Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Date: September 6, 2009
Placing: 41st Overall, 20th Amateur, 5th Master
Race Photos
Results: Click Here

Here's one record that I'm glad did not get extended...see how many times I can register for the same event - and NOT do it. Yeah, this is the third year I've tried to do this one and it finally came to fruition. Two years ago, I signed up with my friend and teammate David Duchan and if memory serves me correctly (which it rarely does these days) we both were lacking - what do you call it - motivation. Yes, that's it. Then last year I was just starting to run well again when I got IT. And when I say IT, I mean iliotibial band problems in my left leg. That killed last year. But they say the third times the charm...and so it is.

After 3 years of trying, I finally make it to this race.

Now fate sometimes has a wierd way of playing dirty tricks on you; at least it does for me at times. I have just started training for the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. and it's been going great. Most marathoners will run a half marathon a month or so before their full marathon as a stepping stone in their training. Based on my training, I felt as though I could break 1 hour and 17 minutes, which would be a personal best for me. And being the student of statistics that I am, I summized that meeting this goal would put me as first or second - and certainly no worse than third - in the Masters competition. A 1:17 flat would have taken 2nd place each of the last 2 years that I DIDN'T do the event. I had visions of a cool trophy and $$$$ (yes, there was money to the top 2 Masters runners!). I merely had to follow the task as prescribed and I'd be renting a U-Haul to carry home my trophy and using my winnings at www.graeters.com to buy a year's worth of the best ice cream in the world...but here is what ACTUALLY happened...

Janis and I both actually hate "big" races. It's not that we 'don't play well with others', it's just that 20,000 racers - plus their family and friends - can bring a town to its knees. And we're a bit more laid back than that. We don't like spending 2 hours the night before a race trying to make a plan of attack just so that we can arrive at the start line waaaaay too early. Last year I did another one of the "Rock n' Roll" race series - the San Antonio Rock n' Roll Marathon. Fortunately, I was doing it for fun with my brother because our shuttle bus didn't even depart the pick-up zone until AFTER the race had started!! We ended up getting to the start line with only a few of the 33 corrals left to be released. One of the many reasons why I'm not a fan of races that size. Now if I am doing the event as one big party with friends, then sure - 20,000...50,000...bring it on.

We packed our bikes for this trip. A spectator on a bike often can move around a lot better on race day and I thought Janis could take advantage of that. We enjoyed a nice ride around town on Saturday afternoon after I picked up my race packet (which went very smoothly). This is where we learned that when you ride a bike in a beach town - you make up all your own rules, like "feel free to ride the wrong way down any road in the middle of the lane" or "if cars are in your way, use the sidewalk". Don't waste your time with a helmet; it will simply ruin your tan. We must've looked like some kind of 'forners' with our helmets and hand signals. It was one of many adventures we had over the weekend.

At least at these huge races, someone got smart and invented the corral system. Although it is not infallible, it is the sole reason I will do an event this big. Runners are seeded into starting corrals based on projected finish times or submitted results. It's easy to know if someone is in the correct corral because their race number corresponds to their corral number. ie everyone in the first corral had a 1000-1999 number. In corral #27 were numbers 27000 - 27999. Each corral in this event had about 850 runners (which explains why there were 27 corrals but only 20,000 runners). Theoretically - and I say that while making the double-quote hand gesture - nobody should have to be tripping over the people in front of them. And since everyone in the world is honest and NOT self-centered, they all put a completely accurate estimate of their finish time, right? It works much like estimating your swim time for a triathlon that has a pool swim. Some people intentionally put a faster time estimate down. After all, they shouldn't have to swim over anybody, right. I mean, it's OK if people have to swim over them because they are more important than everyone else, right? I digress. For the most part, people ARE honest and the corral system makes it better for everyone.

"Release the hounds!"

One last thing about the corral system is that it's fun to look at the people in the first corral. Janis and I make a game out of it. These are supposed to be the top x number of runners according to their time estimates...but they don't all look that way (I'd ceratinly go so far as to say that I don't particularly think that I look fast). We try to pick out people who may have "fudged" their time estimate. It's great to be right at the end of the race, but it's way cooler when one of the people we picked - because he is wearing long socks, no shirt and looks like a weightlifter - passes me at mile 10. This rarely happens, but when it does it always makes me laugh. Maybe I'll start dressing like a first-time runner at my events and have some fun with it.

Contrary to my fears, the shuttle system worked like a charm and Janis and I arrived at the start with no stress. Plenty of food and drinks and plenty of bathrooms made things almost too stress free. With a couple of Fall-like days in Greenville before we left, I was dreaming that Winter would suddenly be in full swing. It was not. Temps were nice however (upper 60's) especially when many of your training runs have been above 90 degrees. As usual, my warmup was short and simply entailed running the first half-mile of the course and back. As we waited in the corral, the wheelchair athletes were sent off first; then the pro(elite) women. The pro(elite) men and the first corral would start together. With the road being 5 lanes wide, the bodies in our corral had a good bit of room and we were not packed in like sardines (like I was at the Boston Marathon). The gun went off and away we went.

In the first hundred yards I already got anxious when I found myself 'trapped' near the middle of the group. From way back in my cycling days, I learned that if you aren't with the leaders, you aren't in the race. That's something that is not necessarily true in running but it is a hard habit to break and it's why I've never been able to start slower and finish faster. My brain always tells me that the race is ahead of me. It's the same reason you will never see me look back in a race. I can't worry about what's behind me - I need to worry about what's ahead of me. I had my trusty Garmin on for this event and if I was going to meet my time goal, I had to make some deals with myself. The first deal was - no sub-5:30 first mile! I glanced at it about a quarter-mile into the race...5:25 pace. I backed down ever so slightly and held steady. Half a mile in, I saw Janis in the crowd and I moved to the side of the road so she could get a good photo. Already, a "fast group" had formed ahead of us; and at the same time, several of the runners who took off too fast were shooting backwards. I crossed mile 1 in 5:35 and already I had assumed my position in no-man's land; between the true elites - and everyone else. This time however, I had a few fellow no-man landers just ahead of me and as the road behind me became more and more quiet, I could visualize myself pulling away from the masses behind me.

Already establishing my dominion over no-man's land. The runner in front of me pulled away at mile 2 and slowly gained time on me until he disappeared around mile 8 or 9.

Miles 2-3: It was basically me chasing one other runner who was chasing the fast pack (the pros were already way out of sight). As I passed the crowds of people, I would wait to hear them cheer for the next runner(s). It was a good gap.

Miles 3-5.5: I crossed the 5k timing mat at 17:40. My Garmin said I was averaging 5:40 and that I had settled into about a 5:45 pace. The runner ahead of me was slowly gaining time...and now I could hear some runners behind me. I could hear - and sense them for over 2 miles and when the two runners finally caught me at mile 5.5 they told me that they had been just several yards behind me for a while. Since they had caught me, I decided to duck in behind them and let them set the tempo.

Miles 5.5-8: I chatted with one of my newly-found companions a bit. He was obviously a very good runner who didn't seem the least bit strained. He mentioned running sub-5:00 miles at some of his track workouts in the past and I said that I've never run that fast. He commented "yeah, but I'm sure I can't swim and bike like you." I laughed and said, "There's 2 things I'm sure of and that is: yes, you CAN swim like me and no, you can't bike like me". We had a bit of a laugh about that and it helped pass miles 6 and 7 by. At this point, we had caught a few stragglers and shortly before mile 8, we were caught by another runner and that split us up as everyone adjusted their pace. I crossed the 8-mile mark at almost exactly 46:00...5:45 pace.

Miles 8-10: I was on a good schedule but shortly after mile 8 were the first signs of weakening. Both of my cohorts had left me - one was flying up the road - the other was inching ahead of me. For the first time, I noticed one of the bands actually playing as I neared. They were palying Tom Sawyer by Rush and it helped to egg me on a bit. I remembered my GU energy gel that I brought along and quickly sucked it down. As I neared mile 9, I turned back onto the huge wide road from the start of teh race and on the other side of the grass median were thousands upon thousands of runners. I could barely hear myself think - and that was good. My pace suffered slightly during these two miles and I crossed mile 10 at exactly 58:00. This left me with a 5k left to do and 18:59 to do it in to reach my goal. That's just over a 6:00 pace.

Miles 10-12: As we began mile 11, we were confronted with our only hill (which we also had at mile 2). It was a moderate-sized causeway overpass. It actually felt kind of good to run uphill for a minute and I started to feel the GU kicking in a little bit. I was passed by 2 runners just before the hill, but slowly reeled in one of my original running mates from back at mile 6. The crowds were huge now that we were on the ocean "strip" and the 2 runners who had recently passed me were not making much headway on me. My eyes were glued to my Garmin. I just ahd to keep it under a 6:00 pace. The Garmin read 5:58 when I finally hit mile 12.

"C'mon...can't this watch move any slower?...cause I sure as hell can't move any faster..."

Mile 12-finish: Shortly after mile 12, I was passed one last time and followed this runner onto the beach boardwalk. Holy...sh**! There was about a 20mph wind blowing right into our faces with jsut under a mile to go. At this point, it was purely just "sucking it up". I looked at my watch - would I break 1:17? Unfortunately, the view on my watch that showed my elapsed time was no longer showing seconds (since I had been running over an hour). So when I saw 1:14. I had no idea if it was 1:14:01 or 1:14:59. Seconds mattered, dammit! For the entire length of the boardwalk, I could hear a runner behind me, and see the other runner just in front of me. None of us could make up time on the other in that wind. When I was finally close enough to make out the time on the finish clock, I knew I had succeeded. The finish clock read 1:16:49. Shazam!

The last band was playing "Jessie's Girl" as I ran by. I thought to myself, I wish that I had Jessie's legs...Jessie Owens, that is

I walked through the "Hall of Goodies" - where they ahnd you all kinds of free stuff when all you really want to do is eat a hamurger and sit in a pool. Finishing early really has a lot of advantages. Janis was easy to find. So was my dry-clothes bag. I was changed and on the shuttle bus in no time. I was extremely happy with my performance...and we still had the rest of the day to enjoy.

As they like to say..."and now for the bad news"...my joy turned a bit sour later in the afternoon when Janis logged on to view the official results. Wow, I was the 20th amateur out of 20,000 runners. But wait, what's this...4th in my division?! (40-44 age group) Not only that, but the last runner that passed me and finished 7 seconds ahead of me was in the 45-49 age group! Not only had I failed to make the top 3 in my age group but I was the fifth place Master! Egads! Out of the top 20, 5 of us were over 40. I would have placed in the top 3 in ANY other age group besides the 25-29 age group. there's no other way to put it other than: that sucks. How could I be so happy about my time and now be so disappointed. Statistics be damned! I guess that's what happens when you offer money to the old guys - you get old guys that make me look like a slug ;-)

Maybe there was no big trophy or $$$ but I can't really be unhappy with either my time or placing at what is touted as the largest half marathon in the country. At least when people ask me how hard it was, I can honestly say it was a day at the beach...

Race Notes:
* As I crossed the finish line, they announced me as Chris Giordanelli...from Richmond, Virginia. Even my hometown got gyped on this one.
* We found a really awesome park in town. A unique one-of-a-kind place called Mt. Trashmore Park. It used to be a landfill and they turned it into an awesome park. We went over there later in the day so Janis could get her exercise in.
* You will never again hear me say that roads around Greenville suck. Virginia Beach makes our roads look as smooth as ice and as wide as the Champs-Elysees.
* Two words: awesome seafood.

Next up: Blue Ridge Relay - 208-mile running race - NC

Location: Simpsonville, SC
Date: June 13, 2009
Placing: 5th Overall, 1st Master
Race Photos
Results: Click Here

Apparently it's true. I'm getting older. After today's race, I've finally resolved myself to the fact that I will be getting slower. A year ago, I completed this course in 28:14.21 and today - a year later - my time dropped to 28:14.92. Since this was not a 'chip-timed' race, there may be some who would argue that the person running the stopwatch at the finish this year might simply have had a slower reaction time as I crossed the line, but you are probably just being too kind. This kind of sharp decline in my time can only be attributed to age. At this rate, in two years, I won't even break 28:16. And yes, I'm being sarcastic...

I enjoyed another good running event today and although my time was the same from the prior year, the feeling was remarkably different. Let's start with one of my favorite things...history. Now that I have been doing multisport for 4 years, there's a certain bit of fascination about looking back at events that I've done multiple times. In past race reports this year, you could see how my consistency at times has been uncanny. This race is certainly no exception. I'm going to add one more dimension to this 'history report' and that is the dimension of Stephen Sykes. If you read my report in February about the Green Valley 10-miler, I made light of the fact that Stephen and I seem to be eternal shadows. He continues to prove this point...

Of course I get a bit of extra credit for being literally twice his age but by the same token, he is young for a distance runner. Anyway, some interesting food for thought. And no, I am not stalking him. Maybe he is stalking me?

This race draws a good bit of local talent and it seems that every year, there are one or two 'really real' runners that 'run away with the victory'. This year, some 21-year-old collegiate runner took the honors. The Masters turnout at this event rivals just about any other event in the region with 8 of the top 20 placed runners over the age of 40. The race itself is a nice loop that starts with 2 fairly flat miles, then a downhill mile, an uphill mile and the final mile has a little of both. At my last running event (Swamp Rabbit 5k) I tried something a little different for me - starting slower. It worked very well so I decided to try it again. in '07 and '08 both, I crossed the first mile mark in 5:20. Today, I was looking for about a 5:30 start.

The race lives up to its name and we all lined up promptly at 6:25 for a 6:30 start. Although I hate really early starts, it helps that this race is just 4 miles from my house and registration has always been quick and painless at this event. I chatted with friends and teammates around me and was in mid-sentence talking to Mark Render when half the field suddenly jumped off the line. I had been waiting for someone to come to the front of the group with a bullhorn or something but that never happened. I felt a bit like Superman after he secretly heard a call for help with his super hearing. Without so much as an 'I gotta go...', I turned away from Mark, pressed the start button on my Garmin and took off. It was a pleasant distraction the first 100 yards or so as I wondered how many of us were caught off guard by the start.

I settled just behind the lead point of the group about 10 spots back. Ahead of me to my right was the distinctively tall, thin Stephen Sykes in his mandatory blue shorts (we all have our favorite shorts). It took about a third of a mile for the speed demons to create a group of 4 to dangle off the front and at the same time, to shed ourselves of those runners who started the race with a bit more "ooomph" than they really had. At the half mile mark, all I could see in front of me was the lead group of four with a gap on Stephen - who was about 20 feet in front of me. I resisted the urge to race up to him remembering my idea about pacing myself a bit better.

I crossed the first mile at 5:28. Excellent. I was working, but did not feel the least bit over-extended. For the next half mile I continued to close in on Stephen at a slow motion rate of about 1 inch every 10 seconds and finally came shoulder to shoulder with him shortly before mile 2. Now the other funny thing about Stephen and I is that we never actually run together. One reason for this is becuase he goes up faster than me...and I go down faster than him. But also I think we both probably feel that running right next to someone takes you off your tempo. I rounded the turn at mile 2...11:07 (5:39 mile) and instantly was glad to be going down. I vividly remember reaching the end of mile 3 last year in total pain and exaustion. Today, I was steady as a rock.

Stephen re-passed me on the way to mile marker 3 and for the first time in the race - on a downhill - I heard feet pounding behind me. I took advantage of a right turn to glance back and there was 48-year-old Ed Hughes. "Son of a b****". The only thing that kept me from being too concerned is that this year, I was still well within myself at this point in the race; there would be no falling apart for me. If Ed was going to beat me, I knew that he would have to have something extra in his tank today. Mile Marker 3: 16:44 (5:37 mile). Stephen and I were methodically catching one of the lead runners who apparently started too hard and looked a bit like I did at this point last year. Stephen caught him first and actually put in a bit of a burst that seperated us even further. I kept my pace and passed the other runner shortly thereafter.

The climb to the top of mile 4 is not really steep but it's a few hundred yards long and after 4 miles of near-maximum effort, it's not a happy thing. As I reached the turn at the top, I glanced back to see that I had gained some ground on Ed - as well as Stephen. Mile 4: 22:38 (5:54 mile). As I ran the entire last mile just 3 strides behind Stephen, my brain kept saying "OK - wait until the very end then just sprint around him". Yeah; whatever. Neither Stephen nor I ever broke stride and it didn't matter what I told myself, my body simply would not listen. Oddly enough, I still had not overextended myself and yet my body was content. No sprinting today. Maybe there needed to be some promise of a deserving reward - a better reason than bragging rights. Something like an Olympic medal - or a chocolate cake. But my body knew that neither of these things were waiting for me.

I finished out the race with a 5:36 mile (in reality, the final .96 miles since 8k = 4.96 miles) taking 5th place. Stephen finished 3 seconds ahead of me and Ed was 11 seconds behind me. Fleet Feet teammates Elliot Taylor and Matt Pryer both broke the top 15 as well. I felt good not only about my time but about how I felt with the pace this year since most of my training has been geared toward longer distances and my half-ironman event next week.

Race Notes:
* I turned this into my last good half-iron training day by turning around and running a second lap followed by a 52-mile bike ride.
* As usual at this event on an early morning in June, my socks and shoes were pretty much soaking wet although I never felt hot enough to drink much.
* I am slated to do a relay race in September with 3 other Greenville Track Club members. We will be racing the Master's division (ages for 4 team members have to add up to 160+). My other team members for that event are slated to be: Kevin Mosteller - 37 (2nd today), Ed Hughes - 48 (7th today) and Joe Hammond - 47 (12th today). We should be a pretty impressive group of old guys!

Next up: High Cliff Half Iron race - Appleton, WI

Location: Travelers Rest, SC
Date: May 8, 2009
Placing: 5th Overall
Race Photos
Results: Click Here

The Swamp Rabbit Trail is just one more great initiative that's been moving Greenville towards a rejuvenated community with more focus on healthy living and active lifestyles. I must say, Greenville has come a LOOOONG way since I moved here 11 years ago and the downtown area was like a ghost town. If you want to check out the trail initaitive, you can read about it here. I'm not so sure about the name...

Let me just start by saying to all the race promoters out there...never underestimate the power of a $5 entry fee ($10 for late entry!). For a 3-mile race, this turned into quite the adventure. Without sounding too brash - it's days like these that I am glad to be one of the faster runners - read on. The premise of the race was to 'anoint' a newly-paved section of the trail that encompassed the Northern terminus of the trail leading out of Greenville. The venue was a small town (Travelers Rest) that is basically the doorway to the mountains in South Carolina. The race would start on a wide side road for about 200 yards and then turn abruptly onto the trail. The lead runner at that point would break through a small banner and the trail would 'officially' be 'open'.

Sounds like fun, right? It all started well. Getting to the start was a little tight for me since it was a Friday evening race and I had a pretty decent drive to get there from work. My wife Janis hitched a ride with my teammate Dan Moss' wife so that we wouldn't have 2 cars for the drive back home. The race actually started in a nice park and we had no trouble finding a parking spot. It took me about 30 seconds to register which was nice. After they handed me my number they pointed to another line and said "You get your t-shirt there". The line was quite long and to be honest, I could probably open up a 'used race t-shirt' store if I wanted to retire next week so I simply opted to pass on the shirt. If it had been something unique and stylish like a hat in the shape of a swamp rabbit, I would have thought twice...

With it being a short race, I didn't partake of any of the food, drink or festivities but it looked as though they had most of that covered. Since we both were feeling the effects of a good training week, Dan and I decided to do a pretty good warmup by running an entire loop of the course. We had both glanced at the map online and it appeared that we ran a little over a mile along the trail and then did a loop around a large cemetery and then back in adjacent to the trail. We reached the end of the trail during the warmup and there was no indication of which way to go so we started guessing. We were lucky that we both have a good sense of direction otherwise they might still be out there searching for us.

We managed to find our way back to the trail and back to the venue shortly before the start. When we made our way over to the line, I was shocked by the hoards of people. The race promoter announced that they had planned for about 700 entrants and there were 2200! Now, in case you are picturing a 4-lane wide trail allow me to squelch that optimism. The paved path was 8-10 feet wide; comfortable enough for 3, maybe four runners side-by-side.

This was a last-minute race for me. I had been feeling poorly since I came back from Duathlon Nationals but had a good couple of days leading up to this event so I decided to see if the running legs were coming back. I also decided I would try something a bit different for me - starting slower. I typically take off like a rocket and end up getting slower and slower as the race progresses. This works for me since I get a fairly good advantage early on and my degradation is slow, but I wanted to see how I would do with a more steady pace.

I was pleased that the promoter announced several times that the front row(s) should be reserved for those runners who would be running a 6:00/mile pace or better. I found a spot at the front where several people knew me and they were very polite in allowing me to start in front. My plan of starting a bit slower was good but unfortunately, I was going to have to start fast - for at least the first 200 yards - becuase I had no intentions of getting 'boxed in' on the path. Apparently, a lot of people figured this out. When the gun sounded, it was a mad dash to be the first runner onto the trail. I just wanted to be near the front. Mission accomplished.

I settled into a tempo in the first few hundred yards and resisted the temptation to 'catch up' to runners ahead of me. Dan caught and passed me about a half-mile into the race and moved about 5 or 10 yards ahead of me. Unlike other times when Dan had passed me in a race (usually further out) I wasn't maxed out and dropping back. I just kept my tempo, which seemed to be extremely close to Dan's tempo because he stayed the same distance in front of me for the next 2 miles. We gradually picked off runners and shortly before mile 2, up a hard grinding hill in the cemetery, we caught and passed the last of the runners in front of us except for the 2 leaders who had a sizeable gap.

What happened next was like something you would see in a chase scene in a movie. Right after we crested the cemetery hill, we curved downward and were suddenly just a few yards from the trail...facing about 2000 people! Dan didn't know what to do and I was just a few step behind him. He ran into the crowd for an instant and then I saw him emerge on the other side, run through the grass, across two lanes of highway traffic (that were also currently filled with runners), and into the lane-wide median. I initially followed him into the crowd on the path but I immediately envountered a group of four stretched across the path - and they had no plans to budge for me. I nearly twisted my ankle hopping off the path - running around them - then back onto the path at full pace and then sharply across the path like Dan had. I barely brushed a woman and probably would have knocked us over if I had been an inch closer.

Ahh - the median. I could now see quite a ways up the road to the two leaders who apparently opted for the same choice. Dan was alone; still about 20 yards ahead of me. I glanced back to see one runner not far behind. Everyone was playing a huge game of 'follow the leader'. As we neared the park, the people disappeared and now we had two lanes of slow moving vehicles to our left that were backed up...and we had to get back over to the trail. I trusted Dan could see what the leaders did, so when he cut through the cars and back onto the trail so did I. I was tired as we entered the park and I simply did not have a finishing push in me. The runner behind me passed me in the last hundred yards or so and I just watched him go. Dan had gained a few extra seconds on me as well at the end.

With a couple of pretty good hills and turns - and the craziness on the course - everyone's times seemed slow, which is a good reason to always judge your performance by your placing and the placings of those you compare yourself to. I was happy with my top 5 to say the least. It was another 'yo-yo' week for me but this time it 'yo'd' in my favor.

Race Notes:
* My finish time was 18:00 flat. Good enough for 5th overall.
* If you look at the results, you will see that the 40-44 age group wasn't messing around; we finished 5th, 6th, and 7th. My friend and constant competitor, Mark Render was right behind me in 6th.
* The "Every Woman" women's cycling team did a fabulous job of being course marshalls...and looked good in their team outfits.
* Everything about this event was wonderful...EXCEPT for the way the course was designed. Hopefully, they will work out some of the kinks in the future.
* This one's for my friend, Eric LaFontaine who avoided being 'chicked' right at the finish line. What, you didn't think I'd see the photos?...
* Dan and I were on our bikes early the next morning for an epic 85-mile ride. Ouch?

Next up: Clemson Sprint Tri

Location: Greenville, SC
Date: March 7, 2009
Placing: 34th Overall
Race Photos
Results: fsseries.com

Superman has kryptonite. Apparently, I have Bradford Pears. [In my best announcer's voice...]...when last we left our hero, he was rebounding from a year of asthmatic turmoil; with solid performances in the first 4 events of the new season. But then, disaster struck...

Well, in today's economic times, I'd hardly compare it to a disaster that some folks are feeling, but let's just say it was not a 'happy' day. This was either my 4th or 5th running of the Reedy River 10k (at 44, I'm allowed to start forgetting things). If there was any humor in my performance today, it was the joke that my wife and I have that you can set your calendar to my 'Spring Fling' with allergies. Seriously. last year, I ended up with mild pneumonia 2 days after this race and the year before that, I ran feeling sick. I had hoped that this year would be different since I was on asthma medication. As a matter of fact, I had already convinced myself that I was gonna sail through March without a problem. Not only was that not true, but this year it was worse now that I've developed asthma.

As I approach the finish line, I'm thinking to myself 'What the hell just happened?'

In reality, this whole asthma thing reminds me a lot of when I struggled with plantar fasciitis a while back. Everyone told me how it was supposed to feel, but mine never felt that bad...which made the situation even worse because it affected my performance just enough to be annoying and not enough to say 'Hey, I definitely have something wrong with my foot here.' So it is with my newly developed asthma. Although you will ocassionally see (or hear) me cough during an event - and sometimes see me fall into a coughing fit after an event - I don't ever feel myself wheeze or have trouble breathing. Just like my foot, that makes it really hard for me to be sure that it is slowing me down. Even after losing 3 minutes in this race to my anticipated time, I had nothing tangible that made me believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was my asthma/allergies. I have no evidence...just the result. But unlike last year, when my problems happened so slowly that I second-guessed my fitness, I have multiple races this year already that prove to me that I can run fast.

So, how does this happen? For starters, I took my waking pulse when I got up and that was signal number one; 45bpm after a rest day was quite high (normal = 35 to 39). I wish I hadn't taken it - so I tried to forget that I did and that worked pretty well. After all, I was excited by the prospect of a gorgeous day. Plus, this would be my first event in my new team apparel. I felt OK when we arrived at the race site but my warmup was indicator number two. I shrugged off my sluggishness during my warmup because I often have this feeling when in reality, I am moving well. But when I hooked up with a couple of teammates, I felt like they were forcing the pace a bit for a warmup. Uh-oh.

I wished my friends and teammates good luck on the start line and when the gun sounded, I actually felt good. I even told myself that I would not run a 5:20 first mile like I had a couple of years ago which nearly killed me. So I conciously allowed several runners to simply glide ahead of me. I passed mile 1 at 5:32. Perfect. I continued on at what felt like the exact same effort level but for some reason one person came by me, then another and then a group of about 10 that contained most every one of my 'true' competition. I had to watch as they floated by me and I had no extra energy to react. According to my Garmin, my second mile dropped to somewhere around 6:20 and the trend continued. I calculated that after the first mile, my pace lost a second per mile every tenth of a mile. As I looked at my average pace, it was like looking at a second hand it was moving so quickly. I felt like I was in a parade and I was the clown riding the tiny bicycle that couldn't keep up.

The thought crossed my mind to simply stop at mile 2.5 when we reached Falls Park again but I didn't feel sick and that was taking the easy way out. I'd seen others quit over the years instead of finishing and I thought 'what kind of example is that?' I'd rather quit than get beat by the guy in sweat pants? No way. Every dog has his day and today, a few 'extra' people worked their arses off to beat me and I wasn't going to take away their day by quitting. By the same token, I'm still a competitor so I'm not just going to lie down and 'give it away'. So when Greg Spindler passed me in the final turn with a surge, I replied in kind and was almost hoping we would have a nice sprint finish for the crowd - but we sepearted and came across individually. A 6:13 pace. I can't remember the last time I didn't break a 6:00 pace in a race. As a matter of fact, today's pace was my exact pace at the Boston Marathon a couple of years ago...

I give Janis the universal symbol for 'it ain't happenin' today'

Aside from simply having a poor race today, there was a lot of irony going on; some of which made me laugh even though it added insult to injury. For starters, I was scheduled to start receiving allergy shots last Monday but the doctor was closed because of the snow. Of all the races to do poorly in, you always gotta hate doing it in front of a hometown crowd. It was also my first 'B' race of the year (all the others so far have been 'C' races), my first race in my new team clothing and one of the few races that I can typically win money at. But the straw that really broke the camel's back was that this year, the awards were ice cream mugs. Did you hear me? ICE CREAM MUGS!!?? Nobody loves ice cream like I do. Ask my wife how long it took me to pick out the perfect ice cream scooper to buy. My poor lonely ice cream scooper...

Race Notes:
* Since this was a huge local race, it would be hard for me to congratulate all my teammates and friends so...CONGRTULATIONS, GREENVILLE!
* Being fast and old has the advantage of 'rolldown'. That means if I perform great, I can place overall. Otherwise, I can place in the overall Masters. Finally, if I don't do that well, I can always 'rolldown' to my age group. Because of this, I still managed to place 3rd in the 40-44 age group.
* Next up: My first traithlon of the year...Parris Island. Let's hope I can get the allergies under control in a week's time.

Location: Greenville, SC
Date: February 7, 2009
Placing: 6th Overall, 1st Master
Race Photos
Results: SCRUNNERS.COM

Unbeleivable February weather. It was a perfect day for getting up late and reading the paper while eating breakfast on the deck. I, of course, did none of that. No. I got out of bed and drove across town to push my body to the limit at the Green Valley 10-mile Road Race. It's what I do. Why should this week be any different?

It truly was the most perfect running day with start temps in the mid-40s and not a cloud in the sky. I looked more like an undercover agent than a runner with my black shorts, black Fleet Feet shirt and my dark Rudy sunglasses but at least I haven't hit that golden age yet where I'm wearing tutus and cowboy hats at races and yelling incoherent things at the other runners and the crowd. At least I don't think I'm doing that yet (you'd tell me, wouldn't you?) Truth be told, I'm kinda looking forward to that age.

This is not an 'A' race for me but it definitely was a pivitol race. The last time I did this event was 2 years ago; it was the start of one of the most stellar racing seasons I've had and with all my 'obstacles' last year, I knew this race might be a glimpse into how this season will shake out. It is not an easy 10 miles (is there such a thing?) and as your mind makes its way over the course, you realize that there is less than 1 mile of flat. Everything else is up or down. Based on my training runs, my body should've been able to break a 6:00/mile pace but after last year, I've been finding more reason to let doubt slip in; something I'm not so used to.

You can see that the healthy lifestyle movement is alive and well in the fact that the number - and depth - of participants seemed to be triple what it was 2 years ago. In addition to the 10-mile event, there is also an 8k event and most of my Fleet Feet teammates and a few of my GoTriSports teammates were there for one or the other. Considering the wind jackets, gloves and food, the $17 entry fee was a steal. And no, Amy I did NOT get an AARP discount (very funny). We lined up for the start about 50 yards back from where we started 2 years ago (remember that for later). I saw the 'usual suspects' as well as some surprises and unknown faces. Joe Hammond was one of those surprises. Joe is a great runner but usually exels at - and opts for - the shorter runs. He told me that he decided this year to try and hit all the races included in the year-long race series. I thought it was admirable to push out of his comfort zone a bit and quite honestly he had a good shot at beating me! For the second race in a row, I also spied the coveted 'cheetah skirt'. This time I did not knwo the runner but you can rest assured that they were female and not some old guy like the ones I talked about earlier.

The gun sounded and I started my Garmin. I felt pretty good as we made our way through the Furman Campus...but that was just the first half mile. After that, I can't remember a time where I wasn't hurting. I certainly don't remember it hurting that much 2 years ago but that's why people like me keep doing these things - becuase the body has no inherent memory center for pain. We can tell you that somehting hurt but there is no way in our minds to reproduce it. If we could, I would have stopped this years ago. In a bit of an unusual turn of events, I was not alone. In most longer running races - even very large ones - I am the guy who is behind the true elite runners but ahead of everyone else. Today, I jostled position with 3 other runners for the first 3 miles. One of those runners was 21-year-old Stephen Sykes. Stephen and I have an unspoken history where we tend to gravitate toward each other in races and today was no different. In the opening miles, two phenomenal runners had left everyone in their wake. A third runner, Kevin Mosteller, took up the chase and that's where he stayed the entire race. I could see Kevin's orange tank top whenever the road would straighten out for a distance. The 4th place runner seperated himself from Stephen and I at about mile 2.5 and he too stayed a virtual arms length ahead the rest of the race. Here's the part that's funny to me. Up to this point, Stephen and I have been running together, but not TOGETHER. You see, every time the road went up, his tall, lanky figure would wisp ahead of me...only to be caught and passed by my more heavier frame. Mile 4 was a huge downhill and I opened up a several second gap on Stephen. Mile 5 had enough down for me to maintain my lead. Miles 6 and 7 were gradual uphills and Stephen pulled along side of me just as we topped a hill at mile 7.5. Then we went down again and again I gained a few seconds. There was a really long grind up to mile 8.5 and I knew he was coming. But I also knew that once we hit that summit, it was almost all downhill. Almost. So I worked harder to stay closer on the uphill and sure enough, as soon as we crested, I started flying down the next mile. Stephen had actually made the race fun. I didn't look back because I was afraid I'd see him right behind me smiling.

Unfortuantely, the down ran out and I had underestimated the steepness of the last little 'up' just a half-mile from the finish. He ran by me just before the top and I knew I had nothing left. I glanced at my watch to see that not only was I going to break an hour, but there was a chance I could break 59:00. No way. I literally had nothing left and simply coasted to the line in 59:10; 6th place. My time 2 years ago? 58:47. But don't forget about the exta 50 yards I mentioned at the start. That put me only about 10 seconds slower than my prior time.

Race Notes:
* Special thanks always goes to my wife Janis - aka my photographer, my cheering section, etc.
* I estimate Stephen and I actually ran next to each other for less than 1 total minute the entire race.
* As soon as I stopped running, my lungs siezed up on me. It's something I'm getting used to now with my asthma. I carried my inhaler the entire run but it only seems to happen once I STOP.
* My Brooks ST III racers were the perfect shoe for today. It's amazing how much faster my race shoes are than my trainers.
* 31 seconds seperated me from 4th place but 7th place was 1:22 behind me. Six of us broke the hour mark today.
* As always, congrats to all my teammates, friends and even some co-workers. Especially Fleet teammate Tim Briles who took 2nd overall in the 8k - his 2nd 2nd this year (??).
* I'm 2 for 2 in the quest for the state title of Master's Long Distance Running champion...but it's a long season. The Reedy River 10k in March is a big one.
* Next up: Charlotte long-distance duathlon.

I call this...my 'ode to Stephen Sykes'. Maybe he's stalking me? Maybe I'm stalking him?

Location: Greenville, SC
Date: January 24, 2009
Placing: 14th Overall, 1st Master
Other: SC State 5k Championships
Results: SetUp, Inc.

"Play ball!", "Three...Two...One...GO!" or however your chosen sport kicks things off. In my world, on this day, it was "Runners ready?...BANG". And so another year of racing begins. One down - lots more to go. I'd say I can breathe easy but if you've been keeping up with my exploits then you know that is purely figurative. Athough my breathing problems have gotten much better the last few weeks, I can honestly say that even now - at the start of the season - my lungs are better than they were most of last year. They would have to be based on this great start to a new season.

About 2000 people turned out for a delightful morning with temps hovering unseasonably in the upper 40's in the morning. It was humid but I prefer a bit of humidity to the cold since I have a hard time warming up. These early season races right here in my backyard are a great way to catch up with friends you haven't seen for a while and to give yourself a little preview as to your fitness and the fitness of some of your competitors. You can't be great at everything and really short running races are right up there with olympic-distance triathlons for being my worst events. I don't have the fast twitch muscles for a really fast 5k (and I don't have the swim for an olympic-distance triathlon). But knowing that helps to take some of the pressure off...

 It was a little later start at 9am than most running events which afforded me the opportunity to sleep in until 7:30. Man that felt great. If it were up to me, all races would start around 10am; none of this 5am wake-up call stuff. I really get a kick out of the races that last less than a half hour that have to start real early. I just don't get that. Anyway, as Janis and I drove to the site, I did my usual goal-setting. Janis is gracious enough to pretend to listen and even more gracious in pretending to care. Here was my chart for this event: 18:00+ = 'disgruntled', 17:45+ = 'disappointed', 17:30+ = 'content', 17:15+ = 'happy', 17:00+ = 'ecstatic', < 17:00 = 'check my blood for doping'. It doesn't seem very scientific but believe me, there are algorythms here that will make your head spin. Basically, I'm sure Janis heard.."...blah, blah, blah, if I don't break 18 minutes I'm going to be a pain in the ass the rest of the day, blah, blah, blah..." When pressed for an exact time, I spouted out "17:12".

 I went out for my warmup and left Janis to chat with  Jackie Lafontaine who was there to support her husband Eric whilst recovering from a shin injury. Eric and Jackie work at GE where you only have to supply a resume in an interview if you can't break a 17:00 5k. I was surprised as I warmed up on the new Swamp Rabbit trail that it was so quiet. Just as I was headed back, I hooked up with Fleet Feet co-owner and sponsor Michael McCauley running with Ruth Marie Milliman. I ran with them for a bit and tehy helped me decide on some more really scientific goals. Ruth Marie suggested that I make it a goal not to get passed by any women wearing skirts. I went ahead and took the bold step to say that I would try not to get passed by any men wearing skirts either. We had a great laugh. Hold that thought.

 I got back just in time to line up a row or two from the front. Everywhere I looked were people I knew - good runners. Ed Hughes, Joe Hammond (my main competition in the Masters category), teammates Tim Briles, Jeff Gibbs and Elliot Taylor, Chris Olson and Dan Moss. Somehow, in the 5 minute that we stood there waiting, the 2nd row became the 5th...6th...row. I found myself stuck behind a small girl and her dad. She was almost literally half my size. I knew what this meant. But I also wished that if the race was planning on going by gun time that the race promoters should afford for some way to seed runners. When I first started doing running races, I was timid about it. Now that I'm a bitter old man I can be a bit more blunt. If you're not going to be in the top 20 or 30 runners, please don't line up on the front line. I won't do it to you in a swimming race and I expect the same courtesy. As you will see, it very well could have cost me this race...

 The gun sounded and I found myself working hard to get around people. I almost ran right into the curb twice and ran through a space about one-foot wide between two young men running together. It was about a minute when I got through the last of the crowd to become a 'straggler' of the lead group. I could see about 20 people in front of me at this point as the road opened up including teammate Elliott Taylor just a few yards ahead of me. I also was able to focus on Phillipe G - a runner who is often very close to me in ability - because he always wears the same flambouyant shorts and is easy to spot. Last year I was sick I rode my bike next to teammate Dan Moss instead and I remember him going through the 1-mile mark at "5:07". We agreed after the race that was pretty unlikely. Today I learned that it was definitely unlikely as Dan pulled up next to me just as we passed the mile mark at "4:57". I don't think so. We both gave out a strained chuckle as we telepathically told each other 'no way'.

 From that point on, Dan slowly left me (finishing 26 seconds ahead of me by the finish), but I was able to reel in a few runners as well. At mile 1.5, I found myself about 15 yards behind a guy that I would follow all the way to the finish. I fought the urge to turn around but when we made a right turn my head could not help but look back. I prayed I would see a ghost town behind me as I was already maxed out. Nope. What I saw was a long single-file line of runners who I imagined were looking at me like I was a Moe's burrito and they wanted to get them some. I pressed on knowing that I would get a respite down Main street before the last hill. I was caught by one runner on the way down but I just watched him go. On the way up the nasty hill, national-caliber duathlete Rick Kattouf pulled next to me and slowly pulled ahead. Almost to the top I thought.

 I heard breathing again. I laughed to myself through the pain. Just before we crested the final hill, female phenom Rebecca Prichard pulled alongside me...oh yeah...wearing a SKIRT. You go girl! To me, she was just another great runner. I know a lot of guys REALLY care when they are passed by a woman but I can honestly say that it didn't hurt me one bit - at least not any more than I was already hurting. However - with that said, it was sheer irony that Michael and Ruth Marie were right there at the top of the hill! They cheered Rebecca as she passed and as soon as she went by them, they made eyes at me and I swear I heard them mumble something about a skirt. I gotta say, I'm still laughing about it sitting here.

 As we made our way down the long gradual grade to the finish, the stars seemed to align as I start to catch the guy I have been chasing since mile 1.5 (remember him?) and the both of us start catching Rebecca. Now, I've been burned many a time by not throwing in a last punch and to be honest, I had no idea if this guy I've been chasing is age 20 or 50. So I kick it. And he kicks it. And we each pass Rebecca on a different side coming down the finish chute. And when we seemingly shock Rebecca, SHE kicks it. What a picture - a woman, an old guy and one other runner sprinting for the line. The mystery runner would cross less that a yard in front of me with Rebecca just behind us. Now, remember that whole spiel about not lining up on the front line if you're not going to finish that high? Turns out that I actually beat him in elapsed (chip) time but results are tabulated on clock time. That means if he had been 40 years old, I would have been robbed of a Master's victory. Fortunately, he was a young pup but something's not right about that...

 Without thinking much, I went over to Rebecca and apologized. It wasn't my goal to ruin her finish or to try and 'beat the girl'. My only concern was the other guy. During my cooldown, I had time to reflect on this. I wasn't sure why I apologized. I guess it was my upbringing but she didn't need an apology. I wouldn't expect anyone to not try and beat me because I'm older. She is a great runner in her own right but she is a participant like anyone else and I needn't feel bad about trying to catch anyone. Oh well, thinking about it made my cooldown go by much faster. And the skirt is a great fashion statement; I'm thinking of trying one myself when I get a bit older and I can start doing crazy stuff like that at races.

 In the end, my chip time was 17:14 - almost right on my estimate. I was 14th overall (if you go by elapsed time ;-) and I managed to take the Masters victory. I loved the 'trophy' which was a specially labeled bottle of wine from a local vineyard. Awesome.

 I had so many friends and teammates who ran well that it would hard to name them all but it's worth mentioning that my Fleet Feet teammmate, Tim Briles took 2nd overall by just breaking the 16:00 mark. My training partner and GoTriSports temmate Dan Moss finished 9th overall as well. A great way to start the year. Congratulations to everyone who ran.

G