Runaway Groomsman (Crim #5 [4th 10-miler])

Things have been nuts around here lately.  A lot of it's just general life stresses, including the up-in-the-air job thing right now.  When I'm stressed, I tend to run more.  That's good in at least one way, because I have a marathon coming up.  The major bad thing about that, though, is I've had mild ulcer problems before.  I'm hoping they're not coming back, but when your gut burns from drinking water too fast, you kind of have to accept that they might be.

It didn't really help things when, as my wife and I were getting ready for work Thursday morning, our Corgi, Renfield, went into a seizure.  A half-dressed morning trip to the vet for me, and a half day of work missed, and we're not sure what caused it.  It could have been something he ate.  He could have eaten breakfast too fast and that could have caused it, or he's at the age where, if he's going to have them regularly, it will start.  So, a couple doggie pills and a bill later, we're just watching and waiting for if or when it's going to happen again.  Depending on how things pan out, we'll take the necessary action/inaction.

He's okay now

Friday was the rehearsal for my friend's wedding.  The rehearsal went smooth, and we all met up for dinner at Wolverine Brewery in A2.  The groom and bride's family made the food, and rented a room there, while we had a few drinks and watched the Tigers game.  We all got our bridesmaid and groomsmans' gifts.  I have no idea what the ladies got, but the men all got some sweet comic-inspired cuff-links.  I got Iron Man, and the others got Hulk, Captain America, Spiderman, and Superman (one lonely D.C. guy).  Even the ushers got some really good, rare bomber bottles of beer.

I know I never set up the drama of Saturday, but I was running the Crim, knowing that I had to co-best man a wedding at 12-noon that same day in Ann Arbor.  For the record, the Crim starts at 8am.  To run 10 miles, get out of the crowd, get home, and drive to a church over an hour away in the span of 4 hours is a pretty daunting task.  That's not even mentioning the fact that I really was supposed to be there at 11am (an hour early).  

The morning of the Crim hits, and I have this ominous feeling that I shouldn't be running.  I considered dropping it right then and there and just heading to the wedding.  J showed up, and gave me a little pep talk, and suddenly I was ready.  I didn't know how I was going to do it, because my practice times have sucked lately, but I was going to go out there, run my best Crim ever, and get home in time.  I was going to do it for my friend and his wife-to-be.  I wouldn't let myself down by missing the race, and I wouldn't let them down either.  I was going for the two win day.  Besides, this was the friend that tried to talk me into doing the Mackinac Bridge Run on my wedding day (though I chose otherwise).

J and I walked down to the race, got into the corral, and the race started five minutes late (five minutes that I felt I desperately needed).  Group A and B went before us, and then we were off.  The first two miles were changed slightly from the year before, and, to be honest, I missed the spot on Saginaw St. where the big crowd used to cheer us on.  I get why it was changed, though, and I think that same crowd will eventually set up shop on the UM-Flint campus.  It will be an improvement eventually.

One thing's for sure, I went out way too fast at the start.  My first mile was an 8:33.  That is not exactly setting up shop for the long term.  I had to cool it down a bit, and even then #2 was an 8:39.  From there I just kind of did what I could.  I figured whatever I could squeeze out of me, I was banking some good time to make it to the wedding on time.  I kept thinking that I was doing it for the bride and groom.  I was going to push as much as I could, and just ignore how much it hurt.

Crim Stats

That's exactly what I did.  I even strained harder during the second half, to the point where my split at the first half was not much faster than my split time for the second.  Everyone around me seemed to be able to tell how hard I was pushing too.  I had a lot of moral support out there.  Even some cool high school dudes were trying to get me to stay with them and keep up.  That's also exactly what I did.
 

I crossed the finish with an official time of 1:31:19 for the ten mile race.  That's a 9:08 per mile, a course record, a PR for 10 miles, and pretty much a race of general ass-whipping by yours truly.  I took 16 seconds per mile off my personal best, which was two years ago, and I haven't even been working that hard.  Just like Allen Iverson, I only seem to show up on gameday (practice?), and that's 5 course PRs in a row for my last five races.

Crim Route

I rushed through the finish, grabbed my medal, cut through some people to grab a water bottle, and made my way through the crowd to open space.  I immediately began running side-by-side with the 5K runners to get back to my house as fast a I could.  I'm sure people were wondering what the hell I was doing.  I cut through Mott and got home at 9:53.  J beat me home by just about a minute, as he also ran one hell of a race.  We were showered and suited/tuxed up by 10:05.  My wife couldn't believe that we made it back before she even left, and we all rode down there together (saving a half tank of gas, woohoo!)

I made it to the church at 11:08, and I was the first groomsman there.  Great success!  I also chose to wear my Iron Man cuff links, which I thought was a rebellious move, but apparently so did ever single other guy.  Even the groom went with his X-men ones.  

The ceremony was beautiful.  The priest even read a few passages from what they wrote about how they first met.  That was adorable.  We all were able to walk up and down the aisle with our bridal party partners without falling.  I was present to hand off a ring.  All was well.

After my co-best manning duties, it was time to jump back into husband duties.  I was back to carrying around the camera bag as my wife did the photo-taking for the wedding (at least when I wasn't in the pictures).  We stopped at Ashley's pub with the bride and groom for a pint or two and some food.  Then we went cruising around Ann Arbor taking photographs, me still carrying a camera bag and also, now, the bride's veil.  I'm one heck of an assistant.

Photo someone took of the wedding party that I borrowed from the facebooks.

After that, we went early to the reception hall to make sure everything was going well before the guests arrived.  A trip to Meijer and a few trips to the gas station for ice, and everything was perfect.  We had a nice dinner, and as soon as the real music started, having a couple Yuenglings in us, there was a party on our hands.  There was also a plastic goose that spent half the night on the dance floor and may have made more photo appearances than even the bride and groom.  There may also be a few photos of me holding a goose going "Gangnam Style" (no maybes about it, they exist, see one below).

Goosenam Style

It was the perfect day for the perfect couple, and we all had a great time celebrating their union.  Not only that, but all the friends and families were really good to each other.  They just have so many good people in their lives, and I'm glad we could all get together for them, and get to know each other over this past weekend.  I even ran into the groom's brother Sunday.  We were both returning our tuxes at the same time, and I popped into the mall bar for a few pints with him and his uncle, and talked about how wonderful the wedding was.

Happy Couple




This year's Crim shirt and my four medals.

2013 Medal

...And The Legend Makes Three

Once again I made my annual trip to Laingsburg to run The Legend Half Marathon.  The general history of this race and I is that it kicks my ass, and my time is usually a huge disappointment.  With my year not exactly going so well for me, and just my general lack of enthusiasm, I wasn't really expecting much from this race, other than finishing.  The Trail Half a few month ago was a 2:43, and I've been running very sporadically due to nagging injuries.

I got down to Sleepy Hollow State Park about an hour early.  This race usually doesn't require you to get there too early, unless if you want to hit the restrooms before the race, that's a different story. No J with me this year, but I did run into another friend.  So I wasn't just sitting around by myself before the race people watching.

We got split up just before the race started, so I just jumped into the corral a couple minutes before.  As with every race, people seem to just start of way too quick, but I figured I'd just go with the flow this time and stay with them.  Early on, I latched on to a guy/girl running couple that was keeping a really nice flow, and a little pack formed around us.

Somewhere between miles 3 and 4, nearly everyone in that group was stung by a hive of disgruntled bees or wasps.  I'm not sure which it was, or where they were coming from, but there were about 5 or 6 people immediately around me that were stung.  I also think that, unfortunately, one of them was allergic, because she swore pretty distinctly, pulled off to the side and looked like she was searching for something quickly in her belt bag (epipen?).  I'm sure that's one of the worst times to get stung too, when your heart is pumping hard and circulating everything faster.  I got a good sting on my right leg that actually bothered me pretty good for a few miles with a strong burning sensation, but it eventually lightened up.  I never really stopped to look at it or pull out the stinger, though.  I just kept running, hoping it wouldn't affect me too much.

About mile 9, I went past my pace couple, who stopped and pulled off for some reason.  So after that I was on my own for a while.  There were other runners around, but at this point in the race they just weren't going steady enough for me and were alternating fast and slow too much.  My mile pace finally started drop off a bit, but, barring a full-on bonk, I was actually in good shape to have my best trail half/Legend course time.  With my lack of training, I felt the bonk was coming, though, so I was just trying to save as much time as I could before it hit.

Luckily it never really did.  Sure, the last few miles of this race are really hilly, and my per mile times dropped a lot, but it was not like the last two years where I just felt I was dying.  There was no drop to a snail's crawl.  I just kept fairly steady at a fairly normal run pace.  I even kind of welcomed the sunny spots at the end and they seemed to do more to energize me than wipe me out.  I just hit the last few mile markers of 10, 11, 12, waiting to die off, and it just never happened.

I pulled on up to mile 13 and booked on through the finish, giving whatever I had left, crossing with the Garmin telling me about 2:21-something.  I grabbed my Legend medal and was handed my pint glass and medal for running all three of the Serious Series (indicated by the pink dot on my bib).

Mug, Legend Medal, Series Medal

I stopped at the curb just after, and pulled out the stinger from my legs with my nails (shocked it was actually still there and didn't pop out at some point on the trail).  Then I met up with my friend and sat down for a bit.  Eventually he had to take off, and I did my usual trip down to the beach to jump in the water, cool off, and rinse off all the sweat.  I think every summer race should end at a lake.  That's one of my favorite parts of this one.

Just PRed for a Trail Half.  I should look happier

After that, I swapped out for some clean clothes, and stopped at the Stone Grill Pizzeria in Laingsburg, where I completely undid all my calorie burning with their "mac & cheese pizza," which was awesome.  One day, I'll have to have a regular pizza there, not just penne with cheese on bread, because the crust was just perfect.  This time though, I had to go with something weird and off the reservation, because that's what I like to do at new places.

Mac & Cheese Pizza.  Yum.

Now Entering the Non-Running Portion

Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been on much and haven't written. A lot's been going on. I did over 100 hours of bus riding back and forth to Las Vegas to be in my best friend's wedding and make a speech for that. I didn't really think I'd like Vegas much (I don't gamble and I'm not usually allured by flashy towns), but I actually had a really good time, without dropping a lot of money. I got to spend some time up at the old strip and the new strip. I drank several weird, new beers. I had my very first In & Out Burger. I got to see a Queen LED light show. Saw a few hours of the World Series of Poker live at The Rio. That, plus seeing my friend, his new wife, his parents, and his friends (some I've met, some not) was all worth it. Even the hotel stay was nice, for the very very few hours I was there and actually sleeping.

Hello Cowboy

Me by New York, New York.  The only photo proof I was in Vegas
until the wedding pictures show up.

Delicious

Getting there and back was a bit more dodgy, though.  There was a bus driver that abandoned us on the way there.  I had a guy on my bus that said he was the second person to invent electricity and that the government had stolen his two Nobel Prizes.  This man was also at one point shirtless and eating barbecue ribs on the bus, making a mess of everything.  That same man actually was on the same bus as me when I headed back home a few days later, too, but he seemed more level.  Maybe he went to the City of Lights for a medication adjustment.

Anyway, the way back was a nightmare.  Our first bus broke down at the station.  I missed my first connection in Denver, and that cost me 5 hours, and rerouted me to Indianapolis.  I was supposed to catch a bus home from there that I missed by 30 minutes, due to our driver taking his sweet ass time, taking all breaks and not even bothering to try to make up some time.  So when I was told I would have to ride back to Chicago and get home 10 hours later than I was initially supposed to, I had a tantrum in the station that I honestly am surprised didn't get me detained.

Usually, in a travel situation, if you are a person threatening lives, throwing baggage around, calling the city/state you're in at the time a "sh*thole/Northern Mississippi/A place that should be completely dug out, filled with water, and made into another Great Lake, punching signs and knocking them over, and screaming obscenities to where the entire station can hear and is looking at you, well.....you usually don't get too far.  In this case though, I just got back on a bus for Chicago, not much more than an hour later.  When all was said and done, I was home 12 hours later than planned, at 1:30am.  Then I had my wife take me to Taco Bell, and some idiot chick in the line ahead of us, who apparently didn't get her cinnamon sticks, tried to back right back up to the window without looking and hit my wife's car.  Luckily it did no damage, but I was in a mood and got a lot of nice choice words in.

Last weekend we did our annual canoe trip.  This year we did it without canoes, though.  Everyone else wanted to try tubing, and I just kind of went along with it.  We had a nice Friday night by the campfire talking, eating food, and having a few beers just before the rain hit.  My brother-in-law talked me into shotgunning two of them, and with my 5am wake-up that morning, I didn't last much past dark, retiring about 9pm.  We chose the 3 hour tube trip at 10am, and that was a wise choice.  We got rained on a little bit, but we still were able to float down and get a good chunk of sunshine, and the 10am start was late enough for us to grab breakfast at a little diner in town.  As soon as we got back from tubing, though, a really heavy, relentless rain hit, and we all said, "screw it" and picked up the entire camp in 20 minutes and went home.  It's no fun being in tents when it's pouring, and we already had one night of rain.  It was a good decision.  The rain up there never stopped, and as we were heading home, it was dumping buckets down, enough that it was actually really tough to drive in.

Vacation Hats in the On Position

Vacation Hat Couple

I think I've chosen a signature pose

Relax

Tubing is Alright

Cheaters Never Win. (A Volksläufe Story)

Have you ever had one of those situations where you see a hole in a system, and you think you can exploit it for some reward?  Whether the reward is monetary, a savings of time, or just getting a leg up on the competition, you've found a shortcut to promise.

The only problem with this is, sometimes it completely backfires, in your face...hard.  This is one of those stories.  A story of a man that desperately wanted to take an illegitimate shortcut to a prize.  A man forsaking his people and trying to mix in with "the others."  I may not be proud of it, or the outcome, but this is my story, and I can't guarantee that I won't do it again...

Volksläufe 2013

For the first time, possibly ever, I did everything right the night before.  I ate a slightly carby meal.  I had no alcohol or caffeine.  I hydrated the entire day.  I even went to bed early enough to get a good night's sleep.

At 2:30am I woke up, and I could barely walk.  My knee was all locked up, and felt bad enough that I figured when I woke up to get ready for the race, I would be a DNS for the day.  Then, when I woke up at 5:30am, it wasn't even 1/4th of the pain.  So I got ready to go, and I dumped my traditional Detroit Tigers stars and stripes cotton shirt for the wicking Volkläufe shirt of 2 years ago.  I didn't really care if I was being "that guy" or not, it was the only light-colored shirt of its kind that was clean, and this race is always a scorcher.

They have eggs now too?  Next year we're running on a  makeshift McGriddle!

J came by, and we left for the race.  We picked up packets, and after a bit of milling around, discussion of strategy (camelpack yes/no, alternate running speeds to give breaks yes/no, etc.) went to get our traditional pre-Volksläufe pancakes from the Lions club.  Basically, in our opinion, your race doesn't count if you don't eat the pancakes.  Automatic DQ (and not the good one).

Mmmmm, and you'll taste them again at mile 7!

We made our way down to the corral, listened to both the Canadian and American national anthems, and watched the 10Kers take off.  We met up with another one of our running dudes we went to school with, and started talking about what we had to do.  We figured, to pull of the scheme we were planning, we had to come in at 2 hours flat for the 20K.  Any more than that, and the plan falls apart.

Now, mind you, there was no real reason to believe we could even pull that off.  Our best time there was 2:07/2:08 and that was two years ago.  Last year, we were 2:13/2:12.  The idea that we could go out there and maintain a 9:39 average pace over 12.4 miles was a ridiculous notion.  We haven't put in the training, and even at half the distance we were putting up 10:00-10:30ish pace.  J believed, but I had no faith.  I didn't even know why we were doing this.

After the bugle call to post, the gun went off, and it was on.  I knew I was going faster than I could maintain right off the bat, but I couldn't see the time of first mile being over 10 minutes on my watch.  If I had to give up later, okay, but I couldn't start out right in a hole.  It would have been too demoralizing.  Garmin's mile 1 beep...9:22.

I hit a good stride on mile 2, but again, knew it was too fast.  Garmin beeped...9:09.  Now it was a race to bank against the tank.  I knew I couldn't help things going sour at some point, but I had to do what I could to make it close and push as hard as I could to get close to the 2 hour mark.  I was willing to try hard enough to fail.

Mile 3...9:33
Mile 4...9:49 (bank over?)
Mile 5...9:37 (bank reopens)
Mile 6...9:37 ("I can just maintain this. It'll be alright")
Mile 7...9:41 ("Uh-oh getting tired")
Mile 8...10:08 ("I'm losing it, Pauly...")
Mile 9...10:26 ("Is this as fast as my legs are moving now?  Really?")
Mile 10...10:40 ("Man, I might even have to walk...")
Mile 11...10:57 ("Hills...ugh...nobody told me there would be hills."  "You've done this race before, you know about these."  "Shut up...me." "Hey!  There's Sparty.  Go high five him."  "Okay" "That guy yelled 'Go Green,' you know what to do" "Go White!")
Mile 12...10:45 ("Damnit, there are 5Kers coming at me.  I'm over 2:00 for sure")
Finish...("Water....water...")

So the 20K was over.  I knew J finished ahead of me.  I rushed up the hill to see if the plan was foiled yet, not knowing for certain.

So now we're to the big reveal...of our diabolical plan...

The successful criminal brain is always superior. It has to be!

After looking at race results from last year, J and I realized there was an opening for us to get an award at Volksläufe.  Our age groups, in the 5K walk category have very few participants.  This is because, if you're in your 30s, and not walking with your wife, you're probably not going to be there.  Last year, in my age group, there were only 3 men, meaning, if you showed up, you got an award.

Who wouldn't want this?

On the line is an authentic German beer stein. So, given our love of beer, J and I signed up for the 5K walk, hoping to be ringers and drink ourselves silly with one these wonderful steins. It would be a poetic vengeance for all the minutes stolen from us by walkers over the years. However, it meant we would have to become one of them. First though, we had to make it to the start of the 5K, and that's why we needed to hit the 2 hour mark. We thought we started at 8am, and the 5K started at 10am. Even regarding that, we were wrong, as it was 8:10am and 10:02am (for walkers). So we really needed a 1:52.

Anyway, as I got back up to the road where the 5K started, they were starting to take up the mats.  Figuring J was already on the move, I asked if I would still be able to get in.  They punched in my # somehow and told me to get on my way.  By this point, the pack was so far ahead, they could not be seen.  It was time to release my inner Dewey Cox and "Walk Hard."

Speed-Walking: "You don't want no part of this sh*t!"

As soon as I got started, I realized, this walking sh*t sucks.  I didn't care that I just ran a 20K, I wanted to run.  Also, I was the only one out there and had to stop twice and ask the volunteer which way to go, while they wondered why the hell I was still even out there.  It was kind of embarrassing being dead last in a 5K walk, and having to explain myself.  At some point in the race, I must have missed a turn.  Suddenly, I was walking against the 5Kers that were left, but kept going thinking maybe  I was just on my way to a turn-around.  I got to one point in the road, and realized, "Nope, I'm just a dumbass."  I still have no idea where I got crossed up, but that will happen when they're taking the cones and arrows down on you.

Anyway, I turned and walked back to try to catch the rest of the pack, as the 2K children ran past me toward the finish.  The only people I caught were pushing old age, or were walking with braces or crutches.  It was at about this point, that I kind of felt like a jerk for being there and passing them.  I finished in just a little under 3 hours of total time (so 2:56ish...subtract the 20K time and the time to get to the start).  Then I stood around for 12 minutes, found J, got a beer, and forgot that I hadn't stopped my Garmin yet.

For the 5K, I probably went over 4 miles, and since I didn't take the right route, even if I somehow got a stein, unless I was dead last (in my age group) on chip time, I would not accept it, because if you divert from route, you lose (at least I still have some standards).  However, when I looked at results, I didn't show up at all.  I wasn't in the 20K where I should be, and I wasn't showing up for the 5K.  Even so, with the added time of stopping, being lost, and adding over a mile, I wasn't going to place and have to stay around and explain that it should go to the guy behind me.  So we left.  I guess J didn't even go for the 5K because he thought they had already went and were picking up the starting mats.  So he had been wondering what happened to me for an hour.

We climbed into the car and left, defeated, with two shirts for the race, and nothing else to show for it.   The only consolation for me was that I had my best time at this race, and despite a really slow season, being hurt, and not training much, we did get close to that 2 hour goal.  How close, I would (hopefully) find out later.  J was still in disbelief that he didn't get under the 2 hour mark and was actually disappointed (which I found ridiculous, since he beat me and it was a huge 20K PR for him as well).  He said that getting under 2 hours was his main goal of doing this whole thing.  I admitted that my reason still revolved around beer mugs.

The unworn, non-sweaty one on the right is for sale (for as low as $0)

Will I ever try some sort of shenanigans like this again?  Did I learn my lesson?  I don't really know.  I'm sure I'll be enticed by those steins again, and I really don't see me ever hitting age group in the 20K run (unless I can keep this up to old age, which would be an amazing blessing that I can't think to count on).  The only time I'd consider it otherwise is if I'm doing the 20K at an easy 1:40-1:45, and if I have someone to do the walk with me as a cover (who won't mess around and will go fast with me).

For now, I just know that the whole process was a pain in the keister.  I even had contact the race organizers to get my times adjusted, because my 20K time, when it finally showed, was listed as over 3 hours (the time where I crossed for the 5K) because the bibs got mixed up.  It would have been even more warning against trying to beat the system if my 2:04:32 course/20K PR was lost, and I had to live with a 3 hour 20K on my record.  The 5K walk time is still probably wrong, and has extra time on it, but who cares about that?  I'm not a walker.  Walking is stupid.

Potential Uh-oh

I haven't had a run since J's revenge run of 6/20, where he dragged me about a minute's pace faster than I wanted through nearly 7 miles of paved trail in the heat (which literally makes me leak fluid all over the place). 
 

I don't think I bothered to mention my sore knee as an excuse on the Flushing run, because that went pretty well, but the truth is that Tuesday I kind of tweaked it a bit and it was doing a little grinding and popping on Wednesday morning.  Of course, as I usually do, I just ignore everything and run anyway (e.g. my right heel pain [still around], my outer left foot's soreness/random sharp pain, both of my feet having sharp pain at the top of the foot, near the ankle, etc.).  Like a small child afraid of monsters in the dark, when it comes to me and "injuries," I just figure everything will go away if I throw myself under a blanket and close my eyes.
 

So after running on it on Wednesday and it getting worse, I figured why not pile on and do the usual Thursday run (which we had every right to skip)?  That didn't go very well for me.  I was barely in walking shape that night, and it didn't feel incredibly better Friday, when I decided to stand on it for 4+ hours at the free Andrew WK gig at the Majestic (which was just a hot mess of a show, the people watching has never been so incredible at anything in my life).

In his classic all white outfit

 

Anyway, come Saturday (my usual longer run day), I finally wised up and said, "To hell with it, I'm not running today."  It's now Tuesday and I feel a bit better, but I'm reconsidering the usual run day again, even if it is just a short 30 minute one.  There's only a little over a week until Volksläufe, and there's probably a thin line right now between me getting better for it and screwing my leg up to the point where I won't be there. 

 

So any suggestions on how to simulate something resembling a tempo run that's low impact, let me know in the next couple hours.  Otherwise I may just be a big enough dummy to run.  I'd really like to hold off until Thursday, though.  It's getting better with rest and I think it will be alright by then.

Flushing 5K

As I've said several times before, I like this race because of its historic significance in my running habit.  This is the first official race where J and I paired up, and is essentially what cemented us as the dynamic duo of crazy running people in our circle of friends.  Sometimes all it takes is one random call saying, "You want to run this race in Flushing today?" 

Normally, this race is scorching hot.  Last year, I believe it was closing in on 95 degrees by race time, and we even were given lots of warnings to take it easy and get water along the way.  This year, we didn't get anything close to that.  Even though it was the hottest temperature of the day, we topped out at 76 degrees, and, although that's actually higher than it's been due to the odd colder temps we've been getting, it was a welcome reprieve.  I also think it's usually on a Thursday, and had I known it was Wednesday (which we only found out the day before), we could have cancelled our usual Tuesday tempo run (which always leaves us a little sore the day after).
When we got there, registration was quick and easy, and, as we lined up to go, it seemed a little less crowded than usual.  I'm not sure if it was actually less people or not.  I'll have to check when the full race results are published.  Anyway, we got going on time for once, and right off the bat I got clogged up behind a few people.  J took off like a shot and was bobbing and weaving around everyone with ease (he can fit through tighter spaces).  So right away, he had a HUGE lead on me.  Not only that, he was cranking those legs hard.  I didn't know if he was going that fast, or I was just going that slow, but I tried to keep up with him either way. 

Once we got to the first mile marker, I knew the answer.  The volunteer called out a 7:34 for me, and I knew it was a matter of him going that fast.  As soon as I heard that I couldn't help but just immediately back off.  I was frightened and confused about the time.  I think it was probably my fastest mile ever, in my life.  Maybe if I didn't hear the time I would have kept pushing, but I just almost immediately went slower.  It didn't help that I totally missed my water grab, and only accomplished knocking over a Dixie cup of water onto the ground (I'm smooth like that)

It's tough to tell whether that was a better decision to slow down in the end or not, though.  Despite the quick start, it seemed like I held my position pretty well.  Sure I was passed here and there, but I also kept pulling up ahead of people in my general vicinity.  Not only that, I was closing my gap on J (meaning, he didn't disappear whenever we weren't in a straight-away).  We got to the two mile mark and I really started to make a push.  "Only a mile to go?  I got this." 

Then we ran into a guy later saying, "This is the REAL 2 mile mark.  The last one was mismarked."  Son of a b*tch!  Now my pacing was thrown off, and mentally that just screws with you.  You think you have a mile to go (okay 1.1), you go another 1/4 mile, and suddenly, you still have a mile to go.  I was actually pretty frustrated, but, you know, small races.  What can you do?

I pulled up to water station #2 (which I believe is just #1 on the loop back), and ::drumroll please:: NAILED IT!  I wanted to do the celebratory water station chugga chugga hydration shuffle, but there was no time.  I would just have to do it mentally.  I turned the corner toward the big downhill by the church, pushing hard to catch J, looking to my right to see if my mom and sister happened to be there in their usual spot for the parade (not this year), and caught him at precisely the same spot as last year.  I'm sure, for that, he hates me.  That's probably why, when he felt good yesterday, he dragged me through a much faster paced 7 miler than usual, staying 3 to 50 feet in front of me at all times (and it was much hotter then). 

Anyway, I turned down Main toward the finish, putting in about all I had left to give, and just barely kept my lead, crossing at about 26:18 (26:04 official, a course best) and only being about 6 seconds ahead of J at the end.  Immediately headed for the water, and then we began the long 2 mile walk back to the school (which is all uphill).  We looked at our results, and got some more water.  I was super hungry and settled for a couple cookies, even though I didn't want them (no fruit this year). 

We met up with a friend at Gina's for some pizza, and then went over to his place for a drink.  I'm pretty happy with the race, but I'm guessing I could have done a little better (especially with the first mile). 

We both signed up for Volkslaufe.  Stay tuned for that one.  There is a big twist on what we're trying to do for that race this year.  I'm sure anyone reading this will fall into one of two camps when they find out what we're doing.  Those camps will be "That's hilarious." or "You guys are idiots."  Maybe both at the same time for a few (and that's pretty much my assessment).  We're going to have to really up the training next week.

"Although I May Flirt With All Kinds of Dirt"

Yep, that lyric from Depeche Mode's "To Have and To Hold" pretty much owned my brain during a good chunk of the Flirt With Dirt run.  It was impossible for it not to.  I spent a lot of time with the "Music For The Masses" album in my day.

As far as the race itself, I do believe it's one of the more enjoyable experiences I've had.  The parking situation was super easy.  I got there about an hour early, which, for some races, can still be a nightmare.  Not the case here.  I paid $5, they waved me back several times, and eventually I was parked on top of a hill only about 200 yards from the start and packet pick-up.  I really can't remember too many races I've traveled to that were this simple, and didn't have you waiting in a long line of cars to get parked. 

You don't get much closer than this (no zoom)

This left me with a lot of time to stand around and talk to people.  Unfortunately J was not with me due to the race selling out and him not signing up earlier.  I did run into someone we know though, and he was doing the 5K (won the age group too).  I even got to see him and a good chunk of the other 5Kers file on in, because we were starting 30 minutes after them.  Pretty much half of the 10K runners were a cheering section for the 5K.

Shortly after watching some of the leaders come in, we lined up for our race.  I lined up (optimistically) with the 10 minute people.  I was hoping to stick with most of them and make a go at actually having a good trail race for once.  In the end, this was probably a good decision.

We started off down a hill, making a half loop around a soccer field, and then we were on a gravel road heading into the trail.  It felt like a good pace off the start for me.  Once we got into the deep woods, it was really calm and peaceful, almost to the point you could be lulled to sleep.  Had it not been a little chilly, I could have seen stopping for a nap.  Even the runners themselves were pretty quiet out there.  Trail runs usually have a lot of loud, boisterous riff-raff, but everyone for this one (at least near me) seemed very subdued.  You had to listen close to even hear a quiet "passing on your left" here and there throughout the race.  I think the only yelling I heard was directed at someone that dropped something and a person behind them trying to get their attention to return it.

Like a lot of trail runs, you get parked behind someone you want to pass, and you kind of debate it for a while.  I never really know when to do it or not, because I know I'm not the most steady-paced person.  My miles vary so much that sometimes I'd be better off just staying behind someone to even out the pace.  This time, though, I think I made all good decisions.  Everyone I went by stayed back there, and the people I eventually pulled up behind for the last 2 miles were kind of towing me in to the finish.

The one thing that made this race more fluid, though, was the fact there aren't any real hills.  Unlike the other two races in the series (Trail, Legend), this trail run is almost dead flat.  Sure there are hills, but nothing that an average (or even below average) runner is going to get beat up by.  Like any trail race there are a lot of roots, rocks, and uneven spots, so you do have to be careful of that.  Also there are a few places with some quick drops in the path.  So if you're following someone too close, you may not realize that nature put a step there for you.  Sometimes your fellow runners will let you know, and sometimes you find out for yourself.  All of those obstacles are a lot easier when you're only going a little over 6 miles.  The feet never really get lazy on you for that distance.

Zonked, and have no idea why my tongue is out

I ended up pulling in with a time of 1:10:15 and a net time of 1:07:49, which was good enough for...well...nothing. After I finished, I grabbed a quick water and one of those blueberry muffins that I was hoping would still be there when I finished. That muffin was gooooooood! Just another reason to like this race. It was just a really laid back, relaxing, good time. I just wish it wasn't so early, because I realized when I left, it was only 9:30, and there is just no finding beer that early. So, because of that, I just went home, made some eggs and relaxed.

Muffin Deliciousness

Shirt/Bib

Yeah, I didn't exactly do this entry in a timely fashion.  I've been swamped with life (in a good way).  Flushing 5K tomorrow (and the post for it over a week later, I'm sure)

I Run For the Ice Cream

I know it's been a while.  There hasn't been all that much worth reporting, though.  To be honest, I did not do a single running race all of May.  It was pretty unbelievable when I realized it, but the entire month had come and gone and the only event I did was the Tour de Crim. Sure there was that one awesome trail run where we found the links of the Genesee Trail to the Flint Trail system, but that wasn't organized.  That was just J and I trying to get lost in the woods.

I love the logo

Yesterday was the Diplodash Ice Cream Bash.  I believe this used to be the Retread, so we had to do it.  That and completely undoing your exercise with ice cream is just something that's near and dear to my heart.  The only drawback was they weren't taking old shoes with the soles worn down for that charity that resoles them and gives them to needy people, so I still have 3 pairs of old shoes in my back seat.

I didn't know what to expect.  I haven't had a 5K since March, and that one was pretty slow.  I haven't been able to gain any speed lately, even on short runs, so I didn't have very high expectations.  Time-wise, I was thinking of shooting for a 27:somthing, but mainly I just wanted to go all out and push as hard as I could, for as long as I could, and give it everything I've got.

 

 

When we started, I realized that the race course was also the same as the Retread, and knowing where to go and how long until the next turn or until the race is over can mean a lot.  I saw a few familiar people that I used to try to keep up with before (when I was better), and I though if I could try to keep up with them it would help too.  J blew out in front of me, but I kept some of the familiars close in front of me.

That only lasted about halfway through though, and I started to drop ground to them.  I don't think I was slowing down.  They were just making their second half push, and I was huffing and puffing and already in top gear, so there was nothing I could do.  Just after where the mile 2 marker used to be (no markings this year), I caught J and dragged him along for much of the rest of the race.  He dropped back just behind me with a 1/2 mile to go, and pretty much stayed there about 20-40 feet behind me.  The good thing about that is I probably kept him lined up ahead of some other people in his age group (he's not gone up out of mine), and he got a pretty nice award.

Still love the logo

 

To tell the absolute truth, I don't think I've ever pushed myself harder in a 5K.  I never let off the throttle and I was pushing myself to the point where I was considering doing the unthinkable and stopping to walk in a 5K.  I was just being that hard on myself.  My legs were on fire, my lungs were burning, every breath felt like it just wasn't enough to sustain me for the next one.  I kept thinking to myself that this must be how the real runners push themselves to win races every single time they go out.  I don't think that's something I could ever get used to.

I pulled in with the clock time just above 26 minutes and as soon as I stopped, I wanted to go lay down.  The more dominant feeling, though, was that I felt like I was going to throw up and I even walked, half bent over, away from the finish just in case.  Luckily that passed, I got some water, and then went over to get some ice cream (Mint Chocolate Chip!).

One of my favorites

The run was sponsored, partially, by Baskin Robbins, and they were handing out coupons at the finish and by the YMCA.  I think the universal sentiment was, "Where the heck is there a Baskin Robbins around here."  To be honest, I didn't know we even had one, and I don't think anyone else did either.  Now, mind you, this is also a crowd of running, healthy people, so it's not necessary a representative sample.  The coupons didn't say where they're located, and I still haven't bothered to look.  Also, I think I lost the coupons, but, Baskin Robbins, we'll always have the YMCA...

Thanks Baskin Robbins!

We popped in to check our official times and J age-grouped, as I mentioned.  I came in about 7th with a 25:55, which fits in as my 3rd best 5K of all time (I'll take it!).  I'm hoping this will get me going a bit with the speed.  I've been trying to work some tempo runs in, but I think what will help most is just getting some more distance.  It's been a little rougher this year with me being the pushy one, but I think we'll get there.  I've also dropped about 10 pounds in the last two months, and kept it off.  My wife is on this healthy kick and stopped bringing junk into the house.  That makes things a lot easier.  Although, I will admit I did bring in some Hostess substitutes this week because I miss the Twinkie.  I couldn't help it.  I give myself some credit for not deep frying any (yet).

We popped downtown for a bit for some beer.  We went to the Torch and had a Short's Huma, and I followed that up with an Arcadia Whitsun.  Then we went over to The Loft and shared a $10 pitcher of Fat Tire (and that was a big pitcher...almost 5 pints worth).  There was a lot of talk of old memories and laughing there.  That and we were watching this guy who some birthday girl in a nice dress was talking to (instead of her friends), and were rooting for him to successfully complete the process.  Tall, weird-looking dude, I hope you at least got her number.

I've got Flirt With Dirt tomorrow, which I almost forgot about, because I thought it was July 8th, not June 8th.  J was going to join, but it is "Sold Out," so I guess I'm going alone.  We'll see how that goes.  I've never really done a 10K on trail before, so how to pace that out will be interesting.  Either way, it's an auto-PR. 

I'm open to suggestions on where to go around that area.  I haven't been down to bars in Novi in years and it was always in that strip-mall sorta place with the Post Bar and the Irish place (and The Library Bar across the street).