Races Until the End of the Year

Here is a list of races that I plan to do until the end of the year (my wife will also run most of these, and my daughter some of them):

June 6 - Race for the Parks 15K
http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1705109
I will volunteer to get my hours for the Buckeye 50K. (I have done previously races when it was 4 miles)

June 20 - Jim Klet 5K, 10K
http://www.summitathletic.com/
I have been running the 10Ks for many years. Tough hills make a PR impossible.

~ July 4th - Kent 10K
This is a very small race and nearly everyone (especially women) gets an award. Not sure if it is held this year. I have my 10K PR in this race

July 12: Broadview Hts 5K
http://www.hermescleveland.com/roadracing/events/broadview.asp
I have never done this before but I thought we (our entire family) might enter since it is a local race. This will be my first attempt for an under 20 minute 5K

July 18: Buckeye Trail 50K
http://www.buckeyetrail50k.com/bt50k.html
I have signed up for this. My first race at 50 years old! (but there are no age group awards in this race) I have run this twice already. Tough but good!

August 8: Independence 5K
http://www.hermescleveland.com/roadracing/events/independence.asp
A good race for a 5K PR. I have set my 5K PR here (20:08) but have not run this race the couple of years because we were on vacation. I will aim for an under 20 minute time.

August 16: Perfect 10 Miler
http://perfect10miler.com/
This should be a nice race for my wife too. I have run it the last 3 years.

September 13: Buckeye 5K, 1/2M, or River Run 1/2M
http://www.summitathletic.com/
http://www.hermescleveland.com/roadracing/River_Run/index.asp
Too bad there is a conflict again this year. When the races were one week apart, I was doing both, but the last years I did the Buckeye. This year however, I might try the River Run again, if Liz makes this her first half marathon race. (It is a point-to-point and a downhill course, so it is perfect for a PR or first 1/2 Marathon - it was my first one too)

September 26: Akron Marathon
http://www.akronmarathon.org/
I ran my first Akron marathon last year. The course is tough but the race is fun. I have not decided what to do this year. I would run a family relay or 1/2 marathon. I'd rather not do a full marathon if I am going to run Athens in November.

October 11: Towpath Marathon
http://www.towpathmarathon.net/
I might run the marathon slowly as a training run for Athens, or just do the half. I must do something since I want to support this race.

November 8: Athens Marathon
http://www.athensclassicmarathon.gr/
Yeah!!! The "Classic" marathon. First marathon ever (1896). Older than Boston... I could go on and on but I stop here.

November 22: Fall Classic 5K, 1/2M
http://www.cwrrc.org/
It has become a family tradition.

December 31: Great new Year's Eve 5K
http://www.summitathletic.com/
A nice way to finish the year.

Cleveland Marathon – The Aftermath

It’s been 2 weeks since the Cleveland marathon and things are going fine. I recovered really quickly with only minor pain/discomfort for a couple of days. My time has been officially changed to 3:22:47 (pace: 7:44) My placement is 191 out of about 2000 marathon runners, and 16/495 in the 45-49 age group. For the fun of it, I tried some other statistics, and I see that I am 5th out of 20 Brecksville residents, 1st out of 10 named “George” and 1st out of 42 marathon runners who are 49 years old.

Here is a picture of me at the finish... I was well aware that my picture will be taken at the finish, so I made an effort to look happy :). Actually, I felt great. I was not too tired or ready to collapse.

When my wife tells me that her legs do not hurt after a race, I tell her that she did not try hard enough. Applying this to myself, yes, my legs were hurting for the next few days, but they did not hurt bad enough. I did not feel the need take an ice bath as I did in previous marathons. And I felt fine at the finish. So, maybe I could have gone faster too. I feel I could have finished at 3:20, but I had no reason to push myself. Also, I have not done any speed training (not only for this marathon, but in general).

The bottom line is that I feel I can improve this time next year with better training and equally good running weather conditions.