Army Ten Miler - Midway Between Bismarck and NYC

The way the fall racing calendar shaped up, it was fortuitous that the Army Ten Miler fell three weeks after the Bismarck Marathon and three weeks prior to the New York City Marathon.  Having PR-ed in Bismarck and coming close to breaking three hours, New York City is on my mind.  The Army Ten Miler was a good opportunity to gage my recovery and preparations for NYC.

I met up with friend, Michael Rohlf; we share a mutual coach in Ryan Vail.  In fact, Michael recommended him to me.  Our plan was to race together.  I found him in the starting chute.  We stayed together for the first two miles, going out in 6:15.  We were to go out 6:20-15, and in the third mile, I had to back off as there was an incline and I felt that I wasn't 100% fresh.  I decided to back off from PR pace and just run what I was able on this day.  It turned out to be the smart choice.  I held it together over the rolling hills of the 14th Street Bridge.  With about a mile to go, another runner encouraged me by saying I would start the finishing kick to pace him and then he'd pace me to the end.  He said we'd have to run under a six minute mile.  In my head, I said okay and did kick a sub six minute final mile to get me across the finish line in 64:04.  While not a personal best (63:11 at Cherry Blossom 2014), it was a course PR (65:32 in 2011).

Michael and I celebrating our race.  He wore DCRRC singlet and I wore my company's running shirt, Fireside21.

Race Mile Splits = 6:15/15/31/10/26/34/32/28/28/5:57 (31 seconds for the final .10 in 5:20 pace).  I ran four miles of warm up and six miles of cool down to get twenty miles on the day.

My result

With NYC two weeks away (from when I write this), I'm feeling pretty good.  I wish my confidence were higher, but when you constantly feel sore, it is hard to feel confident.  Plus, I battled a cold this week and think it is on its way out.  My coach said I will be fine come race day - at some point, I just have to trust myself and my training.  Yesterday, I ran sixteen miles with three miles at marathon pace.  Today was an off day.  Next Sunday I get to go volunteer at the Marine Corps Marathon and hand out water with my club at the tenth water stop - just as the runners come back into Virginia near Pentagon City.  I always love the energy and can't wait to run another marathon.  I'm sure I'll be ready to run a great race in NYC!

Back to Workshop

It has been roughly ten years since I last was part of a writing workshop. Over the summer, I applied to and was accepted to participate in the Jenny McKean Moore Community Writing Workshop (how do I fit that on my resume?). Last night was our first meeting, and I must state I feel quite underaccomplished (Grammar check? not a word? Okay, I'm making it one). Compared to the rest of the group, roughly a dozen, we have a number of already-published writers. Many in the group have projects they are working on, and I have only an idea in my head. But, I am confident that I will have something in writing as I will be forced to actually write!

In other news, I am scheduled to run Wineglass Marathon in less than three weeks. I am in the tapering stages, and it is possible taper-crazy will hit me the week before the race. My training times are where they should be (tempo miles at 6:45-50/Yassos at low 3:00/Mile repeats at <6:30). I have done my long runs slow and on some increased my pace to run the last 5-6 miles at race pace which needs to be near 7:15. Let's hope this is my Boston Qualifier!

In the sporting world, the Red Sox season is ov-ah! It's too bad the team couldn't overcome all their injuries, but such is life. The Patriots started off well with a good win against Cincy - and I won a bet with my old roommate, the Ohio fan. Speaking of which, I joined him to watch OSU beat Miami.

And, lastly, in politics, family friend Bill Keating won the Democratic nod in MA-10. I like Bill - good guy, honest statesman, and he took on Billy Bulger! I really hope he wins the general in November.

That is all - end communication...