Tag Archive for running

The Current Suspects

October 19, 2011 planet3rry No comments

As of right now, here is the short (figuratively and literally) list of marathons for spring 2012:

3/25/12 Virginia Creeper Marathon Abingdon, VA http://www.runtricities.org/creepermarathon

It’s full.

4/1/12 Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon Knoxville, TN http://www.knoxvillemarathon.com

8/1/11 – 11/30/11 $65.00
12/1/11 – 2/15/12 $75.00
2/16/12 – 3/27/12 $85.00

Now, this is the marathon that I usually volunteer for as a course monitor, since monitoring the course while runners are on it is fun and full of surprises. Now, I could inquire if I could run as a pacer, which is like having your cake and eating it to… just replace “cake” with “energy gel of your choice”.

 

5/6/12 Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon Cincinnati, OH http://www.flyingpigmarathon.com

$75.00 early registration through 10/31
$90.00 registration (11/1 through 1/31)
$105.00 late registration (2/1 through 4/20)

The kids absolutely LOVE Cincinnati, so going there would be like other family going to Disney World, except with lots of pigs… instead of mice.

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I’ve run all 3 both of these, there’s a logistics cost involved which may be offset by the Super Happy Fun Factor. I don’t know. Maybe there is an obscure event that hasn’t found their way over to Marathon Guide yet.

running , ,

FORTY

September 28, 2011 planet3rry No comments 
Psalm 40
 1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry.
 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
   he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
 3 He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
   Many will see and fear the LORD
   and put their trust in him.

The 40 Milestone has arrived. I’m now officially a “Masters” runner, which is just an euphemism for “statistically slower runner” but even in this new age group, it’s not the most difficult (30-34 group is very tough) but it has enough “still fast” elite to fill the top spots. I’m thinking that I will keep an overall Personal Result (PR) time with denoting Masters or not.

Looks like the first race of my newly entered age division will be the CrossKnox 10 miler on Sunday Oct 16th. I haven’t worked a race since July 3rd and it’s been even longer since I ran one. I’m signed up for a pre-race volunteer spot! I need to make up the 3 that I lost this spring due to the flooding of my Civic and by a flesh wound I received at the Strawplains Marathon, during registration! Freaky! That’s like $15 of race fees that I have lost or have succumbbed to natural disasters.

I haven’t ran this race either… so it’s new to me. It’s a point-to-point 10 miler, which is highly unusual for this area. The idea of the run is to showcase the Knoxville Greenways as almost all of the course is run on them. The other thing that is different is that it is a Sunday afternoon race, we have so few races that aren’t Saturday morning. I just have to juggle the Church schedule to make sure I can get to where I need to be. Since it is point-to-point transportation is provided.

So “Welcome Forty“… I might just have to drink one in Recognition.

 

 

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“FORTY” by U2 (link if the embed doesn’t show)

Life In General, running , ,

Marathon Uncertainty

August 1, 2011 planet3rry 2 comments

There’s a dark cloud that has begun to loom over my plans of running a fall marathon. What’s worse is that time is running out, fast!

FMM Logo The Flying Monkey Marathon registration will open on August 1st at 8am Central. Being one of the privileged crazy people that have ran the race in the past, I get to register early. Last year, the regular registration filled up in 32 minutes. Heh, there’s lots of crazy people trying to run this race.

My problem lies in the fact that my running budget has a mere $20 in, basically enough to register for a 5k (more on that in a moment). So I don’t have enough for the registration fee… but I don’t have the funds for the other parts of running a marathon that are important but not always included: hotel, gas, gels, food, etc. And while I really really like this marathon, I do not want to go further into debt because of it.

One option is for me to run Chickamauga Marathon. It’s probably not going to sell out [Ed. Note: RATS! Apparrently it might just sell out early - *sigh*], so I have longer to work to get the registration fee. It’s just on the other side of Chattanooga, so it’s a day trip, not an over nighter. Now while the Chickamauga culture isn’t quite as dynamic as the Flying Monkey Marathon, they have in the past provided great sundries for the runners.

I also have the Be Not Afraid Project to think about as well. More on that in the future.

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In reference to the 5k mentioned above, this event has sentimental value plus potential “good stuff” in December. In 1998, Feb 28th to be exact, is when I became a “Runner”. In that year, I ran as many 5ks that I could. Over the years, some of the 5ks became defunct or I missed running them do to travel, illness, injury, etc.

One 5k, however, is listed in my running history from 1998-2010, the Scholar’s Run 5k. In 1998, it was the 5k that set my PR time (not counting my first 5k) and in 1999, it was the 5k that I set the previous year by exactly 1 minute. Now, there have been years where my time has been relativity very slow but in those times, it has been coming off long periods of inactivity when running that 5k is the only speed work that I have done in weeks or even months. In 2001, it was my “Welcome Back” race from my hamstring injury I suffered that spring. For me, this race has a history.

The Scholar’s Run 5k has historically had a t-shirt design that I have not cared for very much. Typically, they go straight to donation. The Scholar’s Run 5k is a bigger part of a running triad: The Triple Crown of Running. It is race #2 of 3 races which if you run #1 (Spring Sprint) and/or #2 (Scholar’s Run) AND #3 Reindeer Run, you are entered into the Triple Crown of Running Door Prizes. Each of the prizes are at least $100, which motivates most in running the races.

So the question hangs: Do I run the Scholar’s Run 5k, there by depleting my running account and making funding a fall marathon much further? Were it a KTC race, then I would use the Volunteer Coupons that I earn for working the local races, but that is not the case. Decisions Decisions!

 

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One Strep at a time

November 29, 2010 planet3rry 4 comments

Ah snap… our house has been a biological wasteland for what seems about the past 3 weeks. It first started with The Brothers getting some bug from school early in the month. Then they shared it with me, you know, right during Taper Madness for the Flying Monkey Marathon. Luckily for me, with drinking a lot of water (and other potent potables), taking Guaifenesin, popping Vit. C like Smarties… I was able to “control” the bug so that I could run the Marathon.

For the most part, I haven’t had any relapses of the sickness, although I think that running for 5 hours and 41 minutes lowered my immune system down enough so that it has lingered longer than it should have. I think on Sunday morning was the turning point where the sickness has lost the war in my body. Not only did it not hurt to cough and sneeze, but the volume of phlemgh greatly decreased. As of the this post, when I cough it still sounds rough, but I think that is just a scare tactic it uses to sucker me into getting sick again. I’ve taken the whole week off from running since the marathon, so my legs seem to be reset, now if I can purge the rest of this illness out, I’d be a happy camper.

Well, because we have been playing “Pass the Disease to the Left hand side” this month, My Lovely and Talented Wife has come away as the winner (depending on your point of view) since she tested for positive for Strep this past Black Friday. Now that she’s on antibiotics, she should be free and clear soon. However, the plague that infested our household, along with the Thanksgiving holiday has made it nearly impossible to compose the Race Report for the 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon. However, with The Fam on the mend, the report should be forthcoming…

Life In General, running , , ,

Prelude to a Monkey

November 21, 2010 planet3rry One comment

Sunday, November 21st will be my 16th start for the marathon distance. It will be the 3rd time that I have toed the line for the Flying Monkey Marathon. As I type this it is Saturday night, and as of right now, I do not know what will happen tomorrow.

Mentally, I am ready. Physically, a little less confident. I am at the tail end of some congestion which doesn’t have the feel of an illness, but rather allergies. Regardless, it’s congestion… and congestion at any mileage isn’t fun. Add a few hills and WOOOOO-doggie, that’s some fun running (or lung hacking).

One of the cool things about the Flying Monkey Marathon is that once you run the marathon once, you keep that same Bib Number! Forever as far as I know. Me, I’m number 438. My personal goal is to “beat” my bib number. That is, finish the Flying Monkey marathon in 4 hrs and 38 minutes. So far, that hasn’t happened…

2008 Official Time 4:43:15 and this was the second marathon in 8 days so that I could officially qualify for Marathon Maniacs

2009 Official Time 5:31:57, looking at my running log, I don’t think that I was all that into actually running in 2009, must have been the back-to-back marathons in 2008

It’s now 2010 and while I haven’t had the “best” training season, it’s moving in the right direction. Shoot in 2011, I might even have some good races. But for now, it’s tomorrow morning’s race in Percy Warner Park. As the Flying Monkey Marathon’s website proudly states: “It’s not flat, it’s not fast and it’s not certified”… and that is just part of the allure of running The Monkey… where this year, registration filled up in just 30 minutes.

I’m as carbo-loaded as I can be, I have to pin my gels to my shorts (because that’s how I roll) and get ready for tomorrow. I don’t even need to stay at a Holiday Inn Express to be a marathoner tomorrow, however, since I AM staying at Holiday Inn Express that can only help.

running ,

Cloudy with a Chance of Energy Gels

November 18, 2010 planet3rry One comment

Future Forecast for Flying Monkey

Taper Madness is starting to creep in… I picked up my in-race fueling options today at lunch. The buffet includes Jelly Belly Sports Beans Lemon-Lime, Clif Shot Bloks (Margarita Flavored… extra salt, but no tequila though) and GU Chomps (which is new to me). I also picked up 4 Accel Gels (2 Lemon-Lime, 2 Orange) for that extra caloric intake. There will be GU gels out on the course, but I wanted to make sure that I had flavors that I liked. Only in desperation would I consume a Chocolate GU!

I also took a peek at the weather for Sunday. Looking pretty nice! The race is on Sunday, so a mild start and a high of 72 (which I assume won’t hit until the afternoon). The bonus will be the ‘partly cloudy’. Next to a strong thunderstorm (am I right 2010 Knoxville Marathon Runners??), the next worst thing is the unshielded Sun to drive the energy out of you faster than you can say, “Water, please.”

Even on a cold day, that medium sized star of ours can do some MAJOR damage. Drain your life out of you faster than Team Edward.

However, the weather is subject to change, but looks like a High Pressure System is over 4 corners as of this forecast snapshot, so that’s a good thing.

I haven’t decided if I am going to have a Guess My Time, Win Crap contest. Mainly, because I have such a slacker that the most recent winner a Mr. D. Peach, has yet to receive his winning loot, because I haven’t put it together yet. *sigh*

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Gravity of the Situation

June 24, 2010 planet3rry 3 comments

Something strange happened yesterday… okay, something strange happens to me everyday, so maybe this was just a normal occurrence…. who knows. Anyway, I was on The Runner’s Roundtable podcast yesterday on Talkshoe.com as one of the Race Directors of the WORLDWIDE FESTIVAL OF RACES! We are coming up on our 5th running of the event! Holy Schmoly! Hard to believe that it has been that long but time marches on.

So during the intro, Steve Runner (not his “real” name) asked me “So, Terry, what have you been doing running wise” (okay, don’t quote me) and for a split second, I went into another dimension and started to contemplate… “what HAVE I been doing?”

The Short-Short answer is NOT MUCH. The last time that I ran was on June 12, when I went trail running. Since then I haven’t run a mile or even a quarter mile. My last race was early May with the Run for the Deaf 5k where my Spring Racing Season did not turn out as well as I wanted it to. If you believe in the Periodization Theory, that is periods of time are grouped together for a specific goal, I have been in a Rest Period. Probably the longest one of my running career. My first month of basically “not running” was in July 2003 when The Elder was born. I ran once that month, and then came back in August. Usually there is another Rest Period in December/January where there is 3 weeks of little running as I recover from the fall marathon and then ramp up for Calhouns 10miler at the end of January.

So why the big break? Not sure, but I have my theories…

But what Wednesday’s Runner’s Roundtable did was to get a little fire going. I am still planning on running the Flying Monkey Marathon in November, so that means that training would start somewhere around August 1st. But that’s like 5 weeks away… and would result in an approximate 12 week resting period. Good thing you don’t really forget to run… or is that to ride a bike? I just check the calendar and this weekend (June 25th) would be Week 8 of no-racing, no-training. It’s actually kinda Surreal…

But Terry, it’s hotter than the sun out there, what are you thinking? Yes, it is hot out there, maybe not as hot as the sun, or even as hot as in Arizona, but isn’t it the Humidity that really is the clincher?

So yesterday during the Runner’s Roundtable, Steve Runner cornered me and in the deepest, most evil sounding voice… “So… when is the next Gravity@1053′ episode?”, the skies darkened and everything went silent. The next voice I heard was my own subconscious saying, “Dude, you are on Air… internationally, say something with words and try to make it sound good… Lord, please help us…”

Then I remembered that I actually enjoy recording my podcast: Gravity@1053′, what I don’t enjoy is the stretch of time that it takes to get to the computer, edited and all that other podcasting-type stuff. Part of the little fire was, yes, I do like to podcast… and I do have my laptop up and running, so what is stopping me? Basically, just a lack of focus and motivation. Well, make that a significant lack of focus when it comes to the extracurricular stuff in my life, which in turn, lowers my motivation on just about everything.

There’s been a number of factors (as with everyone) which has been contributors. Some of them I have been able to address and not necessarily nullify but at least mitigate it some to where it is manageable. I’ll probably blog about them, which will give me topics to blog about, since blogging has been another casualty of lack of focus… SQUIRREL!

While I don’t have a training program penciled out at this point, there is one in the works. I’ll need a couple of days to work on that to make sure the schedule is manageable for the rest of the summer and the fall. But what I am looking at doing is recording a new episode of Gravity@1053′. And I don’t think that I am going to try to capture the audio exclusively on runs, since that doesn’t always work well for me, but use the Planet3rry Mobile Recording Headquarters instead. I have a smart phone now… it should be smart enough to help me you would think!

My goal is to record the audio and have a show ready for Monday Morning…

Oh, and if you are reading this entry on my blog, you might see that I changed the theme… a new start… a clean pair of underwear… so to speak

Life In General, running ,

Run for Autism Race Report

April 20, 2010 planet3rry One comment

I was thinking that I was going to do a Tale of Two Races, but then thought that it would be too difficult to try to bear the poor performance at both races. I thought for sure that I would do better on 4/17/2010 for the Breakthrough Run for Autism. However, that was NOT the case.

My finish time was a 26:22 on a course that I had previous done a 24:12 and 24:11, so why the 2 minute difference? I have a speculation, but more on that later…

At the mile split, I knew I was in trouble because my 8:15ish pace FELT like 7:30 and so when Slower Feels Like Faster that is NOT a good thing. Close to Mile 2, I started to walk, just a short distance, then off to running again. I stopped again just before the 3 mile mark, hidden from the view of the finishline. I took the last 0.25 mile or so to bleed off any energy I might have left, it was a race anyhow! In the last 0.1 of a mile, I picked off 3 runners and the runner with the running stroller who passed me just a few minutes past.

I was not in all that of a happy place when I finished, so I went and got a bottle of water, a banana, got in my vehicle and headed home.

Nobody played the Guess My Time contest game, so I’ll guess that I’ll just contest for the Half marathon on 4/24/2010.

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Guess My Time Win Crap: Ribbon Run 5k

April 14, 2010 planet3rry No comments

It’s a New Race week! So that means it’s another Guess My Time, Win Crap contest. This contest however is being advertised MORE than 24hrs before the actual race! Hopefully this will increase the number of people guessing, as in at least ONE person. The race this week is Breakthrough’s Run for Autism. Breakthrough Corporation is a local non-profit whose mission is “To Improve the Lives of Adults with Autism” and this is one of their yearly fund raisers. This is the 4th Year that it has been run and my 3rd running of this event. The first year (2008) I ran it, I was getting back into regular running and used the race for some speedwork and then last year it my first race of the year. Ironically, my finishing time for both years only differ by 1 second. Go Figure!

Guess My Time and Win Crap Rules and Regulations:

  1. All you have to do is guess my OFFICIAL finishing time for the race. I will provide some numbers below to help you base your calculation. Official Times will be what is recorded by the race officials. If I am not able to get that time, then I will use my watch time.
  2. You can enter as many times as you want, however, your Guess with the latest timestamp on it will be your official guess.
  3. Entries with a timestamp later than the advertised race Start Time will not count.
  4. You can leave a Guess a number of different ways, thanks to today’s technology. You can leave a comment on my blog www.planet3rry.com, leave a comment on my Facebook post of the contest, leave a comment on my Twitter account, either direct message or mention is fine (I recommend using the hash #GMTWC, so it’s easier to find) or you can email me your time as well.
  5. Winners, if I do not already have your postal address, will have to submit a mailing address for the Winning Crap, but beware… that does open you up to things such as Christmas Cards, Free Trial Sizes of embarrassing items and anything else that I deem to be humorous to me. I think past winners can testify that I am all bark and no bite when it comes to the “embarrassing stuff”.
  6. In the case of ties, I will award the time with earliest time stamp, going down to the picosecond if I must.
  7. If by some chance you guess my time exactly, you will win The Craptastic Prize!

So what exactly will I win?

That remains to be determined but it’ll be items that I have lying around. While I am not going to be giving away anything as cool as an iPad or something like that, it will be marginally useful. Primarily it’ll be things that won’t cost me much to ship. The Craptastic Prize will be in the form of a gift card from a store of my choosing with an amount of my choosing. It will be in addition too the regular Guess My Time, Win Crap prizes!

Race History and other race information

Race: Run for Autism 5k

2009 Results
Number of Finishers: 229
Overall winner: Andy Baska 14:37

Race Date/My Times/Overall Place/Age Place

Apr-19-2008 24:10 /  39|126 / 04|08
Apr-16-2009 24:11 / 49|229 / 06|15

Course Map – They don’t have a link to one on the website, but I might

Terry’s Finishing times for 5ks since 2004

Race                  Date        Time
Spring Sprint         Apr-3-2004  24:03
Run for the Deaf      May-8-2004  22:28
Fireball Classic      Jul-3-2004  22:57
Scholar's Run         Aug-21-2004 24:57
Run for the Deaf      May-7-2005  24:01
Scholar's Run         Aug-20-2005 24:36
Reindeer Run          Dec-4-2005  23:14
Scholar's Run         Aug-19-2006 25:12
Farragut Fall Classic Sep-23-2006 22:08
Spring Sprint         Apr-14-2007 23:46
Scholar's Run         Aug-18-2007 23:32
Reindeer Run          Dec-2-2007  22:33
Spring Sprint         Apr-12-2008 24:12
Ribbon Run            Apr-19-2008 24:10
Run for the Deaf      May-3-2008  23:27
Fireball Classic      Jul-3-2008  26:23
Scholar's Run         Aug-16-2008 24:58
Ribbon Run            Apr-16-2009 24:11
Scholar's Run         Aug-18-2009 26:21
Run for the Schools   Apr-10-2010 27:12
funstuff, running , , ,

Guess My Time Win Crap: Run for the Schools

April 9, 2010 planet3rry One comment

That’s Right! By No demand what so ever, the almost tolerable “Guess My Time, Win Crap” contest is back… and it’s happening NOW! This week’s contest revolves around the Run for the Schools 5k which is being held on 04/10/2010 at the Knoxville Zoo. $2 from each entry fee goes to the Knox County school that you designate on the entry form. So as a way to support Farragut Primary School (Can’t Hide My Dolphin Pride!) and get a good speed work run in, I am signed up for the race. This will be the first 5k that I am running competitively for some time. Not that my competitive abilities put me in the running for Overall awards and I have to pick my races carefully and have some people not show up for me to be competitive for Age Group awards, but I am racing against the clock and whoever is close to me in the last mile or so of the race.

Guess My Time and Win Crap Rules and Regulations:

1)All you have to do is guess my OFFICIAL finishing time for the race. I will provide some numbers below to help you base your calculation. Official Times will be what is recorded by the race officials. If I am not able to get that time, then I will use my watch time.

2)You can enter as many times as you want, however, your Guess with the latest timestamp on it will be your official guess.

3)Entries with a timestamp later than the advertised race Start Time will not count.

4)You can leave a Guess a number of different ways, thanks to today’s technology. You can leave a comment on my blog www.planet3rry.com, leave a comment on my Facebook post of the contest, leave a comment on my Twitter account, either direct message or mention is fine (I recommend using the hash #GMTWC, so it’s easier to find) or you can email me your time as well.

5)Winners, if I do not already have your postal address, will have to submit a mailing address for the Winning Crap, but beware… that does open you up to things such as Christmas Cards, Free Trial Sizes of embarrassing items and anything else that I deem to be humorous to me. I think past winners can testify that I am all bark and no bite when it comes to the “embarrassing stuff”.

6)In the case of ties, I will award the time with earliest time stamp, going down to the picosecond if I must.

7)If by some chance you guess my time exactly, you will win The Craptastic Prize!

So what exactly will I win?

That remains to be determined but it’ll be items that I have lying around. While I am not going to be giving away anything as cool as an iPad or something like that, it will be marginally useful. Primarily it’ll be things that won’t cost me much to ship. The Craptastic Prize will be in the form of a gift card from a store of my choosing with an amount of my choosing. It will be in addition too the regular Guess My Time, Win Crap prizes!

Race History and other race information

Race: Run for the Schools 5k

2009 Results

Number of Finishers: 276

Overall winner: Andy Baksa 15:24.0

Course Map

Approximate Map of last 0.65mi (inside the Knoxville Zoo) with Elevation Map via Gmap-Pedometer

Terry’s Finishing times for 5ks since 2004

Race                  Date        Time
Spring Sprint         Apr-3-2004  24:03
Run for the Deaf      May-8-2004  22:28
Fireball Classic      Jul-3-2004  22:57
Scholar's Run         Aug-21-2004 24:57
Run for the Deaf      May-7-2005  24:01
Scholar's Run         Aug-20-2005 24:36
Reindeer Run          Dec-4-2005  23:14
Scholar's Run         Aug-19-2006 25:12
Farragut Fall Classic Sep-23-2006 22:08
Spring Sprint         Apr-14-2007 23:46
Scholar's Run         Aug-18-2007 23:32
Reindeer Run          Dec-2-2007  22:33
Spring Sprint         Apr-12-2008 24:12
Ribbon Run            Apr-19-2008 24:10
Run for the Deaf      May-3-2008  23:27
Fireball Classic      Jul-3-2008  26:23
Scholar's Run         Aug-16-2008 24:58
Ribbon Run            Apr-16-2009 24:11
Scholar's Run         Aug-18-2009 26:21
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