2014 Virginia 10 Miler

The Training:

This was supposed to be the year that I set a new PR for the Virginia 10 Miler. This would be the third time that I ran this race and since last year was the “appendicitis” year, this year’s race would be my first attempt to beat my original time. But life tends to get in the way of my training these days. I spent too many of those Saturday mornings drinking coffee and watching cartoons with the boys, instead of getting long runs logged (I really don’t regret spending my Saturday mornings with the boys).

I only logged two runs greater than 6 miles in the month leading up to the 10 miler. So I wasn’t too prepared to beat the 1:26:12 time I had run in my first 10 miler in 2012. So this year’s goal was to run comfortably and finish the race in the least amount of pain. To accomplish this goal I had a three step plan.

The Plan:

First, I would run the first mile as slow as possible. One thing I have learned from running races that 10 miles or greater is that starting too fast can come back to bite you, later in the race. Starting too fast is very easy to do on race day, when the excitement, adrenaline, and fresh legs can override your brain. The 10 miler course can also add to this struggle. The first 1 ½ miles of the course is downhill. Combining this downhill section with the early race energy, can create a scenario that you can pay for later in the race.

The second step of my plan was to make it to the halfway point by running a pace that was one tick above a comfortable pace. Once I got the first slower mile in, I had planned to pick up my pace just slightly. I would continue that pace until I got to the 5 mile turnaround in Riverside Park. At that point, depending on my physical state, I would decide the final step of my race plan.

If I made it to the 5 mile turnaround and my body felt good, then I would push myself harder during the second half of the race. On the other hand if I made it to this point in the race and felt horrible, then I would limp back to the finish line at any rate necessary to complete the race.

The Race:

Getting our two boys up and out the door is always a challenge. So that task is always the first goal of race day. Thanks to my wonderful wife for helping them, while I eat and triple check my gear and packed bag. We did very well this year and I got to the race with enough time to drop by bag off at my company’s tent and use the porta-john. I threw a Gu gel in my pockets and I was off to the starting line. Just like previous years, I couldn’t actually get onto the road until after the race started and the crowd at the starting line thinned out some. Once I was able to get on the course and through the starting line, the race was on!

The start of the 10 miler is very crowded, so it helps me slow down and not start with such a fast pace. I took the time to look around and enjoy the people cheering on the sidewalks and the overall excitement that all the runners were showing during this period of the race. It wasn’t long before I spotted someone I knew, Charlie Coleman. I was able to run the first mile or so with Charlie. This allowed me to ignore my pace and run comfortably for the first segment of the race.

By the time I got to the Farm Basket at the bottom of the first long decline, I was feeling pretty good. I knew the next few miles were going to be rolling hills. This challenging section of the race would lead us up to Rivermont Avenue and can really tire the legs. I just tried to keep a steady pace through this section and not over work my legs too much. I still had my plan of making it to the halfway point as comfortable as possible.

Before I knew it, we were making the turn onto Rivermont and running by the Randolph campus. The course is pretty flat during this section of the race. I knew I had about a mile until the turn around in Riverside Park. After being a little jealous of all the 4 milers who were splitting off for their finish at Randolph, I concentrated on keeping a steady pace until the turnaround.

At the five mile mark, I took a look at my time and saw that I covered the first half of the race in 44 minutes. After doing some quick math in my head, I realized that I could finish with a time very close to my previous two 10 miler races. I had finished both the previous 10 miler races with a time of 1:26, just seconds different. As planned, I was going to pick up the pace on the second half.

I decided to take my Gu gel at this point in the race, so that I may help give me some energy for the last mile up Langhorne. As I made my way back down Rivermont and back on the rolling hills of Langhorne Road, I tried to pick up my pace and run a little out of my comfort zone. As I made it back to the Farm Basket, I was hoping that I had left enough in the tank to make it up the last hill. This was the worst part of the race course. The last hill up Langhorne that stretched over a mile was very challenging on tired legs. I attacked the hill with everything I had left. By the time the finish line was in sight, my legs were dead. It took everything I had to make it to the finish line.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 1:26:58. It was the third straight year that I had finished with a 1:26 time! I was about 48 seconds slower than last year, but without setting out to set a PR for this race, I can awful close. Without putting in the training that I really should have, I was able to run a time that was very consistent with my previous attempts. That gave me a really good feeling about the next time I run the 10 miler!

I quickly found Anna and the boys, as well as some other friends and family at the finish line. As always, it was great to see my family at end of a race. We enjoyed some food and festivities before heading back to Bedford for some Centerfest fun (followed by a nap with the boys)!  

2013 Virginia 10 Miler – To Pee or Not To Pee?

I had been looking forward to September 28 for quite some time. Not only would it be my second ever running of the Virginia 10 Miler, it was my target race for my post-surgery training. I had spent the past two month building up my weekly running totals, as well as my running distances in order to be able to finish this tough and hilly course.

I found out a couple weeks before the race, that I would be without my favorite cheerleader. Anna was going to Baltimore with a friend to see the Orioles play the Red Sox. I was glad she was getting to have a girls’ weekend. As much time and energy she spends taking care of her three boys, she was well deserving of a weekend retreat. Her absence was going to throw some few logistical issues in the race weekend though.

With Anna leaving town Friday afternoon, I was going to have to keep the boys by myself for the first time over night. Since I had needed to leave the house before 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, I recruited some help. Grandma and Papa were eager to lend a helping hand. My Mom and Dad came up to the house Friday afternoon and watched the boys until I got home from work. After eating dinner and taking part in our normal weekend “Movie Night”, I laid down with the boys.

The morning came around very quickly and it was a good thing I had my parents over. I sleep very soundly and Anna is usually my alarm clock. Since I had to rely on an actual electronic device, I decided to set my phone as well as the normal bedside clock. My phone’s alarm when off around 5:50 a.m. and it woke my parents up a few doors down the hallway before I ever heard it. I am sure I would have heard the second alarm because it was set much louder (at least I hope I would have). My Dad woke me up after my phone had been going off for a few minutes.

The original plan was that I would leave early and my parents would bring the boys to Lynchburg a couple hours later. I gave them the option of just staying at home and playing with Grandma and Papa, but Eli really wanted to come to the race. I know how difficult it is to get the boys up, fed, and out the door. I felt bad about putting that burden on my parents. So we ended up waking the boys up just after 6 a.m. and in the car. We had to drive separate cars because we could fit in one. So they were going to McDonald’s to eat breakfast and I was off to the starting line.

I thought I had left with plenty of time to spare, but I didn’t account for some traffic in Lynchburg. Traffic stopped dead on Lakeside Drive, well before Lynchburg College. I had planned to park at the Plaza, so I had about another mile to go. By the time I got to the Plaza and found a parking place, I had about 15 minutes before the start of the race. I decided that I would warm up by running from the car to the porta-john farm near E.C. Glass. I always like emptying the tank before I run. I found myself about 30 people deep in a line for a stinky portable toilet. After waiting in line for about 10 minutes, I was half way to the front of the line when they started making the countdown to start the race. I had to make the executive decision to postpone my prerace ritual.

I knew there were going to be a lot of porta-johns along the race path and I really didn’t need to go that bad. So, I was able to make it to the starting area just as the gun went off. Since there were several thousand runners and walkers at the event, it took me around 3 minutes to make it to the actual starting line. With no time to wait around for the race and get nervous, I was off. My prerace plan was to take the first few miles very easy. I was going to run at a very comfortable pace and not pay any attention to my watch. Having the weave around slower runners for the first couple miles, I really didn’t have a lot of time to look at my watch anyway. I made myself take the time to look around at the scenery. It is not every day that you get to run straight down Linkhorne with no traffic.

With all the adrenaline flowing early in the race and with the first two miles being downhill, it is very easy to start this race too fast. I made myself look around at the scenery and take the in the sights, as an attempt to slow myself down some too. It is not every day that you get to run straight down Linkhorne without the threat of being hit by a car. It was during this portion of the race that I saw several friends and a cousin too (great job Jennifer!).

After the two mile downhill portion of the race, we had made it to the rolling hill section of the course. This is the 1.5 mile section that goes “up” and “down” on its way from the Farm Basket to Rivermont Avenue. I think this is one of the more difficult sections of the race. The constant changing of elevation can really do a number on your legs. I have been doing a lot of training on hilly Lynchburg streets in 2013 and I really think it has paid off. This section ended up not being as bad as I had remembered from last year. By the time I made it to top of the last hill approaching Rivermont, I could feel my legs tightening, but I still had a lot of energy.

 

The 1.5 miles up to the turnaround in Riverside Park was not too bad. There is a slight uphill climb, but the elevation gain is very gradual and not too noticeable. It was also during this section of the course that I started seeing all the leaders heading back to the start line. It is amazing seeing how fast those men and women are. They are definitely blessed with running great running ability.

It was also this section of the race were you really start to realize how many race “cheerleaders” there are at the 10 Miler. There were tons of volunteers stretching the entire race path and each one did a great job of cheering the runners on as they passed. I believe a lot of them were college students and I greatly appreciated them getting up early on a Saturday morning to give us some extra boost. I am sad to say that I don’t think the college aged Ryan would have been getting up at 7am to cheer a bunch of running strangers.

Once I had made it to the Riverside Park turnaround, I felt great. My pace had steadily improved over the first half of the race and it was then that I realized that I could still finish with a pretty decent time. I couldn’t remember my exact finishing time from 2012, but I thought it was somewhere in the 1:26 range. Doing some quick math in my head, if I pushed it harder in the second half of the race I could possibly beat that time.

After 50 minutes into the race with about 4 miles to go, I grabbed my Gu gel packet out of my pocket and began to slowly consume some extra calories. I have found in the past that any runs under 50 minutes; I don’t usually need any other than water. But anything over 50 minutes, my body reacted better to getting a shot of gel. It was about this time in the race that I started contemplating about using a porta-john. I decided to wait as long as possible and hopefully wait until after I ate my gel packet (they upset my stomach sometimes). I decided that I would just keeping running until I really, really, really needed to go.

During the return section of the rolling hills, I was still feeling pretty strong. But in the back of my mind, I was still second guessing my current pace. I was definitely running faster than I had the entire race and I knew the last 2 miles were going to be that awful hill climb back to E.C. Glass. Those thought consumed my mind during this section of the race. By the time I got to the base of the hill, just by the Farm Basket store, my legs still felt pretty strong. I tried to attack the hill with everything I had left. After about ¾ of a mile, the hill starts to decline in slope some. But by that time, my legs were pretty tired. I found a comfortable pace and tried to think happy thoughts for the last mile.

As I got close to the finish line, I could see my time was close to 1:29. So subtracting 3 minutes for my chip time, I knew I was going to be close to last year’s time. I crossed the line at 1:26:18. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I spotted my Mom and Dad with Eli and Coy. It was great to see them. I felt great for just finishing the race and I immediately knew I could have done better. But that was not my goal for today. This was a race that I had picked out two months before, when I had to start running all over again. My thoughts drifted back to those early days of July. I was struggling to simply walk laps around the backyard without getting dizzy. My body had done its job healing my wounds and I put in the time training for this race.

This feeling of satisfaction is the reason I love to run in races. I love setting a goal and working towards that goal. It is really good for my self-esteem to be able to accomplish goals. My parents, the boys, and I hung around the post-race area for a while after the race. We got some food to eat and relaxed for a little while. I was able to catch up with a few friends afterwards too. I was nice seeing Jennifer, Catherine, Missy, Samantha, Coach Cutler, Kevin, Travis, Holly, Shannon, and Mary Carter. I hope I didn’t forget anyone.

After a quick visit to Bedford’s Centerfest and eating a yummy jiro, I was able to go home and look up my previous year’s time. I found that I had actually run 13 second slower than last year. I was pretty happy to finish so close without really trying this year. I felt much stronger during and after the race this year. I know, God willing, I will really be able to push for a PR next year. I was really pleased when I looked at my splits from this year’s race. My slowest 3 miles were miles 1, 2, and 3. My fastest 2 miles were miles 8 and 9. I had finally stuck to a race strategy and it had actually paid off.

  My 2012 Splits

(ignore my final time, I forgot to stop my watch)

 

My 2013 Splits

 

Since I felt so good running this difficult 10 mile course, I think I am going to try and get a half marathon in before the end of the year. I can just keep on training until then, so that I don’t lose my current level of endurance. Other than that, I am just planning to run in a few 5k races to close out an interesting 2013. I am sorry it took so long to post my race recap, but sometimes I get too busy living life (and watching Breaking Bad on Netflix!).

Training and 10 Miler Prerace Thoughts

So, it has been almost three months since my appendectomy and about two months since I started running again. I have pretty much stuck to my initial plan for getting from the couch to the 10 Miler. Each week I have been stepping up my weekly mileage, as well as increasing the length of my weekly long run. The only planned run I missed was when we had a surprise trip to Blacksburg to watch a Tech game. I didn’t get my long run in that week and it caused my weekly total to dip for that week (week 36 in the graph below).

Weekly Running Totals (weeks 26-38 of 2013)

Overall, I am very pleased with my progress. I have not tried to push my pace too much during these runs though. I was more concerned with getting miles in and now on my tempo. So going into the Virginia 10 Miler this weekend, I am going to run comfortably. I am not going to try and beat my last years’ time of 1:26:05. I would like to finish in less than 2 hours. But other than that, my main goal is to finish!

If you are not familiar with the route of the 10 Miler, the first 1 ½ miles is downhill. It is very easy to overdo it early. Since last year was my first time running this race, I made this mistake of starting to fast. I am going to try very hard to start slowly. I am going to use my watch to make myself slow down for the first few miles, when my adrenaline is making me run faster than I know I should. Hopefully, by setting a slow pace early, I will have much more fuel in the tank at the end. I really would like to attack the last 1 ½ mile hill to the finish.

No matter my finishing time on Saturday, I am very happy with my current running ability. It is hard to believe that just a few months ago; Anna had to help me out of bed in order for me to go to the bathroom. I remember taking those short walks down the hospital hallway, pulling my I.V. cart along beside me. These walks, just days after my surgery, would leave me lightheaded and completely drained. So when I cross that finish line on Saturday, I am not going to be concerned about my time. I am going to smile and thank God that he has blessed me with a healthy body again.

Couch to 10 Miler Plan

Due to my surgery at the end of June, I went 28 straight days without running. This doesn’t include the week leading up to my surgery that I didn’t run my normal schedule. When I started back on July 24^th, I walk/ran 1.5 miles. At this point, I decided that I needed to come up with a strategy to get back to where I was before my appendicitis. My company is a sponsor of the Virginia 10 Miler, which takes place in Lynchburg. I ran in the race last year and really enjoyed the experience. My company pays the majority of the entry fee for its employees, so it made a good target race for several reasons.

I knew I was going to have to be dedicated, in order to be ready to run a 10 mile race at the end of September. I sat down and planned out all my runs for the 9 weeks leading up to the race. To limit my soreness and to reduce injury, I concentrated on three areas; distance of each run, distance of longest run for each week, the weekly distance total. I wanted to be sure to slow step up each of these categories as the weeks progressed, but not a rate that could cause me a setback.

I am a dork and I like spreadsheets. So, of course I had to make one for my 9 week running plan. Here my final plan. All numbers (minus the percentage) are mileage totals for each day, as well as weekly total mileage. I used the weekly total distance % change  to help verify I wasn’t upping my total mileage too much.

Here is my actual mileage chart so far. Since I have been feeling good during most of my runs, I let myself add a little more distance with each run. But I limit it to only a ½ mile extra.