Running Through Cincinnati

I have no clue why I continue to pay attention to the weather forecasters in Cincinnati.  I don’t believe that there is one who can tell me what will happen today.  I do have to pay some attention to them as I only  run outside, so I need to have some sense of what the weather will be like, but I need to pay more attention to the actual conditions.

So where did that slight rant come from?  Well, on Sunday I ran 9 miles with my second running group.  I had planned on doing only 6-8, but since the group was doing more, so did I.  I had planned on going out Monday as well, but the forecast was such that instead I planned to get some Christmas shopping done and then run Tues/Wed/Thurs instead.

Well, as it turned, the weather on Monday was cold, but otherwise fine.  I could have easily gotten a good number of miles in.  But instead, I waited until Tuesday.  Tuesday was supposed to be the day we got the first major snow fall, major for Cincinnati at least.  Instead we got less than an inch.

With snow on the ground, I set out to run 6 miles.  I love to run when it’s snowing, but the snow had finished, and this was little to no fun.  I ran on the street as much as possible as the streets were clear.  The sidewalks were another story.  So long as no one tried to clear their sidewalk, it was fine.  But when people tried to clear the sidewalk it got slightly dangerous.  As it was getting colder, the semi melted snow started to freeze again.  I am happy to report that I only hit ice two times, both downhill.

Here’s hoping for a better time today.  The weather is supposed to be in the 40’s today!

Long time and no posts, I know.  But I did want to blog about two firsts for me.

1. Reaching my first goal for the year.  You might remember that back in October I laid out a number of goals for myself for the upcoming 12 months.  The first test of these goals was the Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race.  This was the 99th running of the race (can’t wait for 100 next year), and is a 10k loop through downtown Cincinati and Northern Kentucky.  My goal for this year was a sub 42 in the 10k, which I corralled a few others into taking as their goal as well.  Long story short here is I crashed through that goal finishing in 40:18.  Now I need to try for a sub 40.
2. Exercising on vacation has never been a strong suit for me.  Most of my vacations tend to be in a city, so there is so much else to do that I tend to use walking as my exercise during this time.  But my most recent trip to St John USVI was different.  Going to a resort on a small island provides one with enough down time to get in some exercise pretty easily.  I was able to get in 47+ miles over the course of the week plus.  The down side was that most of it was inside on the treadmile.  I so hate running on those damned things.

Now I just need to keep up the blogging.  I should have more to blog about given that training for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon is starting in ernest now.

Site of the week:  Grammers Restaurant.  A Cincinnati landmark orginally opened in 1872 which has recently reopened.  There was a great launch for Christian Morlein’s Winter Beer a few weeks ago where they opened special.  They had been closed due to the freak wind storm.

It’s been a long long summer of running.  After reviewing my Garmin, I realized that between the Flying Pig and Chicago, I logged 1000+ miles running.  Just running, no other activity included there!  So with all that, you’d expect some awesome results.  Well my results were mostly awesome but not entirely.

May 2008 — Flying Pig.  The hometown favorite race.  It’s such a fun race, and I got a personal best of 3:44, taking a full 15 minutes off my previous best.  In full disclosure that is an adjusted time as the course was rerouted due to a fire which extended the route 1/4 mile.

August 2008 — Hyde Park 5.  A recent addition to the running world in Cincinnati.  It was on a Thursday evening, which was perfect for me.  I hate Saturday races since they interrupt my training runs, and Sunday races mean that I have no fun the entire weekend.  This was a PB for a 5K in 20:49.  Never in my life did I think that I’d run that fast, but now I want more!

September 2008 — State to State Half Marathon.  Never have done this race before, but I registered to force me to taper prior to Chicago.  It’s held in Oxford, OH about 1 hour from Cincinnati.  The route is basically and out and back going from Oxford to Indiana and back with two detours on the way out into sub-divisions.  I had a goal of 1:44 starting out which would mirror my Chicago pace.  As I started everyone was passing me, so stupid me, I starting going faster, knowing full well that I’d bonk.  Well the turnaround came, and I was still going strong, so I picked it up.  I finished in a 1:37 with a negative split.  My first 1/2 so it would be a PB regardless.

October 2008 — Bank of America Chicago Marathon.  Oh Chicago, my favorite city.  Well my favorite city wasn’t too kind back.  The starting temperature was 68 degrees, but I decided to stay with the 3:30 pace group.  I felt OK at the start, but looking back it wasn’t going to be my day that day.  My head hust wasn’t there.  I made it to mile 18 before losing it.  As I was taking a gel, I literally lost it.  But I came back and kept going.  Over the last 12K I lost 23 minutes.  At least the other people that I knew at the race either dropped out or were off their PB’s as well.  And then today I understand that they raised the warning level to Red somewhere along the way.  I must have been paying very little attention at that point.  But I will be back!

October 2008 — Columbus Half Marathon.  The weekend after Chicago, what am I thinking!  I put in some slow miles the week in between just to keep moving.  After two trips to Columbus that weekend (one to pickup my stuff and one for the event), I was ready to go.  My goal was a 1:35.  This would give me a new PB AND it would get me in corral B for Chicago next year.  The cool temp really helped.  I started with the 3:10 pace group and everything was going great.  My shoelace came untied at mile 2 though.  Never has happened before.  I ran off to the side, retied it and started back.  Now I have a problem with catching up too fast after a stop, but this time I took it easy and within a half mile I was back with the group.  Somewhere between miles 4 and 5, I decided that I was feeling awesome and I would pick it up.  And I kept it up.  At mile 10 or so, I realized that I was close to a sub 1:30, so I picked it up some more.  I ended up at a 1:30:11 which was great and a new PB by 7+ minutes.

Next Race: Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race

My Goals for the next 12 months:

• Actually update this blog with some regularity.
• 5K — Break 20 minutes.  This should be doable.  There are lots of 5K’s in the area and I am only 45 seconds off this time.
• 10K — Achieve a Personal Best (PB) with a sub 42.  This might be more difficult.  There are few 10K’s in the area, and my current PB is 6 minutes off that, but it’s from a few years ago and before I got serious.
• 1/2 Marathon — Sub 1:30 for a new PB.  Again this might be hard.  There are few halfs in the area and since I do the Full at the Flying Pig, that takes one away
• Marathon — Just a PB.  I don’t care if it’s one second better or 14 minutes, I just want to do better.  But a 3:20 would be nice since that will be my new qualifying time for Boston.

The Day Has Arrived!  So I wake up at 4:00 with plans to meet up with a buddy at 5:40 downtown.  I have my normal breakfast of coffee and oatmeal before getting ready.   I had put out all of my race day gear the day before, so I all needed to do was to get dressed.  This whole thing took no time at all, so I was really ready to go by 4:45.  I decided that I would leave at 5:00 to ensure that I got a space that I wanted.

Trip to the Start:  On my way down, I was passed by a fire engine, an ambulance and a police car.  They all turned onto Riverside Dr.  For those unaware of Cincinnati and the Pig Course, Riverside Dr (and Pete Rose Way) is the last 4+ miles of the course.  It got me thinking, what would happen if there was a fire on the course route.  How would they handle that?  Then I cranked up the music and drove downtown.  I got there way too early.  By the time that I got to my buddy’s building, it was only 5:20, so I had 20-25 minutes to wait outside.  Once he got there, we needed to wait a while longer while another friend of his arrived.  At 5:55, we headed down to the start.  I was an easy walk with a TON of people around once we got closer to the start.

The Start:  After making a quick bathroom break, I made it into the starting corrall.  Amazingly enough two other runners found us at the start.  Standing in the middle on the divider definitely helped with that.  And then 10 minutes before the start, it was announced that due to a fire on the course, we would be delayed 15 minutes and that there would be a well marked detour.  I guess that this is what would happen if there was a fire on the course.  After the delay, we got started.

Downtown:  I love running the bridges in Cincinnati, and there are three on the course, all right at the beginning.  Crowd support was great as we left and decent into Kentucky.  We then went into Queensgatewhich is a new part of the course.  I wasn’t thrilled with this during training, but it wasn’t bad on race day.  As soon as we go onto 7th Street, the crowd support was amazing!  I am so glad that they made this change.  Status:  Feeling awesome and running well!

Eden Park:  Now for the the fun!  After 7th Street started the hills.  I actually don’t mind these hills too much as it’s my main training ground.  The only part that wasn’t great was the long incline up to the entrance to Eden Park.  Running through Eden Park is always great since it’s a beautiful park and Elvis is always at the Krohn.  We even got to run the overlook in Eden Park which provides an awesome view of the city, if you have the time to stop and look.  Status:  Proud that the hill is behind me.

Hyde Park:  With the major hill done, we made our way into the Hyde Park “area”.  There are some rolling hills but nothing major here.  Crowd support is very good through most if it.  Got to see Brian near the HP Kroger and heard that Erin was on the phone.  Made a quick pitstop at the WalMart “oasis” (tons of restrooms there!) before making my way out again.  Status: glad that I’m still with the 3:40 group

Mariemont:  At mile 13 there is a special treat, a nice long down hill.  Yeah!  And then we start the joruney to Mariemont.  This is where I started to lose it last year, so I am a little nervous.  I make it to Mariemont without any issues and start the turn to head back to the city.  After a quick stop for water that lasted longer that it should have, I make it to the Murray Rd bike trail and out of Mariemont.  Status:  Happy and running great

Columbia Parkway:  I hate this part.  it’s a mile stretch of highway with little support and totally exposed to the sun.  I have never finished this part strong.  The Clif Shot people are there, so I grab an extra (Mango, yuck, I should have taken Raspberry).  The Jimmy Buffet entertainment helps some, but I am focused on the ramp to get my ass off this highway and getting there as soon as possible.  And then there it is and I finally conquered Columbia Parkway.  Status:  Proud again but bored.

Last 6 miles:  So I feel great and now I’ve finally made it past Columbia Parkway.  And for all that I’m bored.  I really want to go home at this point.  I start walking some, doing some run walking.  I just can’t get it in my head to run too far.  But it’s only  a 10K at this point.  At Delta and Riverside, I see Brian and Erin while the 3:40 pace group goes by.  I talk with them for a little while and drop off my iPod.  As I turn the corner, I find the detour.  We go down a side street and find a bike trail that I never knew existed.  We them make it back to Riverside Drive.  Still walking and running.  People are cheering me on which is nice but not doing much for me since it’s all in my mind here.  I finish strong with an 8:59 last mile seeing Brian and Erin at the finish as I finish in 3:47 (my PR).  Status Happy.  I might cry.

After:  Walk through the finish area picking up my “cape”, giving back my chip and getting my medal.  I grab some water and walk out looking for Brian and Erin.  No way that I can find them, I go to the Meters and Miles tent for a beer.  Brian and Erin make it down to me for congrats.  I spend an hour at the finish cheering people on and then make it back home for lunch and a nap, dreaming about Chicago and .next year

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