marathon in January, but that pretty much went out the window when we discovered we had a baby on the way that was due in February! :) Theoretically I could have still done it, but Christine wouldn't have been able to travel. I was hoping to be able to do a marathon this year, but because of all our adjusted plans, there wasn't enough time for me to properly train for one so that's been tabled 'til '09.
Which leads me to....what marathon do I want to run for my first marathon? I am pretty much contemplating 2 possible choices: one would be the Chicago Marathon. Chicago is a fairly flat course so a decent time *is* possible. There is a fair amount of prestige with the Chicago Marathon as well as it's one of the World Marathon Major events. My other option would be to run one of the two marathons in my hometown of Toronto. One of the events in Toronto is the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in late-September which is a run up and down Lakeshore Blvd., which has the advantage of being fairly flat. The other event is the GoodLife Toronto Marathon in mid-October (around the same time as Chicago) that has part of the course goes along Yonge St., including the deadly climb just past York Mills Rd. I've rollerbladed up that hill and it's something to behold. Anyway, I think be able to run down Yonge St. would be an awesome experience but this course would be nowhere near flat.
Given that timing for all three events are within a similar timeframe, I could train starting in April and pretty much be ready for any of them, it's just what is really going to be a priority for me as far as what marathon do I want to be my first. As convenient as it would be, the Dallas White Rock Marathon would be another option, but it would have the same meaning. You'd think I was losing my virginity or something! :) Well, in a way, I am losing my marathon virginity...so the fact that it's my first, and I want it to have some significance, means that it's going to be a tough decision.
Oh yes, today was my first recovery run since my half marathon. I would have run earlier, but I was also fighting a cold and today was the first day my sinuses didn't feel like they were filled with cement. It was a quick 2-miler and everything felt fine. All parts were working without problems.
Also I'm 9 miles away from hitting 400 miles for the year. It's going to be about a mile a day, so I think I can do a few 2-mile runs every other day until the end of the year to hit that mark. If today's run is any indication, my body seems up for the task to finish up the year strong.
I'm planning to do more 10Ks (i actually didn't do any this year) and possibly a half marathon. I did a few 5Ks this year which were fun but I'm hoping to do some longer distance events next year, not so much to actually win them, but to do some events at the intermediate and longer distances.
I'm pretty confident I can get a PR at the 5K distance since my 5K times have been gradually improving so it's not out of reach. As much as that's a nice accomplishment I do want to do a marathon. My half marathon this year was such a great time and I had quite a sense of accomplishment afterwards, but I want to experience running a marathon.
Actually one of the goals this year for both Christine and I was to do the Walt Disney World Marathon in January, but that pretty much went out the window when we discovered we had a baby on the way that was due in February! :) Theoretically I could have still done it, but Christine wouldn't have been able to travel. I was hoping to be able to do a marathon this year, but because of all our adjusted plans, there wasn't enough time for me to properly train for one so that's been tabled 'til '09.
Which leads me to....what marathon do I want to run for my first marathon? I am pretty much contemplating 2 possible choices: one would be the Chicago Marathon. Chicago is a fairly flat course so a decent time *is* possible. There is a fair amount of prestige with the Chicago Marathon as well as it's one of the World Marathon Major events. My other option would be to run one of the two marathons in my hometown of Toronto. One of the events in Toronto is the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in late-September which is a run up and down Lakeshore Blvd., which has the advantage of being fairly flat. The other event is the GoodLife Toronto Marathon in mid-October (around the same time as Chicago) that has part of the course goes along Yonge St., including the deadly climb just past York Mills Rd. I've rollerbladed up that hill and it's something to behold. Anyway, I think be able to run down Yonge St. would be an awesome experience but this course would be nowhere near flat.
Given that timing for all three events are within a similar timeframe, I could train starting in April and pretty much be ready for any of them, it's just what is really going to be a priority for me as far as what marathon do I want to be my first. As convenient as it would be, the Dallas White Rock Marathon would be another option, but it would have the same meaning. You'd think I was losing my virginity or something! :) Well, in a way, I am losing my marathon virginity...so the fact that it's my first, and I want it to have some significance, means that it's going to be a tough decision.
Oh yes, today was my first recovery run since my half marathon. I would have run earlier, but I was also fighting a cold and today was the first day my sinuses didn't feel like they were filled with cement. It was a quick 2-miler and everything felt fine. All parts were working without problems.
Also I'm 9 miles away from hitting 400 miles for the year. It's going to be about a mile a day, so I think I can do a few 2-mile runs every other day until the end of the year to hit that mark. If today's run is any indication, my body seems up for the task to finish up the year strong.
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