Run It Fast®

With this post I broach a topic I’ve avoided ever since I started this blog: me.

So this is new. But it is not an enduring change. It is an exception, and I’ll soon shut up about the boring topic and return to my policy of staying quiet about the ever-indulgent “me.”

So, what brought this on? Why did I think anyone in the whole round world would want to read about what you will find below?

I had a pretty good year.

As a racer, that is. Maybe a remarkable year. My annual racing report summarizes it. I decided I’d put it up for whatever informational, instructional or inspirational value it may hold, and maybe it holds none. But if you are a racer also you may find it interesting. Or maybe not. Anyway, here it comes.

Beat it if you can.

Read the full story by Dallas Smith by clicking HERE (Race Results and State Records)

It's important to take some time for "relaxing" runs in between racing, or even as part of your training.

Racing, Racing, Racing!
It is so easy to get caught up in the world of time, racing, pace, speed, racing, mileage, racing … did I mention racing?

In all seriousness, I am guilty of being a “race addict” myself and ran well over 20 races in 2010. There is the initial goal-setting that keeps you training, the camaraderie that goes a long with training, having a common goal to share with others, keeping yourself accountable, the excitement leading up to the race with packet pick-up, pre-race night jitters and then the high of the race itself.

It can be kind of a “let down” for the race to be over, especially if it is a big one!

Just a Piece of the Running Puzzle
Everyone has their own experience in their running growth and development, and it’s important to remember that racing is just one part of the running picture. Racing puts quite a demand on one’s physical, mental and emotional energy. It can also open opportunities for injury and burn-out.

A Heavy Load
I had a heavy training and racing load in September and October 2010 (well, heavy for me but light compared to some). In September I ran my first 25k (Norris Dam Hard Trail Race) with a finish time of 2:41:39. I also ran the Blue Ridge Relay and was runner #2, with some of the hardest legs to run and the most mileage of the 208 miles. I had a few other small races  at the beginning of October that I used as training, then ran my first marathon, the Spinx RunFest Marathon, in Greenville on October 30 with a finish time of 3:32:10.

Relax and Enjoy
I also ran a half marathon three weeks after the Spinx Marathon (Secret City Half: finish time of 1:39:16) and it was during that race that I realized I needed to just take it easy. So I went “back to the basics” so to speak and decided to not worry about racing or training at least until January. I have been running, but I’ve added a lot of leisurely, relaxing runs into the mix and have, on occasion not even worn my Garmin. Crazy, I know!

Taking some time to just relax and enjoy running without the training or racing part of it has brought me back to reality in a way with regard to running. I love racing and training just as much as the next person, and can’t wait to get started again in a few weeks. But getting back to the basics and “keeping it real” is a good exercise that might remind you it’s not always about racing and training. When you get to the core of it, it’s about running.

San Diego native Josh Cox won the 2010 Las Vegas Rock N’ Roll Marathon on Sunday with a time of 2:25:06.

40-year old Dorota Gruca, today on her birthday, was the female marathon winner finishing in 2:44:38.  What a great birthday gift to herself.

The race, sponsored by Zappos, featured nearly 30,000 runners for both the full and half marathon.  Naturally, dozens of runners dressed as Elvis Presley were found throughout the course and of all speeds.

The course starts at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip and runs up the entire Vegas strip, by all of the casinos, until runners turn west around mile 9.

Scott Bauhs won the half-marathon in a time of 1:02:38.

Jen Rhines, a 3-time Olympian, was the first woman to finish the half-marathon, in a time of 1:14:56.

COMPLETE LAS VEGAS MARATHON and HALF MARATHON RESULTS

[image: yfrog]

Marathon wild child Leah Thorvilson was the female winner at the 2010 St. Jude Marathon on Sunday in Memphis with a time of 2:40:20.

Second place female went to Firaya Sultanova-Zhda 2:52:09 and third to Muliye Gurmu in 2:54:05.

Thorvilson, who is an elite female marathoner, has already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials. She holds several records including the course record at the Tupelo Marathon, a race she has won several times.

She currently resides in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The overall and male winner was Peter Kemboi of Kenya with a time of 2:26:29. In a bang, bang, bang finish Peter edged out Dereje Hailegiorgis 2:26:30 and Ronald Kurui 2:26:35.

The Half Marathon overall winner was Josh McAdams with a time of 1:08:01.  He also won the St. Jude half in 2008.

The first female to finish the Half Marathon was Rachel Best with a time of 1:28:36.

Complete St. Jude Marathon and Half Marathon Results

Money raised from the marathon benefits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.

Check Out the 2010 St. Jude Marathon Finisher’s Medal

[photo: Facebook]

Here is the 2010 St. Jude (Children’s Hospital) Memphis Marathon medal.  Some fine bling indeed and one of the larger finisher medals from the 2010 racing circuit.

[Event Website]

The Atlanta Marathon will return next year in 2011 after taking a hiatus this year due to several factors.

In 2010, the ATC made the decision to remove the Atlanta Marathon from Thanksgiving Day, where it had been a part of the Atlanta Half Marathon festivities, in order to find a date that would allow for the course time limit to be extended from five to six and a half hours.

The marathon, a favorite of many locals and veteran marathon runners, will take place on October 30, 2011.

The 2011 version will feature a new course which has some enthusiastic and others a bit disappointed.

The Atlanta Marathon and Marathon Relay will start and finish at Atlantic Station and features a new, loop course entirely within the City of Atlanta that takes participants on a tour of the city going past well-known sites and neighborhoods such as Centennial Olympic Park, Georgia Institute of Technology, CNN Center, Philips Arena, Georgia Aquarium, Turner Field, The King Center, Grant Park, Virginia-Highlands, Piedmont Park, Buckhead and along stretches of the famous Peachtree Road.  The official course for the Atlanta Marathon and Marathon Relay will be released in early 2011.

Registration until the end of 2010 is just $55 and can be done online at AtlantaTrackClub.org.  The registration fee will incrementally increase and be $125 on the day of the race.

Read More Here

Ben Schneider pulled off the Monkey-3-peat by winning the 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon for the third consecutive year with a time of 2:38:27.  Schneider holds the course record of 2:36:25, set in 2008.  He has now won the race in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

‘Marathonjunkie’ Chuck Engle came in a distant 2nd at 2:54:43 with Josh Hite on his heels, and in Engle’s dust, with a time of 2:55:40.

Engle won the 2007 Flying Monkey by setting a then record of 2:45:35.  It was the second consecutive third place finish for Hite on Sunday.

Traci Falbo was the fastest female with at time of 3:21:20.  Catie Caldwell came in a close second at 3:23:50 with Meredith Smith claiming third place honors with a time of 3:26:52.

The marathon is considered one of the toughest in the United States with over 3,500 feet of climbs.

The Flying Monkey Marathon (website) is located within Percy Warner Park in the Harpeth Hills on the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee.

2010 Flying Monkey Marathon Official Poster

Flying Monkey Marathon Photos

Read the full story

Here is a sneak peak of the 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon poster that was leaked online earlier this week.

The popular cult-like marathon takes place this Sunday, November 21st, 2010.  The up-and-down course is located in Nashville’s Harpeth Hills.

The event filled up in just 32 minutes this year and is limited to approximately 275 runners.

Many veteran Monkey runners claim the marathon is one of the 10 most difficult marathons in the United States.

Check out the Flying Monkey Marathon Website for more details.

Beth McCurdy Yelling Encouragement at Dena Farris Cyr

Some runners love having a pacer to help them reach their distance and time goals, while other runners despise or never need one.  Pacers can often be silent while running beside or in front of you. However, sometimes they can yell at you louder than a drill sergeant laying into Gomer Pyle at basic training in order to motivate you.

Here is what veteran runner Beth McCurdy had to say about pacing:

Most runners define a pacer as “an experienced runner who sets the pace in a marathon to help another runner reach their goal finish time”. If someone paces me, I prefer the laid back approach of simply running along side of me and maintaining a fairly steady pace. Volunteer pace leaders in marathons are great for this purpose.

However, sometimes a more, shall we say, aggressive approach is necessary for certain individuals-maybe even a little bit of lying. “If you don’t stay with me, YOU are NOT going to make it”. Or, “After this gravel road stretch, we are there!”

Beth can be seen in the photo above yelling ‘encouragement’ to her friend Dena Farris Cyr.  It should be noted though that Dena owns a Boot Camp Franchise called Operation Boot Camp.  So Dena likely responds very well to the way Beth is pacing her here at the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon.

Do you like having a pacer when you run?  Does a pacer help you run harder/faster or just help the time fly by?

I am exhausted and in pain now. I know running Ultra is painful, but I just tend to forget how painful the last Ultra was and still end up signing for a couple more. I can feel the twinge of soreness in my achilles tendon and I dare to break those nasty blisters. I’d decided that I would rather leave the room lights ON and go to sleep instead of making an attempt to get up and turn it off.

3:18AM, Oct 16th, I forced myself out from the bed at this God forsaken hour to hit the shower. Race starts at 5:00AM. I decided to start along with my friend Diane, two hours prior to official start time. My ambitious goal was to get the 50 miler under 10 hours and run until 7:00PM to get a 100K. Little did I knew what was in store for me for the rest of the day.

It was very cold that morning that one could see their breath. I wasn’t expecting it to get this cold. No long sleeved shirt and no gloves. About 20 runners took off, into the fog, into the darkness. Not knowing where you are running at times is a bliss. I could hardly see anything ahead of me and that included the elevation as well. The first few miles were quiet hilly until we reached Kohls from where we ran towards Percy priest dam and back to the start line. Running that long wooden bridge along Stones river has always been my favorite course. While running back towards the start I saw the runners who started at 7:00AM. There were many faces that I could recognize. Dallas Smith, Josh Hite, Mike Melton, Mike from Bartlett, John Titjen and more. By the time I got to the start line which was mile 16 now, my hands were completely frozen and I had to take Angela’s help, another awesome runner and a good friend, to even open a can of coke and the cap of the water bottle.

The sun was up by now and I headed my way towards Shelby Bottoms. The course was great and the course directions were marked pretty clear. There was NU written all along the intersections. It was a pleasant surprise when the arrow turned right detouring from the pavement to a dirt/grass trail. The grass drenched in early morning dew, with trees covering both sides of the trail, it felt like running in the wild. That’s when the unexpected happened. I landed myself in a small ditch which was camouflaged by the covering of grass and I really twisted my ankle and felt a sharp pain shoot out from my Achilles. I walked a bit and when I felt good I started running again. The grass trail was winding through all along the course until a few miles short to the Shelby Bottoms Aid station.

It wasn’t until after crossing the Pedestrian Bridge, mile 26, that my feet started hurting from the earlier ankle twist. It was getting hotter but nothing unbearable. Running along the Cheatham lake reminded me that it’s the Purity 10K course which I ran earlier this year and I ran the purity 10K just for the unlimited ice cream after you finish. I saw the turn around point for 60K and 70K and was eagerly waiting to approach the 50 Mile turn around point. Mile 31, finally I made it to the turn around. Now all the way back to the start in addition to a small loop to the finish line.

Mile 33, piercing pain hit my achilles and even running a 13 min pace was becoming impossible. I was well in time until now for a sub 10:00 and decided to take it easy and walk till the pedestrian bridge but when I reached mile 37 I lost all hopes and the goal was just to finish. A doc at the aid station looked at my leg and after examining my feet he said that my feet is swollen and it’s going to be difficult but when I insisted to continue, he decided to splint my achilles which offered very little support. It was still painful but at least helped me keep moving. Prolonged walks on the hot pavement, my Vibrams couldn’t hold it, and ended up developing blisters. At mile 40, when I reached the aid station I had nothing in my mind but to quit. Should I drop down to 40 mile and finish the race, running another 10 miles in this situation was something too daunting. While my body was waging a battle against my mind, I decided to keep moving on the course so that I will not have a choice but to continue to the finish line.

Soon I hit the grass/dirt trail. The same course which I loved running earlier that morning was looking like a crazy demon waiting to devour my leg as soon as I set my feet on it.

READ THE REST OF NARESH’S NASHVILLE ULTRA RACE REPORT HERE