Running Update - October to May

I feel the urge to update my running blog with races that took place since last October.  Somehow, I got lazy and stopped posting race reports here… 

It has been a very busy running period for me.  I had some great long races during the Fall and Winter.  Things were going great until I hit a rough spot with the Miami marathon (end of January). Then, I got injured (back/hip alignment problem) a week after Green Jewel.  I have now recovered and resumed my mileage and am back to racing and training long distances again. 

My weight is low (actually, the lowest it has been in my adult life), and I feel fresh and ready for intensive training for Burning River (my first 100 mile race).  Eating low-carb had definitely helped maintain low weight and run better.  That’s really one of the best things that have happened in my life lately… J

Here is a summary of my long trail races since last October:

Oct 30, 2011 - Run with Scissors, Trail marathon – 6^th overall (4:09), GM Award

Nov 6, 2011 - Bobcat trail Marathon – 10^th overall (4:20), GM Award
Nov 12, 2011 - Badass 50K – 4^th overall (5:10), 3^rd male
Dec 4, 2011- Bigfoot 50K – 12^th overall (5:25), GM Award
Jan 15, 2012 - Run for Regis 50K – 7^th overall (5:19)
Apr 1, 2012 – Fools 25K – (2:16) 10^th overall
Apr 15, 2012 – Forget the PR 50K (5:31) 15^th overall

Generally, in these long trail races I aim to finish at the top 5-10% of the field, plus I try to get the Grand Masters Award (GM, for 50 and older).

I also had some good road races:

Nov 20, 2011 – Fall Classic Half Marathon, 1:35:43 (5/35)

Nov 24, 2011 – Turkey Trot 5 Miles, 32:28 (5/209)
Dec 31, 2011 – Great New years Eve 5K, 20:19 (4/47)
Jan 29, 2012 – Miami Marathon, 3:48
Feb 18, 2012 – Chili Bowl Classic 5K. 19:50 (2/52 AG)
Mar 10, 2012 – St Malachi 5M, 32:53 (6/125 AG)
Mar 12, 2012 – Green Jewel 50K – 4:14 (PR!)
Mar 11, 2012 – Shamrock 15K, 1:07:59 (3/20 AG)
Mar 17, 2012 – Washington DC ½ M (1:57:23 injured!)
Mar 31, 2012 – Jog into Spring, 5K, 19:50 (3/15 AG)
Apr 22, 2012 – Fleet Feet 5K, 20:08 (1/15 AG)
Apr 28, 2012 – Cleveland 10 Miler, 1:09:11 (9/73 AG)
May 13, 2012- Tom Nowak Big Greek 5K, 20:24 (2/16)
May 20, 2012 – Cleveland Marathon
 
I participate in the Hermes Road Racing series:  http://www.hermescleveland.com/roadracing/results/2012/RRS/DETAIL.htm

(Right now I am in first place in my age group, but one runner there is clearly better, but has run less races.)

And the Dirty Trail races: http://dirtytrailseries.com/2012results

(I generally finish at the top 10 overall, with 1st or 2nd GM place, but I had one slow race when I was coming back from my injury, so when I have enough races to cross this one out, my ranking will improve. I am hoping to finish first or second in the Grandmasters group.)

Yes, that’s a lot of racing!  I believe that these shorter races help me get faster.  I did the same thing two years ago (Hermes races) and had my best running year ever. I am hoping that this year will be as good if not better, thanks to my lower weight.  My focus race is the Burning River 100 at the end of July.

 For every one of these races I wrote a report in the Joy of Running email discussion list (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/joy_of_running/) and took pictures during most races.  I would like to go back and copy these reports here, with some photos, at least for the longer / most important races.  This way I will have a record of my racing.