Friday, May 28, 2010

Back to Back Races

Before I transition to training that mostly focuses on mountain biking, strength, and core and less running, I decided to try a few more races. Some of my coworkers had signed up for the Scramble 10K on May 15th and then the Carytown 10K on Sunday May 16th. I decided I would also take the plunge so I signed up for both races. The Scramble was at 5PM on Saturday and the Carytown 10K was the next day at 8:00 AM. Completing both races entitled me to a special finishers medal plus a nice sense of accomplishment.

The Scramble is not a regular 10K. The race starts out easy enough on Browns Island in downtown Richmond. There is a wave start to keep the field from being too congested. I started in wave 2. The first part of the race goes down the historic canal walk before crossing the 14th street bridge and up onto the flood wall. There are a number of steps to climb and descend on the flood wall before it levels out on a nice gravel path with one of he best views of Richmond. After running along the flood wall we come to what locals call, "The Mayan Ruins." The only reason this part of the course has that name is because there is a huge staircase to climb. But they are not regular stairs. Each step is a foot or two high and they are uneven and there is lots of erosion. Going up the stairs is a real quad and lung buster. This year there was a new alternative set of stairs. There were more stairs but they were not railroad tie stairs like the other set. These were nicely constructed wooden stairs that were even and had nice hand rails. I took the new stairs. It was equally lung and quad busting as the other stairs but a little easier.

Once up the stairs, we made our way to the 22nd street stairs where we descended the 60+ steps (I did not count and forgot exactly how many steps there are). Once down the steps we ran along the gravel path that parallels the river. A little ways down the path, there is some two way traffic as runners in the first wave have reached the turn around and are heading back towards Belle Island. It is always interesting to look at the athletes who are faster than me. Most of them are younger, leaner, meaner, and much faster. The women in the front of the pack tend to show off their ripped abs and the men all wear professional looking gear.

After running down the gravel path and turning around, we darted into the woods to run on a trail that has lots of roots and a few rocky areas and a stream crossing. This year the river was way down so when I crossed the stream, my shoes got just a little wet. Last year, the water came up over my ankles when I crossed. After the crossing we made our way across a part of the river that is mostly dry. We had to hop across a lot of rocks and eventually climb up a ladder to Belle Island. We then ran up a hill to the top of Belle Island to run the loop at the top of the Island. The trails are mostly flat with a few up and downs, some log crossings, and a pretty fast descent on a rolling trail. When I got to this downhill, I was feeling pretty good and since I am very familiar with the trail, I was able to pass a few people before I got to the bottom. Once I reached the bottom, I knew that the hardest part of the race was behind me and that gave me a mental boost.

I made my way across the foot bridge and back to Browns Island. Once I could hear the crowds and the music, I picked up the pace and started to pass a few people. And then I had my kick and I sprinted to the finish passing a few more people. After I crossed the finish line, I walked around a little, drank my water, and met up with people I knew to chat. I felt pretty darn good considering I had not really been running hardly at all when compared to a normal 10K training plan.

One race down, one to go. After the scramble, I went home and took an ice bath. For my ice bath, I put on a few shirts, a sweatshirt, and a warm hat. Then, I sit in the empty tub and fill it up with cold water. Then once the water is up above my hips, Melissa piles in a few bags of ice and sets the timer for me. Taking an ice bath is very therapeutic. I can't tell you all the science behind it but an ice bath is key to quick recovery. All the elite athletes participate in the ritual of the ice bath after a long, hard workout.

The next morning I got up early and headed to Carytown for the 10K. This was a more traditional 10K on mostly flat roads. I ran into a few people I know and chatted for a few minutes before taking my position near the front of the pack. I was surrounded my ripped young men and women and some that looked slightly older. Before the race started, the announcer was talking to the crowd with the microphone. He asked who had run the Scramble the day before. A lot of people raised their hands. Then he asked who had run a marathon. Again, lots of people raised their hands. Next, he asked who had run the Boston Marathon. Once again, a lot of people raised their hands. Finally he asked if anyone had won Boston. An older guy at the front raised his hand. It turns out the Bill Rodgers was running the Carytown 10K. For those of you unfamiliar with Bill Rodgers. he won the Boston and New York Marathon 4 times in the 70s.

When the race started, I felt pretty good-for a little while. Then about 3 or 4 minutes into the race, my left knee got a shooting pain. I had to pull over and walk because it hurt so much. I massaged it a little and then started running again. After another few minutes the shooting pain returned. I slowed to a walk and massaged it again. I then went back to running but at a little slower pace. I had a few twinges of pain as I ran and I began to wonder if I would have to drop out. But I kept going and after the first mile and a half, I started to feel better and was able to pick up the pace. The rest of the race was uneventful. I concentrated on my form and my breathing and at the end, I kicked hard and passed some people in the home stretch.

My time for this race was nowhere near my fastest 10K time of 46.01 but I was pleased with the results given my circumstances. I have pasted the text from the email I received from the race organizers detailing my time, splits, placings, etc at the bottom of this post.

Now that I got my running ya-yas out, it is time to focus on biking. I am behind in my writing. I have been doing lots of biking. Next time I will fill you in on the next event which is a mountain bike race.

Congratulations James Rosen on finishing the Carytown 10K on May 16, 2010.
For your records, the weather at start time was mostly cloudy, 65 degrees F, 70% humidity, NE wind 3.5 mph.

There were 121 finishers in the Male 40 to 44 age group and 1528 finishers in the 10K Run Division.

Your overall finish place was 512, your age group finish place was 59 and your gender finish place was 383.
Your time was 53:12.05 giving you an overall pace of 8:35 per mile.

Your 4M split time was 33:53.31, Giving you a pace of 8:28 per mile, Overall place 488, Gender place 364
Your last 2.2 mile split time was 19:18.74, Giving you a pace of 8:44 per mile, Overall place 555, Gender place 400

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Trip to Damascus



It has been a while since I had time to sit down and write so I am a little behind on all the happenings. There are many occasions when I want to sit down and write but never make enough time. I workout just about every night and there are the chores to do as well. Plus, a few weeks ago my wrist starting hurting a great deal and I had to immobilize and ice it for several days while taking lots of Motrin. I even went to the doctor to have it checked out. I could not for the life of me figure out what I had done to it but then I remembered that during a training ride for the FORD1, I flew over the handle bars and landed with my hands out in front of me. That superman flight and hard landing likely caused some bruising or something in my hand. Then I aggravated it with my last long blog post. But after a few days of keeping it wrapped up and just using one hand to type, it healed up pretty well.

After I did the Richmond Duo, it was time to start getting ready for a trip. Melissa and I took a few days off and went to Damascus, Virginia to get away and do some biking and hiking. Our trip was fantastic! We left on a Wednesday after work and drove to Abingdon, VA which is in the Southwestern part of the state. We decided to stay in a hotel in Abingdon since we would be arriving late at night.

We arrived around 11:3o PM and unloaded our bikes and gear and had a nice rest in the hotel. Thursday morning we woke up, packed up the car and made the 20 to 30 minute drive to Damascus, VA where we had rented a small house in town. We could not check in until after 11 but the person who we were renting from said we could park in the driveway. So we parked and got our bike gear together and hit the Creeper Trail.

The Creeper Trail is a Rails to Trails bike path that runs from Abingdon, through Damascus, and up to Whitetop. The path is a fairly wide gravel path that follows along a pretty nice stream through the woods. We rode from Damascus to Whitetop. The trail from Damascus to Whitetop is about 18 miles and climbs 2000 feet. It is a gradual climb but continuous. We took a few breaks here and there including a lunch break of PB&Js and had a nice rest at the top before heading back down to Damascus. The downhill ride on the way back was super fun and super easy compared to the long climb up to Whitetop. We rode for about 5 hours. It was a great ride with some great scenery.

The next day we drove to Grindstone park and parked our cars and embarked on a long day hike up to the summit of Mount Rogers. Mount Rogers is the highest peak in Virginia. The hike was very pleasant because it was a gradual climb, very quiet, and quite peaceful. We did not see any people for the first part of the hike until we met up with the Appalachian Trail. Once on the AT we saw a few more people here and there.

One thing that was really neat was hiking through the Highlands. There were these wide open fields on top of the mountain. We could see for miles and miles and the terrain was very different from the mountains in the Shenandoah area where we usually do most of our hiking. While walking through the fields, we saw a great deal of horse droppings. I had read that there were wild horses in the area and that we would likely see some.

When we came to the spur trail for the last climb up to the summit, we got a little excited and ended up walking pretty fast up to the summit. We already knew that the summit would be a little anti climatic because we had read that there was no view from the summit. The only way to know when you have reached the summit is by a geological survey marker on a boulder amongst the thicket of trees. Despite no view, it was nice to know we had now climbed the highest peak in Virginia.

Once we made our way back down to the AT, we continued on our way towards one of the AT shelters where we took a brief bathroom break at the privy near the shelter. Once on the trail again, we caught a glimpse of some wild horses. I snapped a few quick pictures from far away but then started trying to get close to the horses. Amazingly enough, the horses did not seem to mind us getting very close to them. It seems like they were used to seeing people. I snapped a few great photos of the horses which you can see at the end of this post.

After seeing the horses, we continued on our hike and eventually started descending back down the mountain. The scenery was very different from what we are used to. It reminded me somewhat of Dolly Sods, West Virginia. One thing that struck us was the lack of leaves on the trees. In fact, despite the warm weather, we actually saw a small patch of snow on the summit. The lack of leaves on the trees made it look like winter although we were sweating pretty good because it definitely was not winter.

While descending the trail, we somehow missed one of our turns which put us about a mile from the car. We knew exactly were we were because of a map we came across at the bottom of the trail. We hiked that last mile very quickly on the road as we were getting tired and pretty much out of water. After arriving at the car, we stuck our feet in a freezing cold pool at the campsite that was made from a creek that flowed through the pool. It was very very cold and I only put my feet in for a matter of seconds. Melissa kept hers in there for a while. I am not sure how. We were pretty worn out from the 15 mile all day hike.

The next day, I got up early and did the same ride that Melissa and I did the other day. I rode pretty hard and managed to do the 2000 foot, 17+ mile climb in 2 hours. Most people who ride the trail take a shuttle from Damascus to Whitetop and then ride their rented bikes downhill. When I got to the top and end of the trail, there were lots of families who had just been dropped off to head downhill. I knew I would have to pass them all on the way down. I sat on a bench and ate my PB&J and took in the peaceful little site surround by Christmas trees from all the Christmas tree farms that dot the area.

After my break, I started the fast and furious ride down the mountain. I was punching it hard. I wanted to get back down to Damascus in 1 hour. As I came across other riders, I yelled out "Passing on your left." There was a sign along the trail that informed bikers that they should announce to other riders when passing on the left. For the first 20 to 30 minutes, I was yelling "Passing on your left" a lot. As I passed people, I always pushed even harder. I was probably getting some dirty looks and comments as I was bombing down the trail. But I figured, they would never catch me. Plus, I am actually very careful and courteous. When I came across children I slowed down to make sure I did not run into them when they all the sudden cut into my path. I ended up making it back to the house in 1 hour. After that ride, I was pretty spent.

When I got back to the house, I got cleaned up and we walked to the Whistle Pig where we had some great homemade vegetarian food. It was an amazing to find such a place in such a small town. The only other place to eat was a country diner and a pizza place. Neither of those two places appealed to us at all. After walking back home, we were still pretty beat and did some lounging around. Then back to the Whistle Pig for dinner.

After dinner we realized that were were very spent and had done most everything that we had wanted to do in Damascus so we quickly packed the car, cleaned the house, and headed back to Richmond. We decided it would be nice to sleep in our own bed. While there was not a lot of traffic on the way home, there were a lot of trucks on I81. The drive was a little tiring because of all the truck traffic and due to the fact that I had biked over 70 miles and done a 15 mile hike over the last 3 days.

The Damascus trip was a huge success. We really had a great time and got some great outdoor exercise in. I have decided to try something new and have created a Flickr account. Hopefully you can all successfully view some of our Damascus pictures here.