Runs with the wind…

After the outdoor road season ends, I focus on indoor track. I am a certified USA Track & Field official and I do all of the photo-timing for IU’s track meets. I also get to run in some of the meets.

I have been trying to break 4:40 in the mile for the last 3 years. I only get to run in about 3 races during the indoor season, so I do not have many chances. In 2010, I got sick for a week after my first 2 races, but I managed to get 4:40.+, just a few tenths from breaking 4:40.

I was excited about my chances going into the 2011 season. I figured I would be able to do it this year. I ran a 3k (first ever in my career) for the first race since I figured it would be a good transition race from the 5k road races. I ran 9:37+, which gave me Master’s All-American status for my age group at the time (9:40 or faster for 35-39 age group). I was excited and planned to run the mile the next two meets. Well, after the 3k race, I started sneezing a lot, and by the following Monday, I wasn’t feeling too good. Whatever I got, it took me about 6 weeks to fully get rid of it and it wiped my energy. I did race 2 weeks later, but I felt horrible and tired, and ran out of gas at the 1/2 mile! I finished the race but in a disappointing time of 4:55+ 😦 But, I still had one more chance at the Indiana Master’s Indoor Championships…

Ok, before I begin, I just want to say that the course was great, the race organizers/volunteers were great and the turnout for the race was great…..but for me, the weather was horrible! This year was the first time I ran the Reindeer Romp 8k in Brown County State Park. I usually skip this race because I am not a big fan of running in cold weather, but I wanted to give it a try this year because my body was still feeling good at this point in the year. Usually at the end of the season, I feel a little worn down, but I did not run as many races this year so I felt good.

I was impressed by the turnout (150+), especially because it was cold and snowing. I also thought the course was good and mostly flat (I would be interested to run a race there in the warmer months). Unfortunately, I never warmed up until about the 7K mark and throughout the whole race, my face, feet and hands were cold. My feet felt like bricks. I had to wiggle my toes many times just to make sure they were there! I had a hat, gloves (not thick enough) long sleeved shirt and pants and was still cold. In contrast, the winner Lionel Montenegro and 2nd place finisher Frank Dunn, were in long sleeved shirts but wearing shorts!

The race atmosphere was great and despite my horrible experience, I will probably do it again next year. I will just prepare for the weather a little better and hopefully not get as cold!

So, I haven’t posted a blog in a while. Sorry about that. I will post one now and do a few after today’s race (Reindeer Romp 8k). By the way, the 4 inches of snow we got last night/this morning will make the race interesting 🙂

So, back in the middle of October, I twisted my ankle while on a run. It wasn’t too bad, but I had to miss the race that weekend. I ran the following weekend at the Run to the Creek 5k and did well. After that race, I took the next couple of weeks off from running to let my ankle heal. I still did my lifting workouts, biked and used the strider to keep some level of cardio fitness. Two to three weeks later, I competed in the YMCA Fall Fitness 5k and later that same day the Cabin Fever 5k. I won both races and the times were good ones for me! Since then, I have been back to running normally but haven’t run much outside since it has gotten cold (combination of running on the IU HPER indoor track and treadmills). I feel pretty good and am curious to see how this 8k goes today. I’ll post more later.

Last weekend was the Martinsville Fall Foliage 5k.  For those who have never run the race, it is flat and quick.  There is a section near the end where you run on grass for about 150 meters, but you still get to finish on the road.  Last year, it was a little cold and windy.  I took third behind Zac Holmes and Frank Dunn.  This year, neither was at the race (Zac has moved to the southwest and Frank was running a half marathon), and the weather was warm (I wore a singlet in October! – I am known to bundle up when it gets cold, but more on that another time), so I thought I had a good shot at winning.  I did win the race and clocked my second sub 17 min 5k of the year – 16:55.  This time, I only looked at my GPS watch at the 1 and 2 mile marks 🙂

So, Frank gave a good description of last weeks race, the AppleFest 5k, but I wanted to give my side of the race.  See, there were a few young runners I didn’t know and sometimes, the young guys go out fast and then fade some.  So, I wanted to go out near them and if they faded, I could start to pull away.  Well, it didn’t quite work out that way 🙂  We were running down the hill at the start and Frank told me I should be up there with those guys (later I find out he was kidding).  I looked at my GPS watch and saw we were 5:40/mile pace, a little slow, so, I picked it up.  Too bad I picked it up to about 4:20/mile pace!  That pace didn’t last long and neither did I.

We came through the mile at  5:06, and the eventual winner pulled away from me then.  He looked good and had a strong stride, so I knew I wouldn’t be catching him.  Then, Frank came up next to me and started pulling away.  I tried to stay with him, but I couldn’t.  So, Frank ran a good race and then doubles later to win the Springville 10k, and I stand out in the cold and ran (so did Frank) expecting my raffle name to be called, but no luck again!