Running Around

Time to Train XIX

We are finally at the XIXth week of this running program, and essentially the end of the plan as conceived. The South Carolina State Cross Country Championship Meet will be held on November 4^th. The following week student athletes are free to train and race with their parents in any of the roadraces held in and around South Carolina. (See Races to Run)

That means this is the last week of training. Next week we will look at a short taper. Now, though, it is once again, Time to Train.

Saturday: We will run four miles. We are going to run the first mile as an easy warm up. At the mile mark we are going to run 1/2 mile hard, like in a race. The next mile will be run at a steady, not easy pace. The 1/2 mile distance between 2 1/2 and 3 miles will again be run hard. The fourth mile is an easy cooldown.

Sunday: As always this is an optional day off, however, the preferred workout is an easy 3 mile run.

Monday: Three miles. First easy, second faster, but not breathing hard, third easy.

Tuesday: We will do another four mile run today. Begin with one easy mile as a warm up. During the second and third miles run 6-8 200 meter strides. It is ok to breathe hard during these strides. The fourth mile is an easy cool down.

Wednesday: Three mile run very easy.

Thursday: Another three mile run. This time we will run steady the whole way, not breathing hard, but not an easy jog either.

Friday: Again, everyone take the day off, unless you really want to run. In that case, do an easy 2-3 mile run.

Go run now!

What's Cool?

I put on a long sleeve t-shirt this morning, and sweat pants. It was cool outside, and I did not have to be on a bicycle to realize it. As I walked past the car I ran my hand over the dew on the windshield, it wiped off. “At least it’s not freezing out here I thought.” (Later, when leaving for work, the dew had in fact iced over-go figure.)

I completed my run, and was toasty warm well before the halfway point. I was not running fast. Fast running warms one up more quickly. A couple of weeks ago at a race, where most people considered it cold I ran sans shirt. People kept asking if I was cold. I was not, but I did try to push the pace. After finishing, within minutes, I knew what they had been talking about. Some of the effect was from a fairly strong wind, however.

Many people cut back on, or stop training as the temperatures drop. There is no real reason for this. (Staying in a warm toasty bed does not count.) With proper clothing, and dedication we can train in just about anything mother nature throws at us. Here in South Carolina we have it good. After a couple of days of cool it usually warms right back up. T-shirt days are common in every month of the year.

I have friends in other places. I hear in places like Chicago it actually gets cold. Fortunately we do not deal with that here in South Carolina, we are too cool for that.

Time to Train XVIII

My Legs Hurt

Every time I get up to walk someplace my legs remind me that I ran a race last weekend. Oh, please do not feel sorry for me, this is a good thing. It has been far too long that I have been sufficiently conditioned to run fast enough to cause this discomfort.

Training as you may recall is about stress and recovery. I have been able to mildly stress in recent events. This time, however, I stressed well. That means I will recover as a stronger runner than I was beginning the event.

Two weeks ago I ran/walked/jogged 105 miles in a 24 hour event. There was no discomfort, only fatigue. There were training effects, but not the type that would easily transfer to faster performances. My most recent event, 39.58 miles in six hours provided a much more vigorous workout. (I was just under 36 miles at the six hour point of the 24 hour.) Yes for a measly 3/4 of a mile per hour I greatly enhanced training effect.

Why? In the 24 hour I averaged just over 10 minutes per mile for the first 6 hours, with none of the running below eight minute miles. In the six hour event I ran sub eight minute miles through 11 miles. Additionally the 24 hour course, a 1.52 mile loop, was pancake flat. The six hour course, a 2.07 mile loop, had several hills. I would have worked harder at the same pace, yet pushed myself harder.

The race was Sunday. I did not run Monday. Tuesday morning I ran, slowly, but worked some of the soreness from my legs. Perhaps they will forgive me tomorrow.

Time to Train XVII

We are getting into shape now. Cooler weather is on the way, and races abound. I guess it is time to continue training.

Saturday: We will again run four miles we are again going to just run steady. Not hard, or breathing hard, but a good strong run, faster than a jog, or easy training run.

Sunday: As always this is an optional day off, however, the preferred workout is an easy 3 mile run.

Monday: Three miles. First easy, second faster, but not breathing hard, third easy.

Tuesday: We will do another four mile run today. Begin with one easy mile as a warm up. During the second and third miles run 5-6 200 meter strides. It is ok to breathe hard during these strides. The fourth mile is an easy cool down.

Wednesday: Three mile run. The first mile is very easy, the second mile right on the edge of breathing hard. The third more relaxed, but not an easy jog.

Thursday: Another three mile run. This time we will run the first mile easy, the second mile at a steady run and the third mile as an easy cool down.

Friday: Again, everyone take the day off, unless you really want to run. In that case, do an easy 2-3 mile run.

Be thinking about finding and running a race. Our “season” begins in less than a month. I have included a partial calendar under another heading.

Races to Run

The Governor’s Cup road races are tomorrow. (Alas I cannot play because I will be traveling further away to run a slightly longer race.) I guess technically only the half marathon is the Governor’s cup, but there is an accompanying 8 kilometer race as well. I remember when the Cop was a 15 mile race, then it was a 25 kilometer race for a while. Currently it is a half marathon. Who knows, one day it may be a marathon, since Columbia no longer actually has a marathon that would be a good thing.

We are thinking of slightly shorter events than marathons though, or even half marathons, and since the program some of us have been working on is aimed at 5 kilometer races, after the November 4th State Cross Country Championships, that is what we will look at here.

So, there are races listed below. These are only South Carolina races. As pointed out earlier there are many races in NC, and Georgia as well, that may be closer for many residents. Perhaps we will look at them later.

Nov. 11, Camden – Colonial Cup 10K Road Race & 5K Fitness Walk, 8:30am. Info: Caroline Tucker (803)432-4291.

Nov. 11, Fort Mill – Springmaid Half Marathon, 10K, & 5K; 8am. Info: (704)507-9337.

Nov. 11, Hilton Head – Hilton Head Island Bridge Run 10K & 5K, 8am. Info: Bear Foot Sports,

; (843)379-3440, bfs@hargray.com, Web site.

Nov. 11, Pawleys Island – Run ’til The Cows Come Home, 5K Run & Walk; 8:30am; $18/adult, $10/child by 11/3, after $20/$12. Info: Stephen Lowe,

; (843)235-6967, sgkklowe@aol.com.

Nov. 18, Greenville – Dan Davis Memorial Turkey Trot 5K, 8am/registration. Info: Bayne Brasel (803)749-4299, braselb@LLS.org.

Nov. 18, Greenwood – VIMM Greenwood Challenge 5K, 8am. Info: Larry Secrest (864)885-9023.

Nov. 18, Myrtle Beach – Myrtle Beach Air Force Base 5K Run/Walk, 9am. Info: Ernie Torricelli (843)457-8560.

Nov. 18, Pinopolis – Run for Thanks 5-Mile, 9am. Info: William Greene (843)899-2275.

Nov. 18, Walterboro – Run the Great Swamp Sanctuary 12K, 5K Run & 5K Walk; 8:30am; $15 by 11/6, after $18. Info: Ken Sloan,

; Ken Sloan (843)538- 3031.

Nov. 23, Anderson – Electric City Gobbler 5K, 8:30am. Info: Mike Morris (864)423-6457, info@ecrunning.com, Web site.

Nov. 23, Charleston – Knights of Columbus Turkey Day Run, 5K 9am; $25 w/shirt, $15 w/o by 11/10, after $27 w/shirt, ($30 on RD). Info: Peter Shahid, POB 567, Charleston, SC 29402; (843) 723-9934, Web site.

Nov. 23, Columbia – Boys & Girls Turkey Trot 8K, 9:30am. Info: (803)799-4786.

November 23, BGCM 2nd Annual 8k & 3k Turkey Day Run
Columbia, SC 9:00AM Colonial Center, 1101 Lincoln St (3 cities, 2 bridges)
Contact: Karen Marinelli (Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midlands), 2016 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC, USA, 29201. 1-803-231-3353 kmarinelli@bgcmidlands.org

Dec. 9, Laurens – Laurens YMCA-Reindeer Run 5K. Info: (864)984- 2626.

Dec. 16, Greenville – Sitton Paris Mountain Road Race 20K, 8:30am; 5K, 8:45am; $22/20K, $18/5K by 12/6; after $25/$20. Info: Michael McCauley,

; (864)235-4800; michael@fleetfeetgreenville.com.

Dec. 16, Spartanburg – SPACE Jingle Bell Race, 5K 9am. Info: SPACE, Spartanburg Area Conservancy (864)948-0000.

I stayed awake 2

I had two 1 hour 15 minute naps on the drive home from Chicago, what luxury.

Now, I thought I’d recount a bit of the 24 hour run before heading off for a six hour event this weekend.

As readers will remember after a busy couple of days I got to the 24 hour, and the race began. My plan was to run 15 minute laps on the 1.52 mile loop. That would be a hair under 10 minute miles. I went out too fast. My first 10 laps were: 13:26, 13:39, 13:31, 12:42, 13:01, 13:19, 14:38, 15:12 (I thought I had a handle on things, but… 13:29, 12:44. I knew I was out too fast, and should have been able to rein myself in, but I was warmed up and the the next 5 laps were 13:44, 12:26, 12:18, 13:07, and 14:23.

At that point I had not stopped, except to let sand out of my shoes on a couple of occasions. The course was a crushed granular surface that found its way through shoes and socks to annoy the feet. (By 20 miles I had a hot spot, that was a blister by 30, which popped by 80 and contributed greatly to later slow running/shuffling.) In any case at 15 laps, 22.8 miles I stopped to drink fluids and walk part of a lap. I had captured the Runaway Ray, or started what was to be a long crash.

I went through the marathon in just under 4 hours. (Lap 17, 25.84 miles was crossed in 3:53:53) so the marathon was on the next loop. 50 kilometers was a hair over 5 hours (loop ending 30.4 was 4:57:43). 50 (50.16) miles came at 9:12:53, 100 kilometers (62.32) at 12:20:43, and after a long slow night 100 miles was reached at 23:12:43.

As I groggily a came back to life with the coming of dawn, the approach and passing of 100 miles my lap times adjusted accordingly. My last ten laps were run as follows: 28:55, 32:20 (asleep on my feet still) 25:56, 24:16, (waking up) 20:43, 20:44 (thinking about running) 17:09, 15:47 (getting excited) 13:38, and finally 12:00, my fastest loop of the race, on the last full lap. I completed another half lap before time expired giving me a grand total of 105.6 for the event.

Results follow:

Hinson lake 24 hour results RUNNER LAPS EXTRA MILES
1. Rimas Jakelaitis 84 0 127.68
2. Philip Mcarthy 83 1.1 127.26
3. Brad Smythe 71 0 107.92
4. Fred Dummar 70 0 106.40
5. Ray Krolewicz 69 .72 105.60
6. Jay Finkle 69 .71 105.59
7. Anita Finkle 69 .71 105.59
8. Joey Anderson 68 0 103.36
9. Tyler Peek 67 0 101.84
10. David Huffman 67 0 101.84
11. Neal Jamison 66 0 100.32
12. Martin Franklin 66 0 100.32
13. Barbara Mack 66 0 100.32
14. Darrell Elliot 66 0 100.32
15. Tony Rouse 57 1.1 87.74
16. Trey Barnes 55 1.45 85.05
17. Jonathon Savage 55 .71 84.31
18. Pam Carpenter 54 1.1 83.18
19. Don Covington 54 0 82.08
20. Marie Lewis 51 .1 77.62
21. Susan Dummar 50 0 76.00
22. Dennis Brown 44 0 66.88
23. William Keane 42 0 63.84
24. Larry Robbins
42 0 63.84
25. Charles Schirmer 40 0 60.80
26. Don Jans 40 0 60.80
27. Richard Lilly 39 0 59.28
28. Lucinda Rigg 37 0 56.24
29. Adam Bookspan 36 0 54.72
30. John Hutchinson 36 0 54.72
31. Tom Herbst 34 0 51.68
32. Doyle Carpenter 34 0 51.68
33. Mark Nowling 33 0 50.16
34. Eric Fogleman 33 0 50.16
35. Chris Kubiak 33 0 50.16
36. Sylvana Smith 33 0 50.16
37. Dean Taker 33 0 50.16
38. Robert Crosby 30 0 45.60
39. Mark Vukovich 28 0 42.56
40. Doug Dawkins 28 0 42.56
41. William Mcverry 27 0 41.04
42. Tom Pangborn 27 0 41.04
43. Tom Gabell 26 0 39.52
44. John Zerger 25 0 38.00
45. Stephen Durr 23 0 34.96
46. Sarah harmon 23 0 34.96
47. David Sowers 22 0 33.4448. Irene Russell 21 0 31.92
49. David Solomon 21 0 31.92
50. Frank Sherill 21 0 31.92
51. Mark Dooley 19 0 28.88
52. Sam Day 18 0 27.36
53. Vickie Folgleman 17 0 25.84
54. Don Smythe 15 0 22.80
55. Sharon Setzer 15 0 22.80
56. Mark Long 14 0 21.28
57. Caroline Amberger 14 0 21.28
58. Jennifer Dolder
14 0 21.28
59. John Trent 14 0 21.28
60. Patsy Dolder 14 0 21.28
61. Kelly Chance 14 0 21.28
62. Gene Downum 14 0 21.28
63. Chip Blakely 13 0 19.76
64. Richard Lassiter 12 0 18.24
65. Stacy Stenberg 8 0 12.16
66. Bill Lindau 5 0 7.6
67. Christine Elliot 3 0 4.56
68. Some lady I met on the course 3 0 4.56
69. Some liitle kid I met on the course 2 0 3.04
70. Butch Stewart (No show) 0 0 0.00

Time to Train XVI

I believe we are a month out from the state championship cross country races. Since an early inspiration for this program was some parents who wanted to run a 5K with various offspring (Yes it was, go check early blogs on the topic) after cross country season I hope the parents are as ready as those children/student athletes.

But now it is time for our sixteenth week of training. (Or at least the reading about it.)

Saturday: We will run four miles today. Instead of beginning with an easy mile warm up and second mile hard, followed by the last two miles are run at a relaxed pace as a cool down the way we have done for two weeks We are going to just run steady. Not hard, or breathing hard, but a good strong run, faster than a jog, or easy training run.

Sunday: As always this is an optional day off, however, the preferred workout is an easy 3 mile run.

Monday: Three miles first easy, second faster, but not breathing hard, third easy.

Tuesday: We will do another four mile run today. Begin with one easy mile as a warm up. During the second and third miles run 5-6 200 meter strides. It is ok to breathe hard during these strides. The fourth mile is an easy cool down.

Wednesday: Three mile easy run.

Thursday: Another three mile run. This time we will run the first mile easy, the second mile at a steady run and the third mile as an easy cool down.

Friday: Everyone take the day off, unless you really want to run. In that case, do an easy 2-3 mile run.

Ok, everyone out for a run now….

I stayed awake revisited

I think I may have cured my need to sleep, especially during ultras. Three days after my all night run during the Hinson Lake 24 hour (I will get back to that later) I was called upon to drive all night to Chicago, for the birth of my daughter’s child, my second grandchild.

I left work shortly after 3:30. The baby was supposed to be born sometime during the day on Wednesday. I was supposed to have a leisurely drive, take a couple of hours to nap, and be there for the birth celebration. Babies sometimes do things as they choose, however. Somewhere around Indianapolis (home of the Indianapolis 500) I got the call that things were speeding up. Somewhere around Gary I got the call to hurry. Somewhere around 3:30 AM the man with the pretty lights on his car told me not to hurry so much. As he was telling me that I got the call telling me that my granddaughter had been born. The nice policeman could hear her crying over the phone, warned me to slow down, and told me to go see my granddaughter. I did, and got to the hospital just as the baby was being cleaned up. Thus I got to walk in and see this beautiful child. Tired? The thought never entered my mind.

So…. After needing a nap in 17 of my last 18 100 mile or longer efforts I was able to stay awake for 24+ hours twice in 4 days. I think I’m cured. I cannot wait for my next six day run.

I stayed awake.

I ran (well I walked parts) so I guess I covered 100 miles on foot over the weekend. Actually I ran 105.60 miles.

My goals going in were to stay awake the whole 24 hours, and to cover 100 miles, not necessarily in that order.

Of course I had to make it hard on myself first, lets see.. I know I’ll go to the USC football game, and get to bed by 12:30, I don’t have to get up until 3:30 AM to drive to Savannah to help Jon with his Seat-Time activities.

Those activities kept me busy until 6:18 PM, when I headed out for Rockingham, NC to run the Hinson Lake 24 hour. Leaving Savannah though there was a huge traffic jam while rescue workers had to use Jaws of Life to free a woman from her car. A helicopter landed right on route 80 in Effingham County and everything. It was very sobering considering I had just spent the day at a race track where people were learning, and improving high speed driving skills, on the track, with all of the attendant safety measures in place, where such behavior belongs.

Oh yeah, back to the 24 hour, I drove until shortly after 10:30 PM, then stopped at a rest area, well, to rest, before tackling highways 52, and US 1 to get to Rockingham. After a three hour nap I was rested enough to continue my journey. I arrived at the parking area at Hinson Lake, shortly after 3:30 AM having given up the offer of a comfortable bed at a friend’s house (ironically a car racing friend) due to my late arrival time.

The race was to start at 8 AM, so I set my alarm for 7:30, and crawled into the back seat for another nap. Voices in the parking lot as other runners arrived woke me, so I prepared for the race, and was actually ready on time. (This has been a difficult task at many events.)

Once the race started, I just figured it was like the second day of a 48 hour, or third day of a six day, or something.

Then the race started, but I’ll have to write about that later.