A summer working the 5K for a marathon+ runner ...

I know what you're thinking, and yes, a 5k does not really do it for me. But I committed to run on a Hood To Coast relay team with an impressive resume, and I need to work on my speed. I justify running the 3.1-mile distance by sandwiching the race in between a 3-mile warmup and 3-mile cool down. It is also a great source of a second speed workout/tempo run for the week. I've already completed three this summer, which is more than I usually do in one year. Tomorrow I'm taking it to another level and participating in a 5k time trial on the track with 8 other local Knoxville runners. There are about 5 of us that are around the same speed and looking to break 16 minutes. My PR is 16:08, something I've never really tried to improve upon because I could care less about this distance. When my non running friends ask me if I have a race over the weekend and I tell them a 5k, they usually shake their heads and tell me I can go out and drink the night before and then stumble through it in my sleep. And I almost agree with them, though, in the 5k's defense, I would much rather run a marathon at a 5:53 pace, than torture my body trying to run as fast as I can at a 5:15 pace. Wish me luck tomorrow morning. I will be back to let you know if I succeeded in breaking 16 minutes.

5000M
Bob Adams
Brad Adams
Jason Altman (possible pacer)
Bobby Holcombe
Daniel Julian
Eric Malkowski
Michael Mentz
Elijah Shekinah

1600M
Alan Horton
Greg Johnson
Drew Streip

800M
Ryan Smith
Nick Symmonds (rabbit - going out in .49 low)

Hood 2 Coast 197-mile relay team goal, preparation

Our (Knoxville Track Club) team's goal: WIN IT! To do this, the team will have to beat all the other 1,000 teams that will be competing this year. We feel that our team has the talent to accomplish this tough feat and let the nation know that Knoxville is one of the top running community’s in the nation.

Each person on the 12-man team will run three times during the two-day race (Aug. 28-29), which starts on Mount Hood and finishes in Seaside, Oregon. The team will have two vans serving as a moving headquarters, transporting team members when they aren’t running and supplying us with food, water and motivation.

The team consists of speed—three former University of Tennessee track stars, and endurance—marathon and ultra marathon champions. The team is very serious about this event and expects nothing but excellence. The team is well into training, and will represent Knoxville and the surrounding community with pride.

I have been training hard the past month with weekly mileage levels in the mid 60s. I will be stepping it up another few notches thoughout the next few weeks and will peak at 90 miles seveal weeks before race weekend. More updates as the race weekend approaches and a full recap after the race.

JFK 50-miler entry confirmation

Yes that's right ... I'm officially running the JFK 50-miler in November. I will be representing the Knoxville Track Club in the team event with my brother, Brad, and Jon Lawler, who placed sixth overall in this race several years ago. We should be very competitive for the team title. This will be my fifth ultra (Prickly Pear 5ok '07, 2nd overall, Frosty 50k '09 1st overall, Iron Horse 100k '09 1st overall, Smokey Mountain 72-mile seciton '09 1st overall). I've performed great thus far in all the ultras I've run thus far, but this one will be the first real test.

The competition is fierce in this race as it cuts off entrants at a little more than 1,000 runners. I've looked at some of the other fellow seeded runners on the entrants list and there are some tough, skilled ultra runners. I'm currently training for the Hood 2 Coast 198-mile team relay in late August and will run a fall marathon in preparation for the JFK 50. Another positive is that my brother also got into the JFK 50 and this will be his first ultra marathon. He should do really well if he also puts in the miles. Hopefully all the miles I'm already putting in over the summer will pay off for an awesome run in Wash D.C. More to come on the previously stated races as I compete in them.

Boston Marathon trip recap - round 2

This is the second year in a row that I have traveled to Boston to run the oldest annual marathon in the world, and I have to say this experience was twice as good as the last. The 113th Boston Marathon is in the record books, with 22,898 participants finishing the race – the second highest total ever, after the 100th anniversary race in 1996. I was extremely pleased with my race results. I finished 88th overall (1st Tennessean) in a time of 2:34:01, which was a personal record by 18 seconds. The Boston Experience: Like last year, I stayed with my friend “Foldy” in the “North End” of downtown Boston. His place is a short walk from Boston’s “TD Banknorth” Garden arena and surrounded by several hundred Italian restaurants. Also like last year, we went to a Red Sox game, except this year we upgraded and watched the game from behind home plate. An addition to this year’s trip, we watched game 1 of the Boston Celtics/Chicago Bulls playoff game in the lower level, which was awesome. The game went to OT and we were on our feet cheering most of the game. Even though the plan was to go up there to run a race, we stayed relaxed and had fun. The night before the race, we ate at an amazing Italian restaurant. The sea bass w/ sun dried tomatoes and capers entrée I had ranks up there in the top five best-tasting meals I have ever had.

Race Day: I, my brother, and my friend Tracy Brooks woke up at 6 a.m., grabbed our running gear and to the bus pickup location less than a mile away. Since the race starts 26 miles away in Covington, school buses shuttle us out there. We get to Covington around 8:30 a.m. and do our final preparations. I then made my way over to corral one and meet up with the crew of Knoxville Track Club runners I trained with over the winter that want to run the same pace, and we go over our game plan one last time. The race started at 10:30 a.m., the weather was overcast, and temperatures were in the 50s, which was nice. The only problem was the 10+ mph head wind we encountered the ENTIRE race since we never strayed from since the race route ran into it the entire race. I ran with three other Knoxville Track Club runners for the first 15 miles or so. We planned on going out at a 5:53 per mile pace and we were only slightly ahead of that pace at the half marathon mark (1:16:35). Due to the wind, it was crucial to draft off each other and other runners around us. The wind took its toll on a large percentage of the runners that day, and the same was the case for many on our team. The crowd support was amazing though as usual, and there were many times that I would throw my arms up in the air to get them to cheer louder (especially when we ran through the all-girl gauntlet went we ran through Wellesley College. I still felt good through the half marathon and said that I was going to run 2:34 today, which I did exactly. My fellow Knoxville runners started fading as we hit the hills, so I found a few other runners who were still running strong and we pushed through the hills (including Heartbreak Hill). That mile happened to be my slowest mile (6:07), but I made up for it the next mile with my fastest mile of the day (5:38). After that mile, the lone guy from the pack that I was still running with asked how I felt, and I responded sarcastically with, “well we did just run a 5:38 mile.” So we kept up a fast pace and kept switching drafting positions to deal with the wind. By the last two miles, I knew I was going to get a new PR and I just cruised on in to the finish. Note: I ate five Gu's, took one electrolyte tablet, and alternated drinking water and gatorade at each water station to stay hydrated.Other race notes/results:

Our Knoxville Track Club team placed 10th out of 60 open male teams, which was impressive. My brother also ran a personal record marathon time by 10 minutes (2:47:39), securing the third fastest time on our team.The post race party was also fun. We went to a four-story bar near the basketball arena, watched the hockey and basketball playoff games, and met up with other marathon runners and support crowd we knew. Looking back at the experience, I cannot see how this year can be topped. Well there is always next year for round three … I have to keep the streak going.

Iron Horse 100K recap

I decided to do this race in December when I had the brilliant idea to deem 2009 "The Year of the Ultra." I didn't know what I was getting myself into at the time, especially since I've only been running 60-80 miles a week the past few months, and I was about to run twice as far and more than twice as long as I've ever gone before in my life.

I felt good race morning, and had my food intake plan in mind and water bottle in hand at the start line. When the gun went off, it was 7 a.m. and about 30 degrees. I was wearing a few layers of clothing, but those quickly came off (after 10 miles or so) as the sun came up. BTW ... the temperature when I finished was 60-65 degrees. I started off easy (7:15 pace, but that quickly picked up to around 6:40 pace as I got warmed up (I accidently ran a 6:18 mile at mile 17 ... it just felt right at the time). I was able to keep up a good pace up until about 38 miles (already in no-mans land, mileage-wise). I went through the first marathon in 3:00:50, and I was still under a 7:00 mile pace total at mile 38, but my pace started dropping some after that as my body was wondering what the heck I was doing to it. I could have given up knowing I still had 24 miles to go, but I kept going at my 8-to-9:00 per mile pace the rest of the way (only walking when I hit a water station to refuel. Food-wise, I ate (2 power bars, 2 small bags of pasta, 2 Boston creme rolls, and about 15 cliff shot/GUs), but after 40 miles, the only thing my body could handle were the GUs/Cliff shots (and they helped to drop the pace in the latter miles). I also drank some Pedialite and took a salt tablet every 15 miles or so. The course was flat but very rough and uneven all along the unimproved rail trail. That added to my leg fatigue, as I was constantly having to pick my spots to reduce the leg pounding. Mentally, I was stable the entire race, and remember it all, though I did get kind of delirious in the latter miles, especially after the race for about 20 minutes, in which I didn't want to talk or eat anything. I quickly recovered after that, and felt great physically and mentally the rest of the day, night and ever since. I had the best crew, as my dad and mom were at every water stop making sure I had food and liquid to take with me along the way. That really helped in the latter miles when I didn't have much of a clue what was going on other than thinking, "I've only got X miles to go, then you can relax." It definitely was a good experience overall, and now it's got me thinking about running in the 100k U.S. Championships in Madison, Wisconson (May 2010) to try and make the 100K national team. I would have to run under 7:20 (the team standard), and the course is a flat, road course and much faster than the course I just ran on. I will also actually train for that race correctly and have the experience under my belt from already running several ultras.

Coming up ... Boston Marathon in April, Smokey Mountain section of the App Trail (72 miles) in May, and the JFK 50-miler in November.