Tag Archives: virtual races

Race #59 – 9/11 Memorial 5K

After yesterday’s late-race debacle, I wasn’t feeling good about this morning’s 9/11 Memorial 5K.  This race was to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, though, and I figured I owed it to our heroes to get my lazy butt out of bed, and on the trail.  🙂

After getting dressed and a little breakfast, I pointed the Jeep to the Greenway.  It was surprisingly chilly, even with the sun already up.  The Jeep’s thermometer read 54°, and at speed on Highway 100, it felt every bit of it!

I stretched out, and got on course.  I’d already decided to just walk today.  I needed the miles, but I needed to recover too, so it was a planned slow go.  With the great temps, the walk went very, very well, and I finished in about the same time I did yesterday, but feeling very much better upon completion.  Success!

I did add something to my journey this morning.  I’d talked with the folks at Fleet Feet a few weeks ago about my upcoming half marathon in Tulsa — just two months away!  We talked about in-race nutrition and fueling.  From that conversation, I picked up a handful of Gu packets.  I’ve never used any kind of race nutrition before, and I was nervous about some of the things I’d heard about it:  not hitting the stomach right, weird textures, and flavors that weren’t exactly great.

Well, I open a root beer flavored Gu about 15 minutes in, and while the consistency was indeed odd — like a really thick honey — the flavor was kinda like a slightly weak root beer barrel candy.  I felt no ill effects, and while I can’t point to any specific help it brought, I did finish feeling well.

More racing to come tomorrow!

This race benefitted the Wounded Warrior Project.

Race Course

Race #58 – Patriot Day 5K

With all the running this year, I began looking for Patriot Day-themed races.  This is an especially meaningful day for me, and I love the thought of doing something in honor of all those lost.

Today, I ran the Frogman Charities’ Patriot Day 5K.  Frogman Charities was formed by a former Navy SEAL, and benefits several Navy SEAL charities.  Add to that a medal and challenge coin (both shown in the header above), and suddenly I found myself signing up for another race!

I couldn’t have picked better weather for today’s run, which I did at lunch.  The beginning was awesome… temps in the 60s, clouds and breeze.  Mother Nature only suckered me in though.  By the time I hit my turnaround point, I was dealing with some sunlight breaking through the clouds, and a crazy amount of humidity as the morning’s rain began to suck back up into the atmosphere.

My first two kilometers were really amazing, and were some of the fastest times I’ve had in a while.  The last three kilometers, and in particular, the last kilometer, were pretty ugly.  Too much speed up front, and worsening conditions (for me, anyway!), and that spelled a tough second half of the race.

But done is done, and every mile matters.  I can live with that.  And I had some time to reflect on the meaning of today.  As I wrote a long, long time ago, I think 9/11 was my generation’s Pearl Harbor, and I know I still think back to that day, and the weeks after, and it’s as clear as day to me.

This race benefitted UDT-Seal Association, Navy SEAL Museum and Foundation for Navy SEAL Veterans.

Race Course

Race #57 – Smile Run 5K

While on our cruise in April, we met a wonderful couple, MaryBeth and Mike, who were deeply involved in suicide prevention causes in the northeast.  After hearing their story, I knew I needed to run this race to benefit AFSP.  This one’s for y’all…

Hot day again, with temperatures about like they were yesterday, but without my nemesis, Mister Sun.  However, his evil compadre, Señor Humidity, made an incredible appearance.  I had great intentions of running more and faster than yesterday, and while I did both of those things, I only ended up with an “average” run.

However, it wasn’t all bad.  I met Becky and our new puppy, Roxy, at Starbucks for a little coffee, and some time to catch up with an old friend.  And lemme tell ya, if you sit outside a Starbucks with a puppy, you will be the center of attention!  Doubly so when it’s a big fuzzy Bernese Mountain Dog.  Roxy loved it, and so did we.

So another tough-ish race in the books, and more miles in this crazy year of running!

This race benefitted the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Race Course

Race #56 – RNMP Centenary 5K

This race was the second of three I’d signed up for from Vacation Races, and commemorates the 100th anniversary of Rocky Mountain National Park.

It’s hot here in Da Lou.  Today’s high is 97.  Did I mention that it’s hot?

Fortunately, I got out around 7:30 this morning, while it was only 76. Still hotter than I care for, but things weren’t going to get any better today.

There are some mornings when I get up, and it’s just tough to get out and run.  This morning, however, I’d read some things on Facebook that just inspired me to get out there and move.  Facebook is sometimes the worst of the world, and sometimes the best.  As I drank my morning coffee, I read some of the uglier things I’ve read in a while about my chosen sport and more significantly, about the way I approach and execute my running.  So yeah, I went out the door in a bit of a snit.

Some days, you run for the health and peace that it brings, and some days, you run to just clear the muck, and today was the latter.  I tromped around on the Greenway, and got through my miles, plus a little extra, putting the Facebook-induced ick behind me.

That’s one of the huge benefits I get from running.  I kill my stress.  I clear my brain.  And, I can put things into perspective.

That’s something you just can’t put a price tag on!

Race Course

Race #55 – National Park System 99th Birthday 5K

A company called Vacation Races puts on some great races in our national parks.  They’re largely longer distance races — half and full marathons — and most of ’em have been way far away from here.  However, they also do some virtual races, and I’ve signed up for a few of them.

The first of these is the National Park System 99th Birthday 5K.  This race celebrates the anniversary of the creation of the National Park System, and is part of a trifecta of virtual races from Vacation Races for me.  I’m also running the Rocky Mountain National Park Centenary 5K (next week) and Public Lands Day 5K (in late September).  I mean, why wouldn’t you wanna celebrate all these beautiful places?

This morning, I returned to the Wildwood Greenway, site of wonderful and awful runs of late.  I struggled to get motivated, but walked straight to my running clothes when I got up, and put them on.  Somehow, I knew that donning my “superhero uniform” would help slide me out the door.  An English muffin and part of a bad cuppa joe later, I was out the door, and headed to the Greenway.

It was chilly this morning, with the air temperature around 53 degrees.  With the doors off the Jeep and the roof down, it made for a very cool short drive to the Greenway.  I love that though, and I think that just primed the pump for a good morning.

I stretched, and started on trail.  I had some good music in my ears, and felt like I had a pretty good pace going.  I’ve striving to get below fifty minutes regularly, which is sub-10mins/km.  My first split was a few seconds over ten minutes, and my second was a few seconds under, which put me in a good place.  My third kilometer was slow though, at 10:22.  There’s a long upward slope at that point, and frankly, I slowed my pace a bit to rest as I went.

And then, it happened.

As I got into my fourth kilometer, I glanced at my watch and noticed that my overall pace was sub-10min/km.  I had just powered up a short, steep hill, and it really affected my overall time.  Suddenly, I was inspired, and paid attention to the run/walk intervals my watch was driving me to.  And the running felt good… really good.  My fourth kilometer split was 9:14, which inspired me even more.  My fifth kilometer was 9:08, which is screaming fast for me, especially in the last part of the run.

I don’t know what happened, but I wish I could capture it in a bottle, and use it again.  It all just clicked for me this morning, and gave me one of the fastest times I’ve ever had on the Greenway.  In face, this morning was many minutes faster than most of the runs I’ve had up there since I returned to it.

As the front of my Jeep says, “Happy, happy, happy!”

Race Course

 

 

 

Race #54 – The Galaxy Run 5K

Another day, another virtual race!  🙂

I found The Galaxy Run a few weeks ago from the Will Run for Bling folks, and given the design of the medal, I couldn’t pass it up!

This morning, I took myself up to the Wildwood Greenway yet again, trying to redeem myself after Thursday’s debacle on the Greenway.  Once again, the conditions were kinda tough — 70°, but close to 100% humidity — but I was determined not to let that deter me.

Lately, I’ve been treating these virtual races without the same rigor I’d have for an “in person” event.  Several months ago, I learned that treating a virtual race like an in-person race put my brain in the right place, and helped me to do the right things before going out… eating right, dressing appropriately, using my braces, etc.

This morning, I did all the right things, and went in with the attitude that I was just gonna walk today, and put good, solid miles under my feet.  And basically, that’s what I did.

I’m still tuning my music for my pace, and probably will keep doing that for a while.  I found a few tracks that have a little faster pace than is comfy for me, but others are becoming regular favorites.  I really do believe that’s helping me quite a bit with my movement.  Heck, “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas floated across my iPod, and I starting singing along.  I think there’s a law in support of that behavior!

More and more, it’s obvious to me that the biggest enemy I have in my racing is me.  I’m quick to just “settle” for a walking pace, and can be sometimes self-defeating.  These are just little mental games that I need to grow past, and more success will squeeze that out of my noggin, I’m sure.  Walks like today — tough, but successful — are foundational for putting my brain in the right place as I take on these challenges that three years ago, I would’ve never ever attempted.  This kind of mental gymnastics on the positive things I’m doing is every bit as important as any physical stretching I might do before I run.

I’ve just gotta keep that mental finish line in front of me!

This race benefitted Easter Seals.

Race Course

Race #53 – Take Your Kicks to Route 66 5K

St. Louis — like much of the midwest — has a thing about Route 66.  The Mother Road ran right through town, and just past where I live out here in the ‘burbs.

And with that has come some historical preservation, and some growth of the road.  The Route 66 State Park, for example,  memorializes both the route of Route 66, and the town of Times Beach and its ecological disaster.  And Manchester Road, where I’ve been running a lot lately, is on the route of the old road.

When I saw this virtual medal come up through Full Medal Runs, I knew I had to get it, and I knew where I’d have to run it — right alongside Route 66!  The city of Wildwood has built the multi-use Wildwood Greenway as a connector to other trails in the area, and included a pedestrian bridge over the Manchester Road (old Route 66) to provide access between the north and south trails.  This is a paved trail, and while a little hilly, isn’t too awful.  Folks walk, run, and cycle on this trail seemingly every day.

When I first started running — three years ago — this trail was my go to place.  I knew where the 5K turnaround point was, and there’s no vehicular traffic to deal with.  It’s still the site of my PR in the 5K distance back in 2012.  (Picture a turtle being chased by a slightly faster turtle to whom he owes money.)

Thursday, at lunch, I decided to put this trail to good use, and earn this medal.  I was coming off the color run over the weekend, and a terrific interval run on the Greenway (0:30/1:30 splits), and figured it was a cooler day, and would be a great experience.  I was a little over expectant!

I got to the trail, stretched, and got moving.  And unfortunately, in the first ten minutes, I knew this wasn’t gonna be good.  The sun was much hotter feeling than I was expecting, and my shins were already starting to complain.  What I thought was gonna a be a great interval run turned into “just” a walk, with some real slow parts for me.

I don’t know if I started out too fast, didn’t stretch enough, or if the conditions were just that bad for me… regardless of the cause, the going was slow and methodical, with a mantra to “get ‘er done.”  And ultimately, I did finish — I haven’t “not” finished yet — and secured another medal (which should arrive next week!) for my medal display, and chocked up more miles for me this year.

This race benefitted the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Race Course

 

Race #48 – Road Shark Five Mile Run

Given that we all survived another Sharknado, I just had to run this virtual race!

I wanted to challenge myself, and do something a little longer than the 5K races I’ve been doing lately.  Five miles is about 8km, and is a small stepping stone to the half-marathon distance (a little over 21km) that I’ll be doing in November.

Frankly, I’d been dreading this run for a few days.  It’s summer.  This was the longest distance I’d done in almost three months.  And lastly, I was doing it on my own — no race support, other runners, etc.  All that weighed heavy on me as I thought through my route planning for this morning.

I landed on a good, extensible course, which was the path up Clayton Road.  That’s been my favorite 5K route, despite the recent runs on the Wren Trail course.  I’ve favored Wren lately because of traffic.  I love having music in my ears when I’m on course, and Clayton Road just has too much traffic on it to do that, unless you get out early in the morning.

I ate my regular raceday breakfast — toasted english muffin, with peanut butter and honey, paired with a tall glass of water —  stretched and headed out around 6am, just after sunrise.  And right from the start, this run felt different.

The weather was amazing, especially given the heat we’ve had over the last couple of weeks.  I think that was really fortunate for me, as I’ve proven many times this summer that I don’t do well in the heat.

I marched down Clayton, and things were coming easy.  Way easy.  I got to my turnaround point for a 5K, and did a little bit of a gut-check.  Did I have it in me to go beyond this point, and complete these five miles?  I felt good, so I plowed on.

When I planned my route a few days ago, I was surprised to see how far up the road my turnaround point was gonna be.  Somehow, my brain had that location figured to be a whole lot farther away from the house than I’d just seen on the map.  I just knew that couldn’t be right, and I knew I’d be watching my Garmin to make sure I knew my “real” turnaround.

I got closer to my planned turnaround point, and began to climb the last hill on the eastbound side of my route, and I was struck by just how far I’d come… both in my personal journey, as well as this run.  I would never have believed I could’ve travelled on foot so far.

I turned around — and my race planning was correct! — climbed that hill again (from the other side), and got into a great groove going down the long grade as I continued westward.  In what seemed like no time, I passed my 5K turnaround point, knowing I had just over 2km to go.  And right about then, I got a gift.

A business was watering their lawn.

I didn’t dance in the sprinklers, but I did take it in, and let it rain down on me.  Even though it wasn’t especially hot this morning, that unexpected shower felt wonderful, and was the best part of the route this morning.  I was energized by this, and continued to work toward the ranch.

It seemed like I blinked, and was home.  It seemed like the whole course went by so fast, especially the last 2km.  If I had to guess, I was enjoying the benefits of that “runner’s high” that I keep hearing about, but has never quite found me.  This wasn’t the longest run for me — that was the Hospital Hill 10K in early June — but it was by far the best run I’ve had since I began this journey three years ago, taking advantage of my second chance after cancer.

So, how’d this match up against my 10K times two months ago?  Well, it’s pretty amazing.  In June, the race was just over six miles, and I covered it at a pace of 17:54min/mi.  This morning, I did just over five files, and covered it at 16:35min/mi.  I shaved 1:20min/mi off my time in June!  And frankly, this morning, I really believe I could’ve done 10km easily.  Things were going just that well.

After a couple of weeks of pretty challenging running, it was awesome to have a really, really good run!

Race Course

Race #47 – Guts to Glory 5K

Yet another virtual race… shocker, eh?  🙂

(And yeah, the header image isn’t from this race, but it’s the only image I could think of that had a “gut” in it!)

Yesterday was hot.  There’s no other way to describe it.  Ninety degrees in the shade, and there wasn’t a lot of shade.  However, Da Lou had a “cold” front come through overnight, so the humidity was much less, which  was nice.

I was surprised at the number of folks out on the trail.  I guess the brutal heat of the last week had kept the casual runners and walkers (like me!) indoors.  With the ten degree drop in temperatures since Wednesday and much lower humidity, folks just had to break out, I suppose.  Kinda like cabin fever, but in the summertime.

For me, the heat was exhausting, but it always is.  Despite being a native Floridian, I’m just not a hot-weather kid.  I found myself drinking more water on the course — which is the right answer! — and was pretty dang spent by the time I got home.  There’s a good reason so many races are started in the morning, especially this time of year!

This race benefitted the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

Race Course

Race #46 – Remember the Fallen 5K

Anyone who’s read my ramblings about running knows that I love to be out in the rain.

I’d missed this virtual race around Memorial Day when it first came around.  The Virtual Strides folks brought it back recently, with another production run of medals.  After the events back home in Chattanooga, I knew I had to sign up, running this race for the city that helped shape me into the person I am today.

I’d targeted doing this race Saturday morning, but struggled getting myself together to do it, so I deferred to yesterday morning — one of the nice things about a virtual race.  I awoke around 5am to storms, so I didn’t exactly get an early start.  However, I did get started, and that’s a good thing!

Once again, I ran my neighborhood “three lap” course down Wren Trail.  It was raining when I started, which was nice.  And as I ran, I reflected on the last week plus in Chattanooga.  My home town has been bruised by the awful, awful tragedy perpetrated upon our military on their own soil.  My heart’s just so heavy over this.

And that’s why I ran this race… to remember the fallen in my home town.  #NoogaStrong, indeed.

This race benefitted the Special Operations Warrior Fund.

Race Course