Category Archives: My Running

Race Day: DINO Series #5

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On a cooler Saturday morning 206 eager competitors (89 in the 15K and 117 in the 5K) lined up for a muddy start to the DINO Series 5th race of the season at Town Run Trail Park in Indianapolis. The 15K started at 9am with the 5K following five minutes later. This is a little late for the current weather trend, but stays consistent with the DINO Series 9am start for all 7 races.

I ran the 15K course which is 9.3 miles, except today due to the structure of the trail and modifications by the city the course was actually more like 10 miles, and the 5K distance was closer to 5 3.3. We were dutifully informed of this well before the race start so you had time to mentally engage yourself for the longer distance. According to the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association which helps maintain the trail, the trail was modified due to high levels of erosion.

Town Run is mostly a Mountain Bike trail that is primarily single track throughout the entire course. It winds along the White River from 96th Street goes under 465 and supposedly comes out on 82nd Street somewhere. In the 15K we did a two loop course. We began by running the 5K loop and halfway through our second time around that loop we went straight out to complete and approx 5 mile loop through open meadow and more woods. After completing this grueling loop we finished along the 5K course. This was no easy race.

I started farther back in the pack than I should have and spent most of the first 2 miles trying to get around long “trains” of runners on the single track. After finding a group that I felt comfortable staying behind we got into some semblance of a pace and didn’t have to worry about the single-track much after that. I and some others faded from the main pack and around the 4 mile mark the group I was with completely disintegrated with me staying in the front and running a long while by myself before other runners started catching me. Due to the million switch backs and turn you could see those ahead and behind you at various points, but you couldn’t always be sure how far behind they actually were. I used some Clif Shot Bloks at the 5 and 10K marks, they seemed to help a little bit, but I took half the recommend amount of 6 per hour. They are given away free at the registration table for the DINO races!

I’m not excited with my overall time or individual splits, but this is actually a little faster than my last DINO race and considering the course, my current training, and nutritional habits I am happy with my 1:19:11 (7:55) ten mile time. My splits were 7:50, 6:51, 7:44, 7:43, 7:57, 8:17, 8:11, 7:48, 8:29, 8:17 (ones with similar formatting are approximately the same mile). I was very happy to place second overall in my age group and 23rd place overall.

Did you race this weekend? How did you do? Tell us about it in the comment section.


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Race Day: Bears of Blue River 10K

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With a 7:30am start the Bears of the Blue River 10K insured a cooler start, with a little rain it was actually an excellent starting temp in the mid-70’s and a slight drizzle.  The Bears is a combined 5K and 10K.

We started out with the 5K group, not really knowing who was racing in each section.  I started with a group of women I knew from other races and knew where running the 5K.  I let them go after mile 2 which was a mistake but ran a 20:37 5K which was about 30 seconds off where I wanted to be.  I was hoping to run just under 20 minutes.  I had been having some stomach issues all week and had been fine until Saturday morning!  I felt the lack of energy during the race.

After passing the finish area, my wife told me that I was in second place overall in the 10K and that the leader was about a minute ahead of me.  The second 5K is pretty lonely because of the small group of participants and the lonely course winding along the Blue River.  That 5K pretty much stunk, I had a decent enough lead to hold onto second place but definitely should not have.

My overall time was 43:02 (3 minutes behind where I wanted to be) but was good enough for a second place overall finish and earning $50!!!

The race is a USATF certified course with the first 5K being an out and back and the second being a loop.  Only small hills grace the course that has ample water stops and overall support.  Cold water and fruit await the finishers as well as the prospect of $$$.  This was my third year competing in Shelbyville but only my second earning money.  It seems to come and go with the top runners. Last year had 2 Kenyans, this year only 1.  It got a little lonely and boring out during the second 5K but the course was very well marked.  This was the 28th annual race held in conjunction with Shelbyville’s annual Bears of the Blue River Festival.

Ok well I guess I’ll post my splits although they are kind of embarrassing.  I think some of my Mini splits were faster.
6:37, 6:22, 6:59, 6:44, 7:20, 7:30, 1:27

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Updated Title to reflect proper event name, per comment below.

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Race Review: Pop Weaver 5K

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This race also known as the 2007 Weaver Popcorn Kernal Klassic is run on a loop course in the countryside surrounding little Van Buren, IN.  It is famous for its free post-race popcorn and being part of the annual Popcorn Festival.  Hosted by Pop Weaver Popcorn it is a relatively cheap race with bags upon bags of popcorn given away to age group winners.

Each participant, presumably, received a post race e-mail with stats about their race.  Here is what my e-mail said:

Congratulations on finishing the 2007 Weaver Popcorn Kernal Klassic on August 11, 2007.  For your records, the weather that day was Sunny, Nice & Cool.
There were 5 finishers in the Men 25 to 29 age group and
106 finishers in the race.
Your overall finish place was 17 and your age group finish place
was 2.  Your overall finish percentile was 16 while your age group percentile was 40.  Your time of 19:30 gave you a  6:17 pace per mile.

It was definitely cooler than the preceding days but still warm! I am okay with my overall time of 19:30, but ran 9 seconds faster last year and over a minute faster in 2005, so that is frustrating.  My splits were 5:59, 6:50, and 6:40 for the last 1.1 (which actually breaks down to 6:03 pace).  My GPS-enabled friends agreed that the overall course was accurate but that the specific mile markers may have been a little off.

The race pretty much started on time and quickly leaves the town for some country roads.  There is shade for the first and final stretches, but most of the race is run on rural, corn-field lined roads, without any shade.  The 8:30 start made for decent weather on this specific day, but the sun was definitely out in full force.  The course featured 3 water stops, but only one actually had people passing out water.  The course is easy to follow because you are basically making a square! This is also a popular race for local high school teams to participate in and they have their own chute since they can’t win prizes or actually pay to participate (I believe).

After the finish they had plenty of ice-cold water and fruit available for all participants.  This years awards ceremony was a little confusing.  Someone the overall walkers won in amazing times of 7 something for the guys and 14 something for the females. The walk was a 5K.  I think they mistook the fun run sheet for the walkers results.  Sadly, this was never really corrected and the walkers where never publicly recognized, they made a passing comment at the end about walkers coming up to get popcorn.

Now for the fun of the whole event.  Overall 1st place winners received a gift certificate and a bag of popcorn.  Let me explain abut these bags of popcorn! Large, color-coordinated, paper bags are filled with boxes of various Pop Weaver brand popcorn. First place is blue, second is red, and third is white and supposedly each bag has a little less popcorn than the preceding.  This year I brought home like 26 bags of microwave popcorn in my 2nd place bag.  We traded around to get rid of the kettle corn (my wife doesn’t like it and we still have a half-eaten box from last year!) and took a few extra boxes at the end of the awards.  So that provides a little more of a festive environment for post-race activities.

Overall a good race. All results are posted here.

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Ways to Ruin Your Next Race

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There are lots of way to ruin a race, but over at Active.com they have provided a list of the top ten easiest ways to ruin a race. Its on their Triathlon site, but it is an excellent list for runners as well.

I’ll write out the list but be sure to check out the article to get their descriptions! By reading the descriptions you might also be able to spot what you should actually do to NOT ruin your race!

  1. Increase Training Volume
  2. Decrease or Eliminate Training
  3. Don’t Keep a Training Log
  4. Get New Gear Less than a Week Before the Race
  5. Try New Techniques on Race Day
  6. Schedule More than Normal Amounts of Work & Personal Obligations
  7. Eat High-Fiber Foods in Your Last Few Pre-Race Meals
  8. Plenty of Alcohol and Little Sleep the Night Before the Race
  9. Base your Goal Performance on Others
  10. Arrive to the Race as Late as Possible

I’ll admit I’ve actually done a couple of these!

    • I ran a 5K after running 11 miles the day before (not such a good 5K time!) I also rode my bike 10 miles to a 5K, but actually planned to do that and didn’t care about my time.
    • I raced a 5K without socks in my flats, because/ I forgot them at home! (luckily I didn’t get any blisters!)
    • I’ve experimented with powerbars/gels during a race for the first time (I don’t remember any problems and actually raced a course PR)
    • I have experienced less than a good amount of sleep the night before a race. But our rule in college was that the night before the night before (Thursday night for a Saturday race) was the most important night of sleep. I don’t recall the science for this one, anyone?
    • One year, the night before the Indy Mini I went to the Expo and then walked around Indy for awhile afterwards, nothing like wearing out your legs!
    • While I didn’t eat high-fiber, I have had issues with certain pasta restaurants not sitting well after eating them the night before!

Did you like this list? Find that it is pretty inclusive? Leave a comment and let us know what you think about any of these items.

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Wet Wednesday Wramblings

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So rambling doesn’t really have a “W” on it, but it seemed fitting to have the three W’s as a heading post for this random post of the week.

Usually I have some great idea about what to write on Wednesday’s, but not today.  I’ve hit the proverbial writer’s block, so I’ll just post some random items, thoughts, and ideas.

 

Every Monday night at Shadyside Park in Anderson, about 90 kids from across the city and county appear to race a mile around the top-section of the lakes.  They are always looking for volunteers to help as well as kiddo’s to run the race.  All ages are welcome at the 6pm start near the playground off Alexandria Pike.

Every Tuesday night runners of all stripes gather in Selma to take part in the Wapahani Summer Road Runs. I got an e-mail from director Jerry Pierce this week wanting me to let everyone know about the final race of the season.  It is at Prairie Creek Reservoir on July 24th at 6pm.  Meet at the Picnic Area by the beach.  It will be a 3 mile run on Wapahani’s XC course.  Only a $1 to race!

If you didn’t know the Tour de France is currently underway and is approximately 1/3 of the way through the grueling 3 week cycling adventure. I started reading a blog written by Martin Dugard, a NYTimes bestselling author, and his experiences covering the Tour last year.  I enjoyed keeping up all year long and enjoy his coverage of this year’s as well.

 

I guess that is enough rambling for one day!  Hope you are doing well and have been able to get out and enjoy the rain!   Please leave a comment below about some random though you have!

 

 

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