Monument Avenue 10K - Race Report

Spring has sprung and race season is in full swing. My first race of the season was the highly popular Monument Avenue 10K, a Sports Backers event whose participants include newbies to the elite and everything in between. The race is quite the spectacle with bands all along the course, costumed runners, cheer team competition, and lots of spectators shouting, some from root tops, shouting silly names. And along with the first race of the season comes the first race report of the season which I will try to keep brief.

This race would be the first big test of my fitness. And while I swim 4 times a week, bike 3 times a week, and run 4 or 5 times a week for triathlon training which is my primary focus, I was prepared to PR at this road race. I had put in a lot of quality workouts on the track building speed and fitness. My coach had done an excellent job preparing me and on race day I knew I could easily achieve a personal record (PR). 

Rather than being content with beating my previous personal record, my coach thought I should shoot for 40 minutes. I had run a 19:12 5K on the track which is a controlled environment where pacing is pretty easy. And I had run a 20 minute road 5k at the hilly Gobble Wobble 5K. But running a 40 minute 10K would mean maintaining 6:26 minute miles for 40 minutes which would be a challenge and would likely put me in the pain cave. I thought I could do it based on a 2 mile time trial I had done a few weeks before the 10K but my pacing would have to be spot on. 

On race day, I ran the 2.3 miles from my house to the start. It was a good warm up although in hindsight, I think I could have got my engine a little more revved up to match what I typically do on the track on Saturday mornings. It is always hard for me to get totally warmed up at these races. I get a little nervous and there is some slight performance anxiety that occasionally holds me back a bit. But running down to the start was pretty nice. Thankfully, Melissa would be driving down and I gave her my back to check at the bag check with dry clothes and my phone, keys, etc. It was quite nice of her to allow me this luxury. Thank you Melissa. 

My biggest goal besides running as fast as possible for 6.2 miles was to not go out too fast in the first mile. It was going to be hard and require concentration and discipline. But if I could reign things in on that first mile, I thought I would have a good chance of meeting my time goal. 

When the race started, I took off relaxed as possible and let some of the speed demons pull away from me. I did my first Monument Ave 10K 10 years ago. I have run it about 7 or 8 times since then. After all those races, this was the first time I actually did not go out too fast. I managed to run the first mile in about 6:36. I was off the pace but I did not cook myself in the first 200 meters like I usually do. I was happy with that. 

As the race progressed, I knew I would easily beat my previous best of 42:18. But I was not sure about the 40 minute goal. As I continued to run, I ticked off the miles relatively easily. I was slightly off the pace but I felt relaxed and in control. It was a really good feeling. I was enjoying my pace and while there were a few times when I tried to pick it up, I never got the motivation to drive myself into the pain cave. In hindsight, I should have tried to run with one of my teammates who I saw later at the finish. I think we would have both run a great deal faster if we had run together like we had done on the track during training. But I never saw him and did not think about it until after the race. 

In some ways the race was uneventful. I ran a 40:37 which is a 6:33 per mile pace. Don't get me wrong,  I was very happy with this new PR and not upset about not meeting the 40 minute goal. But after the race, I was not wrecked like usual. I had stayed comfortable but it was my new comfortable. For whatever reason, I did not seem motivated to put myself in overdrive. I was not compelled. But I learned I can run a sub 41 minute 10k fairly easily with the right training. At 47 years old, I am pretty happy with that. And I am so happy with my coaching. David Luscan has the right formula for me and I continue to improve and maybe more importantly, I continue to learn about my body, how to tune in to it, and I continue to learn about the sport of road racing and triathlon. It brings be great joy to be able work so effortlessly with someone to achieve my fitness goals and I feel like Dave understands my drive and understands how training and racing has become a passion for me. And as a bonus, he really knows what he is doing. 

Monument Ave 10K Race Report

Another Monument Avenue 10K is in the books. This year was my sixth race and I was hoping it would be my fastest yet. Last year I ran 43 minutes on the dot and I thought perhaps this year, I could beat that time. While I have not been running as much this year as last year, I have been doing some intense cycling workouts at RCC two times a week since November as well as more consistent swimming workouts. I thought that all that training plus the Saturday rides, Sunday long runs, and Tuesday evening track workouts could lead me to another PR.

As the race day approached, my coach thought I could easily beat my 43. At least that is the impression I got from her. She set a goal pace of 6:40 per mile for me. I decided that I would do my best to not go out too fast. Running the first mile at 7 minute pace seemed like something to strive for. That way, I would not tax my system too much and I could gradually pick up the pace as the race unfolded.

The Monument Ave 10K has 40+ waves that help minimize congestion. I started in wave B. When I was making my way in to wave B corral I saw my coworker's daughter and friend who run high school cross country and track. I knew that Erin's goal, as dictated by her coach, was to run the first mile at a 7 minute pace and then to pick it up and finish sub 42 minutes. When I saw her in the corral, she said hello and I wished her luck and then made my way closer to the front of our corral. More on her later.

Usually at this point in my race report, I would say something like, "when the gun went off" to designate the beginning of the race. But at this race, it was simply a man who said, "GO!" And we were off. I was able to hold back more so then in previous years and ended up with a 6:47 minute per mile for the first mile. This is faster than I had intended but not too crazy fast.

The next mile I ran a 6:47 followed by a 6:46. From there, I faded. I am not sure why exactly. My legs felt good and my knees were only slightly gimpy. But I just could not kick it up a notch. The gears were just not there. My next mile pace was 6:58 followed by a 7:04. My next mile was the slowest at 7:20. I did manage to pick it up a little for a 7:06 pace followed by the final .2 miles which I did at a 6:46 pace. My paces as reported her are from my Garmin so they are as accurate as they are going to get. My final time for the race according to both my Garmin and the text message I received from the race was 43:38. As you may recall, this time is 38 seconds slower than last year's 10K time.

Before reflecting on my race, I have to mention Erin. During the first part of the race, Erin and her teammate caught me. I guess I was already fading pretty fast at that point. Erin pointed at me and laughed as she ran by. I told her they were looking good but on the inside I was a little miffed by her laughter. This picture is what it reminded me of.


Looking back at my performance, I was a little bummed but at the same time, I think this is a great learning experience. Last year at this time, I was doing significantly more track work. That is to say the volume was a lot higher. At one point I did 13X400 repeats with a 400 recovery in between in each repeat. I was also doing more 800s followed by 400s and other combinations of 1200s, 800s, and 400s. It seems like this lead me to faster times in the 10K but I have to wonder how such a training regimen affected my early season triathlon times. This year, I focused more on the bike and the swim-my two weaknesses. My run at the 10K seems to have suffered slightly because of that. But I can only imagine and hope that my new training regimen will be more conducive to better triathlon times. Triathlon is my focus right now although I enjoy running 10Ks and other races especially trail races.

After my 3rd race of the season, I think I have tuned into my body and its abilities pretty well. If I want to focus on a 5K or 10K, I know what I need to do-more running. We will see how the triathlon season unfolds. In two weeks, I will race my first tri of the season, the Rumpus in Bumpass International (1500 meter swim, 25 mile bike, 10K run). I think my work on the bike at the RCC and my swimming workouts will help me go a little faster throughout the race. I am looking forward to it. Although those few minutes before the crazy open water swim start are always nerve racking.

Thanks for reading.

The Heat is On

The heat has arrived in Richmond just in time for the 10K. Actually while it is quite warm, it is not quite hot. But the humidity is so high that when exercising, the body has trouble regulating its temperature. Typically when a human sweats, the sweat evaporates and takes the heat away from the body. But in Richmond, the sweat just pours off the body into little puddles. No evaporation, no cooling.

Luckily this summer-like weather has come a week or two before the 10K so we can all get slightly acclimated before the big race. I have done one hard workout in the heat and one easy run in the heat. The temperature makes a big difference in performance when exercising and it was evident in my workouts. When it is very hot, the body diverts more blood to surface areas of the body to assist with cooling. That means there is less blood flow to the muscles. Less blood flow to the muscles means less fuel being delivered to the muscles. The heart has to work harder and the muscles have to work with less.

Who knows what the weather will be like on race day. Right now, they are calling for a high of around 70 with an over night low around 50. Starting the race at 50+ degrees would be perfect for me. I won't need a hat, gloves, or arm warmers. I will likely need something warm and dry to change into after the race. I typically get cold once I cool down after a hard effort. We will be hanging around the finish for quite some time as we meet up with our family and friends and I want to be comfortable. Luckily, I can either check a bag at the bag check or go back to the car real quick after the race and pick up a dry shirt.

I am very much looking forward to the race and hope to PR. Last year I ran a 43. My training has been much different this year. I have been swimming and biking more and my track work this year has been very different from last year. As long as I pace myself well, I should be able to beat 43. Of course, this year will be warmer than last year which could affect my time. Plus both knees are a little gimpy at this point.

I am hoping to write one more blog post before the race but if not, I will certainly return here to give you my race report.

Race Report

Well, I have my first race of the season behind me and if my upcoming races turn out anything like this Saturday's 10K, I will be very happy. As you all know, I have been training hard for the Monument Avenue 10K with weekly long team runs and intense track workouts. I was pretty confident going into the race that I would PR. My previous best was 46.01 and based on my tempo runs, I was pretty sure I could beat that. In fact, I predicted that if I had a great race, I could end up running a 43.

On Friday night, our nephew Chad arrived from Lynchburg college and we all enjoyed a pleasant dinner together. Later that night Chad's parents arrived and we all got caught up on the latest news and goings on. Since we had a pretty early morning wake up, we tried to get to bed as early as possible.

Around 2:30 AM, I woke up. This happens quite often. I wake up, use the facilities, and then go right back to sleep. For some reason, I could not get back to sleep. At 3:30, I was amazed that I had not fallen back asleep. I tried reading for a little bit to see what would happen. I would start to get sleepy but then as soon as I put down my iPod, I was awake again. This went on until a little after 5 AM when I finally fell back asleep. Of course the alarm went off at 5:40AM. I calculated that I had about 3 hours of sleep when all was said and done.

We all got up and made our way down to the race venue. We were very early so we did not have to fight traffic which was nice. I decided to wear my running hat, gloves, long sleeve under armor, and black arm warmers. I also wore my gold VCU shirt that I bought just for the occasion. VCU was playing later that night in the Final Four and runners were encouraged to wear their gold and black to support the team. While I was running I got lots of "go RAMS!" cheers thrown my way. Right before the race started, I stripped off my arm warmers and hat and put them in my pocket. I had warmed up in the shade but as soon as I got into the starting corral in the sun, I knew it was too hot for arm warmers.

When the race started, I went out fast. Very fast! Too fast? Well maybe. I guess it depends on how you look at it. After all, I achieved my A+ race goal. I knew I would beat 46 and before the race when someone asked me what my goal was, I said 44. But I knew if I felt good, I could do better than that.

Honestly, during miles 3.5 to 4.5, I was not exactly feeling great. The lack of sleep was definitely a factor and I started negotiating with myself. Maybe 44 or even 45 would be an ok time. I even had some discomfort in my chest. I am sure the photos of me running will show the pain.

In the end I persevered. While I did slow down a bit during that second half of the race, I was able to maintain my pace just enough to cross the finish line in exactly 43 minutes! I was very happy although not immediately. All I was concerned about immediately following the race was oxygen and not throwing up. I walked it off and it did not take long at all for my heart rate to go down and to start feeling normal again.

It was a great race. Not only had I PR'd but so did Melissa. She crushed her previous time and finished in under an hour. Chad also PR'd with a sub 38 10K. All that hill running in Lynchburg really paid off. It was really satisfying to see all our hard work pay off in results!

The following day, Melissa and I did a half hour swim followed by a 1 hour bike ride. Unfortunately, my knee was bugging me really bad during the ride. I am hoping that I bounce back ok. As of right now, I am going to take it easy for the next couple of days. On Sunday I race my first Triathlon of the year. I can talk more about that next time. Thanks for reading. Below is the detailed data from my race.

I am Back-Still Humming Along

Well, it has been quite some time since I have taken the time to write my blog. In case you were worried, my training is still humming along nicely. As you recall from my last blog entry, I was feeling slightly run down and decided to skip one of my scheduled runs. That worked out pretty well as it allowed me to get a little more rest. Since then, I have been going strong although I have had to take a few breaks from training to get some chores done. I may have mentioned before that my yard needs lots of work and I finally started to do something about it. Of course that meant I had to miss out on a bike riding opportunity but I was able to compensate with a monster mountain bike ride with my friend Mario at a later date.

Mario is training for a 100-mile mountain bike race that takes place at the end of April. He has been riding a whole lot more than me so it was a nice challenge to ride with him. We did a 3-hour hard ride from his house down to the river, rode all the trails, and then rode hard back. It is amazing how riding with another person facilitates training by making the pace much faster than when riding alone. I was grateful for the opportunity to push the pace.

Before I talk about some of my specific workouts, I want to revisit the topic of my diet. As you may recall, I was experimenting with trying to cut wheat out of my diet or at least limit it. As it turns out, that experiment only lasted for about a week. The lure of the peanut butter and jelly and the toast with peanut butter was too strong. So I am still eating wheat but I have started experimenting with other grains.

For instance, according to all the fitness experts, steel cut oats (not rolled oats) are very good for one's health. Of course we are not talking about oatmeal that you get at McDonald's or instant oatmeal. The kind of oatmeal that is good for you is very plain with no added sugar, preservatives, sodium, or anything else for that matter.

The first batch I made was nearly inedible. It was like eating a cross between cardboard, dirt, and paste. So I did some more research and the next time I added some things to make it more tasty yet not ruin its positive nutritional content. After cooking up the oats, I added some organic raisins and some cinnamon. That really did the trick. It was tasty, hardy, and very nutritious.

We also made a dish with quinoa the other night that also turned out tasty. We simply cooked the quinoa in our rice cooker and then sautéed onions, garlic, and peppers in a little olive oil. We then blended it all with black beans, some salsa, and vegetable broth. It turned out quite yummy although next time I think I will add some funky peppers to give it a little more zing.

Another thing that I have added to my diet comes from Melissa's mother Joan. Joan told us about a hot drink that she had started to drink and I just had to try it. It is very simple and takes the place of tea or coffee which I don't drink. Basically I chop up some fresh ginger and put it in this little steeper contraption. Then I heat up water in the microwave, squeeze a quarter lemon into the hot water, and then steep the ginger. It is a very calming drink. In addition, both ginger and lemon are very good for the body and mind. I would like to give a big thanks to Joan for sharing this drink idea with us. Thanks Joan!

Now back to training. Rather than list out all of my previous workouts that I have been doing since my last blog, I will focus on the most recent workouts. Last night, I did my 5/2-mile run which is 5 miles total with the last 2 miles at race pace. I felt slow last night and ended up running those last 2 miles at 7:24 min/mile. This pace is too slow if I want to PR. My PR is 46:01 from a couple of years ago. I definitely was off and did not really have the stomach to push the pace. One thing I have noticed is that my stomach is always in much better shape on my morning runs on Saturday when compared to my evening runs during the week.

Tonight's run called for a 50-minute tempo run. My tempo runs call for a 10-minute warm up followed by running at slightly faster than race pace and then another 10 minutes of cool down. I ran much better tonight. I managed to run my 30 minutes hard at a 6:51 min/mile pace. (see specifics below). If I was able to maintain the 6:51 for the entire race, I would end up running the upcoming 10K in roughly 42:33. Honestly, I don't think I can maintain that pace for the whole race. If I was able to maintain 7:00 min/miles for the whole race, I would end up with about a 43:30. Based on all of this information, I am starting to think that my goals will be something like this.

A+ goal-43 minutes.

A goal - 44 minutes

B goal - 46 minutes

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 00:50:02 6.61 07:34 1 00:10:01 1.12 08:54 2 00:30:00 4.38 06:51 3 00:10:00 1.11 09:02

There are only 3 more weekends of training before the first race of the season. I am getting excited. The Monument Avenue 10K has over 37,00 people signed up so far. Should be a fun day!

Logistical Mistake

Earlier today the 11th Annual Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K took place here in Richmond. As you all probably know, I am still recovering from knee surgery and have not really been doing much running. I am working on it and hopefully next year I will be able to run the race.

The Monument 1oK is a big race with over 39000 participants this year. The race is a fun spectacle with bands, cheerleaders, a dress up and run contest, lots of cheering spectators, and super organization.

This year, my wife's brother and son came to run. They had come once before a few years ago. It was really fun to have them stay with us and run the race. This year would have been my 5th 10K but instead I had a different job on race morning. It was cold this morning so the runners had to bring some extra clothing that they wanted to shed right before the start. I was charged with driving to the venue and hanging out with the runners and then holding their sweatshirts, etc during the race.

We made one big logistical mistake this year. We left the house too late and hit tons of traffic on Cary Street. I finally had to have all the runner get out and walk to the start while I sat in traffic waiting to get into one of the parking garages. Our nephew Chad was half way done before I even got parked. I had setup athlete tracking on the Sportsbackers.org website so I got email alerts sent to my Blackberry when my runners got to the half way point and when they finished.

After finally getting parked, I ran to the start and went looking for Melissa. I ran up and down Broad Street looking for the runners. I was slightly anxious because in my mind, I had fallen down on the job. I was picturing Chad giving his stuff to Dave and then when it was Dave's turn to run, he would give all the stuff to Melissa who was in a later wave. I figured they thought I would be there before Melissa's wave. I was imagining Melissa stuck with all this stuff and having to run with it.

Finally I decided I was not going to find her at the start so I made my way across the course and started walking up Monument Avenue. I figured I would walk towards the turn around point and try to wave Melissa down and take her stuff from her so she could at least finish the race without the burden of stuff. I got about a half mile from the turnaround when my Blackberry showed that she had hit the half way point in 33 minutes. Melissa was really cooking-running 11 minute miles. I stopped walking and started looking for her. But alas I never saw her and after a fair amount of time went by I realized that I just must have missed her. So I went over to a parallel road and starting jogging back to the finish. While jogging back, I got the email notice that she had finished the race in a record time. So I peeled off a few layers and picked up the pace. I estimate that I must have run about 3 miles or more in my search to find Melissa.

I finally found her at the finish area. I was so relieved. She had checked a bag with all of the runner's stuff. So she got to run unencumbered. And she PR'd. I was so happy for her. She looked great, had a smile on her face and seemed pretty excited about her result. Her hard work at Endorphin fitness, the University of Richmond Pool, and running around our neighborhood really paid off I think. Who knows what her next event will be. I am thinking that the more she does, the more fun she will have and I am very proud of her efforts.

For me, I ended up getting a little workout which will pay off in my own athletic endeavors. Tomorrow I am planning a jumbo bike ride from my house to Poor Farm. Melissa and our friends Jeff and Rachel are going to meet me at Poor Farm so we can ride the trails together. Then I will either ride home or take a lift from Melissa.